BALTIMORE _ If there were always doubts about when exactly the Eagles decided that 2016 was a rebuilding season _ after signing Sam Bradford but before trading up to get Carson Wentz or maybe right when they traded Bradford but maybe not because they started 3-0 or maybe later when they lost in Seattle but arguably not for real until Doug Pederson spoke in public about looking ahead to next season _ those doubts are gone now.
In that context, the details of their 27-26 loss Sunday to the Ravens at M&T Stadium _ as thrilling as the finish was _ are less material than the pragmatic function that the game served. The Eagles are 5-9, and while it would be nice for them to win one or both of their two final games, against the Giants and the Cowboys, it would be more beneficial if they started to learn whether they have some young, inexperienced players worth keeping _ and who those players might be. Yet look at the Eagles' roster and how these 14 games have played out. It's a challenge yet to find any players who weren't already presumed to be part of the Eagles' future who have established themselves as possible lynchpins for 2017 and beyond.
Carson Wentz, of course, didn't have to play a snap this season, and he would enter next season with the same expectation: that he is supposed to be a franchise quarterback. For all his rookie struggles and the questions about the arc of his development, he has done more than enough to suggest that he is the least of the Eagles' problems. He was an unknown in August, and his talent and potential are much less mysterious now. But who among the Eagles' other unknowns have established himself as indispensable? Who took a leap forward this season? Who did the coaching staff develop?
Halapoulivaati Vaitai, after his inauspicious debut against the Redskins, looked a bit better before suffering an MCL sprain, but is a surefire starting right tackle in the NFL? Jalen Mills has an aggressive nature that the defensive coaches like, and he is forever undaunted in his post-incompletion finger wags, but can the Eagles pencil him in at one of their cornerback spots next season? Are Wendell Smallwood and Byron Marshall going to be sharing time in the backfield? There was an Eagles running back who racked up 128 yards on 20 carries Sunday, but everyone already knew that Ryan Mathews, when healthy, runs hard.
These are the questions that the Eagles have to answer, or start to answer, before training camp opens in July. This was the point of Sunday and of these final two games. It's not enough to have high hopes for Wentz and those players whom the Eagles already have decided, for good or bad, will be here for the long term: Zach Ertz, Malcolm Jenkins, Vinny Curry, Lane Johnson. They need to find some surprises. That's the point of a rebuilding season, after all. It should be, anyway.
