Christian Hackenberg: Why Does He Keep Getting Chances?
By Erik Lambert
The Philadelphia Eagles must be feeling they’re untouchable at quarterback these days. I mean after last year it’s hard to fault them for that.
Carson Wentz was on his way to winning league MVP before his knee injury. Nick Foles went on to become the MVP of Super Bowl LII. So yeah. They must feel they can bring in any quarterback and make something out of them. That might explain why they made the surprise decision to sign former New York Jets 2nd round pick Christian Hackenberg
The #Eagles are signing QB Christian Hackenberg, source said. Not a reflection on health of Wentz/Foles or anything else — just a chance to try developing another QB with talent, as they have with Nate Sudfeld.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 12, 2018
The reasoning behind the signing is easy enough to understand. Both Wentz and Foles are dealing with health issues and the team needs depth until they can be sure the two are completely on the mend. Hackenberg has always exhibited intriguing physical qualities dating back to his time at Penn State. Yet there’s still the lingering question of why him considering he’s performing so poorly in the past?
Meanwhile, certain other names with far more experience, names connection to controversial protests but still helped a team to a Super Bowl remains unemployed.
Philadelphia may be the last chance for Hackenberg to turn it around
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Probably the low point of Hackenberg’s career came a couple months ago. The Oakland Raiders traded for him from New York. It must’ve felt like a new lease on life. Oakland has a long history of rescuing once aimless careers. Then within three weeks, the quarterback was released and nobody had heard from him since. That must’ve been quite humiliating for a young man who once was proclaimed a future #1 pick.
What makes this situation even more difficult from his perspective isn’t just the competition he faces to make the roster. It’s the fact the coaching advantages the Eagles had last year are gone. Both offensive coordinator Frank Reich and quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo took jobs elsewhere. Both brought a ton of invaluable QB expertise that helped Wentz and Foles excel.
Doug Pederson is still there and he just might have the confidence, intelligence and swagger needed to finally snap Hackenberg out of this prolonged funk he’s been in the past few years. It would certainly make for a fun story. At the same time, how much longer before it’s best to draw the line and say it’s never going to happen for him? It must be getting close.