Carson Wentz is hitting the grand stage after a shaky camp. Philly.com:

He has a right arm that is more than strong enough to make all the necessary throws. He is an above-average athlete for a quarterback. He can be an effective thrower on the move – perhaps partly because of that athleticism. He can be inaccurate and needs to work on ball placement. When he has missed receivers on intermediate-length routes, the passes have tended to sail high. He has a tendency to hold the ball too long in and out of the pocket.

And here’s the only time you’ll hear this comparison. NJ.com:

Wentz has shown excellent mobility, especially for a quarterback his size. Some times he takes off and runs too soon, not unlike a young Michael Vick or Randall Cunningham.

But the focus will be on his mechanics. PhillyMag:

He may be a little ways away from starting, but nothing is as important to the health of this franchise than the development of No. 11. The Eagles have been tweaking his mechanics. Given that he’s working through technical adjustments and attempting to absorb an NFL playbook all at once, it would be unfair to expect excellence right out of the chute. But it would ease some minds if he showed some flashes of it here and there.

Eric Rowe’s play will be critiqued as well. CSN:

During his Tuesday press conference, Pederson confirmed that rookie Jalen Mills has surpassed Rowe on the depth chart. That’s a huge slide for last year’s second-round pick. He went from starter to the fifth corner behind Leodis McKelvin, Nolan Carroll, Ron Brooks and Mills. Forget starting, Rowe has to now fight for a roster spot. He can take a big step toward that and maybe to eventually climbing his way back up the depth chart with a big game on Thursday. Sure, Mills has been impressive in practice, but Rowe’s game experience might show up during games. I wouldn’t count him out just yet.

Wentz isn’t the only one playing under a microscope. Philly.com:


Thursday marks Doug Pederson’s first game as an NFL head coach, and one area that remains a question is how Pederson will handle decision-making that falls on the head coach’s shoulder. His game management and clock management will be under scrutiny – decisions such as punting or going for a fourth down, when to use timeouts, and throwing the challenge flag. This is different than simply the play-calling responsibilities, but Pederson must also focus on quickly getting the play call to the offense. He’s going to call the plays directly to the quarterback’s head set try to accelerate the process instead of using offensive coordinator Frank Reich as an intermediary.

This begins Sam Bradford’s season long audition for other teams. Philly Voice:

Many believe that Bradford is almost certain to be traded next offseason, seeing as the Eagles invested heavily in rookie quarterback Carson Wentz. If you’re of the opinion that 42 league insiders represents a large enough sample size to conclude what the league as a whole thinks of him (as I do), then his trade value at the present time is likely very low. Bradford is going to have to have a far better season in 2016 than he did in 2015 if the Eagles are going to receive decent trade compensation next offseason.