Philadelphia Eagles Smart to Give Full Consideration to Geno Smith

For the second time in three weeks, the Philadelphia Eagles are meeting one-on-one Wednesday with West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith.

Assuming the team isn't setting up a massive smokescreen, that probably means Philadelphia is considering using its No. 4 overall pick on the draft's highest-rated quarterback.

This is pre-draft due diligence. We're talking about a multi-million dollar decision that will affect this franchise for the next five, 10, maybe even 15 years. The Eagles don't have a clear-cut quarterback of the future on the roster and a franchise quarterback is a requirement if you want to be a consistent Super Bowl contender in this league.

History indicates that the draft is almost always where you find such players, and the Eagles haven't possessed such a valuable selection since they took Donovan McNabb with the No. 2 overall pick in 1999.

Smith is far from being a sure thing, but you don't pass on quarterbacks in the top five merely because they aren't in the Andrew Luck/Robert Griffin III category. The position is too crucial. 

Russell Wilson was far from being a sure thing, too, which is why he was passed up 74 times in last year's draft before going to Seattle in Round 3. But you can imagine the Browns and Jaguars are wishing now that they'd have taken a chance on Wilson in the top five. 

Even if the Eagles don't buy into Smith, they have to do everything in their power to ensure themselves that he won't be this draft's Wilson. 

Concerns have been raised by plenty of so-called experts. Some believe Smith has artificially shot up draft boards because there are teams desperate for that next stud quarterback and this class of prospects lacks blue-chip candidates. It's the same reason Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder were top-12 picks in 2011. 

If a prospect with Smith's track record played any other position, we wouldn't even be talking about this. But because the biggest question mark in Philly right now is in regard to the most important position on the field, and because Smith is considered to be this draft's best player at said position, the Eagles owe it to themselves and their fanbase to fully investigate whether to roll the dice on a potential franchise quarterback.