PHILADELPHIA _ The Eagles' second-round selection was one that no one expected.
Jalen Hurts, the former Alabama quarterback who finished his college career at Oklahoma, was the selection, with star-level talents remaining on the board at many positions, including wide receiver (Denzel Mims from Baylor), safety (Jeremy Chinn from Southern Illinois) and cornerback (Kristian Fulton from LSU).
Given that Carson Wentz is 27 and got a four-year, $128 million contract last year, it's a stunning move, seemingly an admission of doubt about the franchise's plan to build around Wentz for the next decade _ though, perhaps predictably, general manager Howie Roseman and head coach Doug Pederson vehemently denied that Friday night. But bringing in a talented rookie would seem to undermine Wentz's position as the leader of the team, and of course, it meant bypassing the chance to add major talent at positions where the Eagles don't have a starter comparable to Wentz.
Roseman said he doesn't think anyone will be looking for "a rookie" to come in for Wentz, but of course, you don't draft players for just their rookie year.
Roseman said he spoke to Wentz Friday about options for the second round, including Hurts, so Wentz had "a heads up." Wentz tweeted to Hurts, welcoming him to Philadelphia.
Hurts might be able to provide a fun dimension to the offense, but the idea that this was what the team needed to do with the 53rd pick in the draft is going to be a hard sell.
Hurts, 6-foot-1, 222, had an incredible year at Oklahoma after losing the starting job at Alabama to Tua Tagovailoa, who was drafted Thursday in the first round, fifth overall. Hurts rushed for 1,298 yards and passed for 3,851. It might be the case that the Eagles see him as a weapon comparable to Taysom Hill in New Orleans, but a gadget backup QB was on no one's list of critical Eagles needs heading into the draft.
The logic is hard to grasp after Wentz heroically carried a 5-7 team to four successive victories and into the playoffs last season, and the front office talked about getting him more weapons for 2020. Some older team leaders were jettisoned, with back-channel whispers about management wanting to make sure Wentz was the voice of leadership. Roseman might not envision this pick making every bad pass Wentz throws a referendum on who should start _ the exact situation the team wanted to get out of when it let Nick Foles walk into free agency a year ago _ but plenty of other people can and will envision it.
