Eagles 2021 mock draft after Carson Wentz trade to Colts
The Philadelphia Eagles are officially moving on from quarterback Carson Wentz.
Philadelphia has reportedly agreed to a trade with the Indianapolis Colts for the former second overall pick, acquiring a third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft from the Colts as well as a conditional 2022 draft selection.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter initially reported the trade.
Philadelphia has agreed to trade Carson Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a 2021 third-round pick and a conditional 2022 second-round pick that could turn into a first, league sources tell @mortreport and me.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 18, 2021
If Carson Wentz’s playtime is at or above 75% next season, the conditional 2022 second-round pick would become a first-round pick, per sources. The second-round pick also.could become a first if Wentz plays at least 70 percent of the plays and the Colts go to the playoffs.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 18, 2021
For Philadelphia Eagles fans, this is relatively great news. Obviously, the team has Jalen Hurts — a 2020 second-round pick — in place to potentially be a starting quarterback moving forward, but there is little question about the fact that the trade of Wentz opens up the Eagles to be a primary landing spot for a top quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft.
The conditions on the 2022 NFL Draft selection also make it likely the Eagles will have a selection at some point in the first round. The Colts made the playoffs in 2020 and they feel like they have the coaching staff and roster to make that push again in 2021.
Wentz is going to a great situation with Frank Reich and the coaching staff with the Colts, a coach he had success with early on in his playing career.
The Eagles have now fired head coach Doug Pederson this offseason and moved on from Wentz. Most people thought the firing of Pederson meant the team had decided to stick with Wentz, but that didn’t turn out to be the case.
How will the Eagles reshape their 2021 NFL Draft class and offseason as a whole with Wentz now gone?
Eagles 2021 mock draft post-Carson Wentz
Most mock draft scenarios have had the Philadelphia Eagles taking a wide receiver with their first-round pick, whether it’s Ja’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle, or De’Vonta Smith.
Now, they are firmly in the quarterback mix.
With Trevor Lawrence almost undoubtedly going first overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the intrigue begins with the New York Jets at number two overall. At this point, so much hype has been built up around Zach Wilson that it would be a shock if he was not the pick there, barring a Deshaun Watson trade.
The Atlanta Falcons are really the only threat (besides another team trading up) between the Jets and Eagles on the draft board to take a quarterback.
In the mock draft simulation we ran, Justin Fields, Trey Lance, and Mac Jones were all on the board with the sixth pick. In this scenario, Fields is the obvious choice.
Although Lance has tremendous upside, he is extremely raw in his overall development. Jones is probably more pro-ready than either Fields or Lance, but his upside is not nearly as high.
New head coach Nick Sirianni hired offensive coordinator Shane Steichen who is coming off of a tremendous year working with Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers. If the Eagles can continue to add some more weapons at receiver, a player like Fields has a chance to be really good in his rookie season and excel while learning on the job.