Philadelphia Eagles: Why Real Fans Will Cheer Against the Eagles on Sundays

Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and Steve Young are the last three quarterbacks to be used in the same sentence along with the term "Dynasty." True, Ben Roethlisberger has multiple rings and he is a skilled quarterback, but he is not the in same league as the three quarterbacks mentioned above.  A common point of history for all three quarterbacks is that they got to spend many years on the bench and develop intellectually and physically.

Most 21-year-old men do not look the same as 24-year-old men as professional athletes train harder and are more disciplined. Look at a picture of Rodgers and Brady today and their NFL Combine workouts and you will understand my point.  Furthermore, they were given the chance to develop mentally and work with coaches and see time sparingly during preseason or real game action to prove their worth. Also, they learned behind top notch starters.

I personally consider Michael Vick a special athlete and a superbly entertaining human being.  His ability to read defenses may have taken a step back but that is not my debate in this article.  My point is that Vick is still a capable starter and a top ten quarterback in most considerations.

Andy Reid is still considered to be a great quarterback coach. The Eagles are rarely high enough to draft a stud quarterback.  The rookie salary scale pays top picks equivalent to what a backup quarterback makes, thus the salary impact would not be high if the Eagles were to take a Quarterback with a high first round pick. Additionally, that quarterback would have time to learn behind Vick who is still a great QB, learn from Reid who is still a great quarterback coach, and develop mentally and physically to secure a transition into the Eagles future.

Additionally, front offices tend to view players in the draft and free agency as commodities.  If a player is signed for a $5 million per year contract but performs like a $8 million player would, the team has saved $3 million dollars, and for a hard cap this allows flexibility to pay other top notch players. This is essentially the strategy that Philadelphia and the Patriots have used in the past which is why they are able to manage a high talent level in a fixed cap scenario.

Drafting a middle linebacker early would be amazing but would likely not have the same inherent value to this organization in the future as a future starting franchise quarterback. Think back to the beginning of the season when Reggie Wayne defended Curtis Painter or when Urlacher stated he was behind Caleb Hanie or when Woodson said last year that Matt Flynn's our guy (when Rodgers missed a game).

Team confidence is based on familiarity with the quarterback position, so having a guy in the same system for a few years that all of the players know is crucial at quarterback.  Not to devalue linebackers, but they do not inherently instill anymore confidence in a team as one linebacker does not have the same impact one quarterback can have 95% of the time.

Another reason for drafting a quarterback early is due to the given fact that Vick will continue to miss 4 or more games annually, thus it is an ideal job for grooming a young, franchise quarterback.  He will see action and be able to see the field at some point every year while still being on the bench long enough to slow down the pace of the game and learn the offense.

I understand the Eagles have tremendous other needs, but the strengths of this draft are QB, LB, , S, CB, and WR.  We have 3 picks likely to be in the first 40 picks thus why not spend the first one on the most important position? I would love to have an impact linebacker but I think our future over the next decade is more important at quarterback as opposed to linebacker.

Furthermore, our high second round picks can be addressed at positions like linebacker and safety where first round talent can still be had with players who slip. An example of a sliding player who may be had in the early second round includes Vontaze Burfict who many considered to be a locked first rounder earlier in the year.  He just came off of a benching and a bad game a few weeks ago, thus his draft stock continues to slide in comparison to other linebackers. Wide receivers will also be available in later rounds and potential voids left by the departures of Jackson or Samuel can be filled with the corresponding picks we receive from their trade.

Overall, the goal of your franchise is to win a Superbowl. Now is our time, much as it was for Brett Favre's in his last days in Green Bay, but the organization picked Rodgers, and they have already been rewarded with the same number of Superbowls Favre had delivered to them in over a decade's time. As much as this draft is loaded with talent, I hardly see the difference between Luke Kuechly and Manti Te'o at middle linebacker for the next five years or Vontaze Burfict and Dont'a Hightower being the cause of a Superbowl being potentially lost.

On the flip side, the difference between Robert Griffin III/Matt Barkley and Mike Kafka/future late first round/early second round pick starting immediately has much less likelihood of seriously leading a contending team to the promise land.

Quarterback Andrew Luck will not fall to us and, due to his reputation, he will likely start for the Colts one way or another, but Robert Griffin III and Matt Barkley are still elite options that garner consideration for a franchise accustomed to being a perennial playoff team.