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Eagles' Wentz focusing on scrambling, extending plays | Paul Domowitch

Wentz’s mobility allows receivers more time to get open.

SEE CARSON run. See Carson run and extend plays and find an open receiver for a first down.

You saw that from him on occasion in the last six or seven games last season. You're going to see it an awful lot more beginning in September.

Mobility is one of the big things that Wentz brings to the table. It's one of the things that attracted the Eagles to him in the first place.

Not so much as a runner, though his nine rushing first downs in the Eagles' final seven games last year were the fourth most in the league by a quarterback during that period.

But as a play-extender. A guy who can get out of the pocket and scramble and give his receivers an extra 2-3 seconds to get open.

"It's been a point of emphasis going into the offseason,'' wide receiver Jordan Matthews said. "It's something we're going to work on a lot this spring and summer.

"We're already talking about scramble drills. (The coaches) made a point that this is going to be something that helps us win games. It's not just, 'Oh, (the play) broke down and we got lucky.'

"It's going to be an intricate part of the offense. When plays break down, we know we have an athletic quarterback. Guys have to be able to get open and make plays.''

When Eagles executive vice-president of football operations Howie Roseman and head coach Doug Pederson first started scrutinizing tape of the North Dakota State product last year, they saw Aaron Rodgers. They saw Ben Roethlisberger.

They saw a guy who could make chicken salad out of chicken bleep. They saw a guy who wouldn't be a sitting duck for pass-rushers. They saw a guy who could elude a rush and keep his eyes downfield and buy time until one of his receivers broke free from coverage.

"It's just his natural athleticism to (be able to) escape the pocket,'' Pederson said. "It was very helpful for us down the stretch.

"He made some big plays for us using his legs. Those are things where, as he learns to scramble and protect himself, it just puts so much more pressure on defenses. It's another weapon for us on offense.''

"His mobility in the pocket is underestimated,'' right tackle Lane Johnson said. "He's pretty athletic back there. He's a throw-first guy, but when pressure does come, he can elude them and go outside the pocket and extend plays. He showed that last year.''

You need to look no further than Rodgers to understand what a quarterback with play-extending mobility can bring to an offense.

Rewind to last January and the Packers' 34-31 divisional playoff win over the Cowboys. Rodgers set up Mason Crosby's game-winning field goal by spinning out of the pocket on third-and-20 with 12 seconds left and throwing a holy-crap 36-yard sideline strike to his tight end, Jared Cook.

Now, Wentz doesn't have Rodgers' uncanny out-of-pocket accuracy. Then again, Rodgers has been at it a lot longer. He has 151 regular-season and postseason starts and 5,252 pass attempts on his resume. Wentz has 16 starts and 607 attempts.

The point is it's going to become a big part of the Eagles' offense going forward. The pocket always will be Wentz's base. But when things break down, when an offense lineman gets beat or a blitz leaves a rusher free or his receivers have difficulty getting open, Wentz and the Eagles will be able to go to Plan B.

"When you have an athletic quarterback like Carson, the ability to extend plays obviously stands out,'' tight end Zach Ertz said. "It's something we want to take advantage of. You see huge plays often take place in those scramble drills because the defensive backs aren't used to covering for that extended period of time.''

The Eagles didn't work on scramble drills much last year, mainly because the original plan was for Wentz to spend the season backing up Sam Bradford, who is one of the league's most accurate passers, but isn't terribly mobile.

Then, just eight days before the start of the season, Bradford was traded to Minnesota and Wentz was named the starter.

Early on, Wentz was reluctant to do much running or scrambling. He basically followed the script that was written for him.

But as the season wore on and he became more comfortable, he took the training wheels off and became more willing to escape the pocket and even run for first downs when necessary.

What was missing late last season was any sort of cohesion between Wentz and his receivers when he extended plays. That's going to change this season. When Wentz takes off, his receivers will know what to do and where to go to help him.

"When you're able to have a whole offseason - spring and summer - with a guy like that, you're able to talk about scramble rules as an entire offense,'' Ertz said.

"Last year, I don't think we were as detailed overall with our scramble rules just because the whole group hadn't really been together. But this offseason, that's something we're emphasizing, both in the OTAs in the spring and training camp this summer.''

Said Pederson: "Having played the position, when you scramble, you want guys that can get open and separate. Those will be things we're going to continue to work on this spring and summer.

"When you have a mobile quarterback like Carson, receivers need to understand that's (extending a play) going to happen and have to be able to react.''

pdomo@aol.com

@Pdomo Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog