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Wentz ready 'to dive right in' and learn Eagles' system

THE EAGLES haven't given Carson Wentz a playbook yet, and it's driving him nuts. "I've been watching film and I don't even know exactly what to watch for," he said. "So I'm fired up to get a playbook and dive right in."

THE EAGLES haven't given Carson Wentz a playbook yet, and it's driving him nuts.

"I've been watching film and I don't even know exactly what to watch for," he said. "So I'm fired up to get a playbook and dive right in."

Wentz is an eager, impatient learner. He can't wait to get the playbook, can't wait to absorb it, can't wait to get on the field for the team's May 13-15 rookie minicamp, and, yes, can't wait for the day down the road when he'll be team's starting quarterback.

"The morning of the draft, I couldn't really sleep and said, 'Today's the day. Today's the day my life is going to change forever,' " Wentz said. "This morning I woke up and said, 'I'm a Philadelphia Eagle.' Tomorrow I'm going to wake up and say, 'Let's go to work.' "

The Eagles took the 6-5, 237-pound North Dakota State product with the second pick in the draft Thursday, right after the Los Angeles Rams selected another quarterback, Jared Goff, with the first pick.

Most of the predraft scouting reports suggested that Goff is more NFL-ready, but that Wentz has a bigger ceiling.

The Rams are hoping Goff will be ready to start sometime early in his rookie season. The Eagles say they have no timetable with Wentz.

They say he'll be ready when he's ready. If that's this year, fine. If it's next year, fine too. If it's 2018, so be it.

That's their story, and they're sticking to it. You'll have to excuse Sam Bradford if he doesn't believe them.

"As a competitor, you want to be out there," Wentz said Friday during his first postdraft visit to the NovaCare Complex. "But I understand there's a lot to that. I'm just going to come in and learn. I know (when I play) isn't for me to decide. I'm just going to come in and learn and compete my tail off. And when coach (Doug Pederson) feels fit for me to go out there, I'll go out there. And hopefully, I'll do well."

Both Pederson and executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman have said Bradford is the team's starting quarterback right now. The "right now" part is what's bothering Bradford and is the reason he asked for - and was denied, for now, at least - a trade.

He thought the Eagles saw him as their potential long-term starter, two-year deal or no two-year deal. Then they traded up and grabbed Wentz.

Wentz is coming to the Eagles from an FCS school where he started only 23 games and didn't play against the caliber of competition faced by Goff, Jets second-round pick Christian Hackenberg and many of the other Division I quarterbacks who will be drafted.

But he does have one big advantage over many of those other quarterbacks that will help make his transition to the NFL much easier. He played in a pro-style offense at North Dakota State.

"It's huge," Wentz said. "It helped me tremendously. I've been exposed to so many different things. I've been telling people through this (draft) process, I'd argue that we did more at North Dakota State than any other program, just as far as the amount of things we did."

He has experience under center, which is foreign to many of the quarterbacks coming out of college spread offenses, such as Broncos first-round pick Paxton Lynch, and Bradford when he was the draft's first pick in 2010.

He audibled. He ran play-action. He was in charge of the run-game checks.

"You'd see us in '22' (two running backs, two tight ends) personnel play-action pass, '22' three-back power," he said. "Then we'd spread it out empty (backfield) and run quarterback power, power sweep, zone-read.

"You name it and we probably at least tried it in practice. Our OC (offensive coordinator) was all about trying new things and mixing it up.

"Also, I was in charge of so much at the line of scrimmage that I think I've just been exposed to so much and have had so much responsibility that it's going to help me translate to the NFL that much quicker.

"Obviously, there's going to be a lot more (I need to learn). Obviously, things are going to get more complicated, more complex. There's no denying that, and I'm aware of that. But I think I'll be able to run with it and learn pretty quickly.''

Wentz was used as a runner quite a bit at North Dakota State. Averaged nearly nine rushing attempts per game in his 23 starts, most of them designed runs. If/when he becomes the Eagles' starting quarterback, he won't ever be averaging nine carries a game. But his running ability would give the Eagles the kind of chain-moving threat at quarterback Carolina has with Cam Newton and Seattle has with Russell Wilson.

"When I ran it in college, I just turned into a running back," Wentz said. "I didn't think about (protecting myself). But I'm prepared for the next level. I don't want to get hurt. I want to stay on the field.

"There's a time and place to be that (runner) guy. But for the most part, I'll learn to protect myself and I'll learn pretty quickly."

The Eagles like Wentz almost as much for his competitive spirit as they do for his arm-strength, accuracy and decision-making.

Pederson has said that Wentz "bleeds winning."

"It's how I'm wired," the quarterback said. "If I'm not the best at something, it ticks me off and I want to work harder to be the best. It's also the way I was raised. My parents. My older brother (Zach) pushed me. I was always competitive with him. I just hate losing. I can bring that to Philadelphia."

Now, if they would just give him a playbook.

@Pdomo Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog