Wentz's stock likely rises at Scouting Combine
INDIANAPOLIS - We know something now that we weren't all that sure of before the NFL Scouting Combine: The Eagles are making some sort of effort to bring back quarterback Sam Bradford. In fact, Fox Sports' Mike Garafolo reported Sunday that they'd increased their initial offer in an attempt to get Bradford signed quickly, though no figures were mentioned.
INDIANAPOLIS -
We know something now that we weren't all that sure of before the NFL Scouting Combine: The Eagles are making some sort of effort to bring back quarterback Sam Bradford. In fact, Fox Sports' Mike Garafolo reported Sunday that they'd increased their initial offer in an attempt to get Bradford signed quickly, though no figures were mentioned.
That doesn't mean the team will skip over the QBs when the NFL draft starts April 28. The Eagles are expected to draft a quarterback, whatever happens with Bradford, maybe in the first round, maybe much later. In the wake of combine testing, we might have a better idea of the prospect QB picture.
After a strong Senior Bowl week and a strong combine passing performance, North Dakota State's Carson Wentz has gone from being an intriguing possibility for the Eagles at 13th overall to a guy who very likely won't be there at 13. Either Wentz or Cal's Jared Goff will be the first quarterback taken; both seem likely to go in the top 10.
"I thought it was pretty much as advertised, for me today," NFL Network lead analyst Mike Mayock told reporters Saturday evening, after the QBs threw. Mayock said Wentz "has good footwork because he's been under center" in North Dakota State's pro-style offense. "He's got good arm strength; I thought he was very solid today."
Mayock said Goff also was what he'd expected.
"Quick feet. Quick release. Doesn't have the arm strength that maybe Paxton Lynch has, but you can see everything you want in a quarterback that's ready to play today. That's what Goff is - he's ready to play today," Mayock said.
Goff played at a higher level of college football and has better pocket awareness than Wentz, Mayock said.
Lynch, from Memphis, is probably the top QB prospect who might be available at 13. He is far from a sure thing, as he works in draft prep on dropping back and planting for the first time.
"They're building him from the ground up. He's never been under center in his life. He's got a lot he has to learn," Mayock said. "He's working hard at it. When he gets his footwork lined up the correct way, that arm strength is elite. It's really cool . . . It's a work in progress. I think he's a first-round pick, but he's a little bit of a project. He's a year or two away."
After Michigan State's Connor Cook, who showed "good" but not "elite" arm strength, Mayock said, the remaining QB prospects are midround projects with potential. Ohio State's Cardale Jones didn't throw, after pulling a hamstring running the 40.
Jones and Penn State's Christian Hackenberg, Mayock said, are "big, good-looking kids who throw a beautiful football, with a lot of bad tape," making their draft status hard to project.
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