Pederson: Both Wentz, Goff Can Be Franchise Quarterbacks

Howie Roseman didn’t confirm that the Eagles made a push to get into the No. 1 slot, but he didn’t deny it, either.

Speaking alongside Doug Pederson at Monday’s pre-draft session with reporters, Roseman responded to a question about how serious trade discussions were between the Eagles and Tennessee by saying, “I wouldn’t consider any serious discussions with any teams until you make deals.”

No deal was struck, of course, and that top spot instead went to the Rams in exchange for two ones, a pair of twos and a couple third-round picks. Los Angeles will use that positioning to select either Carson Wentz or Jared Goff.

The other will be up for grabs at No. 2, and there’s some thought in league circles that the rebuilding Browns may be willing to trade out of that slot in the name of stockpiling resources. Whether the Eagles will try to make the charge up the board from No. 8 will be based in large part on how they feel about the QB available.

Would they need to know who the Rams are taking before pulling the trigger on a trade?

“Depends what your board says. First of all, that assumes that you’re doing that,” said Roseman. “But if you’re very comfortable that you have two guys that are franchise players — whether it’s quarterback offensive line, DBs — and you’re very comfortable getting either one, then you can be inclined to still move and say, ‘I’m good.’ But if you don’t feel that way it would be hard to go up until they make that pick.”

When it comes to the evaluation of Wentz versus Goff, Pederson described the two as “pretty even” and believes both can be franchise quarterbacks, though he seemed to give a slight nod to Wentz in his response.

“From all the physical tools, both of them are extremely gifted there — mobility, obviously Carson is a little bigger, maybe a little better athlete right now but there’s not much separating those two,” he said.

Earlier in the conversation he also referenced the QBs’ size, saying Goff “is probably a little more of the undersized of the three [including Paxton Lynch] at 218 pounds, but I was 218 pounds as a quarterback so I don’t put a lot of merit into weight.”

Wentz checks in at 6-5, 237, and has “everything you want in a quarterback at this level,” according to the head coach.

“I like his size, I like his arm strength, his mobility. He’s a bigger kid. I think he’s got all the tools to be an NFL quarterback,” said Pederson.

“If you haven’t spent time with a guy like Carson Wentz, it’s hard from the outside looking in. You may go: North Dakota State, smaller school, might be an issue. But when you finally get him into your building, get your hands on him, have a chance to visit with him, talk to him and just break it down, this kid is pretty impressive. I’m excited to see where he goes and then excited to kind of follow his career.”

By the sounds of it, he would not object to following that career up close.

“I think in our situation we’ve go two solid quarterbacks so if he were to be on our roster, he may not have to play right away, so that’s the beauty of having two veteran guys in front of him,” he said, when asked about Wentz’s lack of in-game experience. “But you dive into him as  a person, his work ethic, his off-the-field attitude, how he handles his media, how he handles his teammates, puts him kind of into elite status when it comes to quarterback.”

If they believe he’ll be there at 2, or that Goff is in that “elite status” as well, logic suggests the Eagles may try to make another jump up the draft board between now and next Thursday night.

As for Lynch, Pederson said he’s not that far off from the other two but doesn’t know that No. 8 “ would necessarily be the spot to take someone like him.”