Early Birds: NFL Network analysts weigh in on quarterbacks for the Eagles

Daniel Jeremiah worked with the Eagles as a scout when Andy Reid was the head coach and Doug Pederson was an assistant. That gave him exposure to what they sought in a quarterback. Now an analyst with the NFL Network, Jeremiah said North Dakota State's Carson Wentz fits what Pederson would want at the position.

"In terms of who their preference is between Goff and Wentz, I think they'd both fit really well in Doug's offense there," Jeremiah said during a Friday conference call. "Wentz, to me, gives them a little more size and the ability to do some things on the move that they've historically liked there with Doug Pederson being under Andy Reid. They really value that movement skill. And I think because of that I would lean towards Carson Wentz, but I think Goff, quick decision making, accurate, underneath intermediate would be a nice fit there as well."

Wentz is 6-foot-5 and 227 pounds and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.77 seconds at the combine. Goff is 6-4 and 215 pounds and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.82 seconds. Wentz's hands are also one inch bigger than Goff's hands. Goff played against better competition in college (the Pac-12 compared to Division I-AA) and also has more experience (a three-year starter compared to a two-year starter). Jeremiah gave them both similar grades and sees them as "long-term starting quarterbacks in the league." The Eagles have already had private workouts with Wentz and Goff.

Of course, both Wentz and Goff could be off the board when the Eagles pick at No. 8. The Eagles might select a quarterback in the draft, and Jeremiah offered an under-the-radar name for the Eagles in later rounds: Brandon Allen, a 6-1, 217-pound, three-year starter from Arkansas.

"In terms of somebody that fits them in the later round, I've been a big proponent of Brandon Allen throughout this process from Arkansas," Jeremiah said. "I know he's not the biggest guy, and everybody had fun with the hand size deal and how he got the hand massage and got his hands a little bit bigger. But he's a coach's kid. He's been through a lot of adversity. Fought through it at Arkansas, and really played well last year, I thought, when I broke down the tape to the point where I would consider taking him in the late second round, early third round. He had 30 touchdowns, only eight picks, and completed I think 56% of his passes.

"So the numbers are good, and he's doing it under center a lot in that offense at Arkansas. I think it translates well. To me I think he's an ideal fit, he's a great fit. You might get a nice little value with him in this draft."

Fellow NFL Network analyst Charles Davis also has been impressed with Allen. He also identified some quarterbacks after Allen that could be appealing to the Eagles. One of them, Kevin Hogan, already went through a private workout with the Eagles.

"If you go a little bit deeper, because of those movements, because of their body type, a Dak Prescott, who I thought made as much improvement of a big-time quarterback of anyone in the country in my humble opinion, has the body frame, movement skills necessary to do that," Davis said. "Being able to handle the weather conditions you're going to have in November, December, January there in Philadelphia. He played at Mississippi State, but he's a big, big strong guy that can throw the football, and Jacoby Brissett, if you want to go deeper, from North Carolina State, another guy that's a strong guy with movement skills.

"Kevin Hogan is someone they looked at from Stanford who handled a ton of offense. Some of these guys coming out, their playbooks, what they've been asked to handle and verbiage in the huddle, what they've been asked to do, Kevin Hogan fits perfectly in that frame. Big, strong guy. Arm is going to be a little different. I think I saw him change his motion and he's working on tightening up his motion when we saw that. He's going to get it to take like a golf swing where he'll repeat under pressure. But he's handled so much offense in his time there that that fits well for someone that gets you in the huddle, line of scrimmage and you can go and play with."

Prescott is 6-2 and 226 pounds with a 4.79-second 40-yard dash. He was a first-team all-SEC performer during the past two seasons. Brissett is 6-4 and 231 pounds with a 4.94-second 40-yard dash. He transferred to N.C. State from Florida and started the past two years for the Wolfpack. Hogan is 6-3 and 228 pounds with a 4.78-second 40-yard dash. He replaced Andrew Luck at Stanford and started four seasons.