Gäste » PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Eagles coach Doug Pederson reiterated

Tuesday that Carson Wentz will be the team’s starting quarterback in 2019.Wentz missed the final three games of the regular season and two playoff games because of a back injury. Nick Foles led Philadelphia to four straight wins and was 27 yards away from taking the Eagles to the NFC championship game before his final pass bounced off Alshon Jeffery’s hands and was intercepted to seal a 20-14 victory for the New Orleans Saints.“Yes Mike Wallace Jersey , Carson is the quarterback going forward,” Pederson said at the start of his season-ending news conference.Foles filled in when Wentz tore two knee ligaments in December 2017 and led Philadelphia to its first NFL title since 1960, earning Super Bowl MVP honors in a win over New England.Howie Roseman, the team’s executive vice president of football operations, acknowledged it’s going to be a difficult decision.“We would love to keep Nick Foles,” Roseman said. “You talk about a guy who we drafted here and we’ve grown incredibly close with. I don’t know a team that wouldn’t want to have Nick Foles on their roster. Certainly, as we go into the substance of those discussions, we haven’t had them yet, but there is no question we love having Nick Foles as an Eagle in Philadelphia and we would love to keep him.”The Eagles must decide by mid-February if they want to exercise a $20 million option to keep Foles for 2019. But Foles could decline it and pay back $2 million to become a free agent. Philadelphia could put a franchise tag on Foles, though $23 million to $25 million is a hefty price for a backup. It’s possible the Eagles could use the franchise or transition tag to trade Foles rather than allow him to walk away for only a compensation pick.Foles said Monday having the option to become a free agent is “extremely important” to him.“It always has to be what’s best for our football team and the Philadelphia Eagles. We have to make decisions based on that http://www.eagleslockerroom.com/authentic-haloti-ngata-jersey ,” Roseman said. “There is also a respect factor for guys that have done a lot for us and been part of it. We try to factor that in as well, but the bottom line is we have to do what’s best for our football team to help us win games going forward.”Wentz finished third in NFL MVP voting after leading the Eagles to an 11-2 record in 2017. He was 5-6 as a starter in 2018 but set career highs in passer rating and completion percentage. With the 18th overall pick in the 2019 Bleeding Green Nation community mock draft, Minnesota Vikings GM Eagles701 selects ..."Noah Fant, TE, IowaI thought the Vikings at 18 was going to be an easy pick. Take the top interior offensive lineman and call it good. However, when both Jonah Williams and Cody Ford were off the board, things got a little more interesting. Both of those players offer positional versatility and would have made tremendous guards or tackles (if the Vikings prefer to move Rashod Hill to guard). I could have gone with Garret Bradbury, Chris Lindstrom, or Erik McCoy (who our own Benjamin Solak ranks at the top of his IOL rankings).I just couldn’t pull the trigger on any of those three and to be honest, if the board falls like it did here Womens Nate Gerry Jersey , I expect the Vikes to trade back.My big board had a couple of players ranked well above those three IOLs and I just don’t think you reach down the board when a player as good as Noah Fant or T.J. Hockenson is still available.The choice really came down to those two players and I think many of you will think I went with the wrong one, but let me explain why the pick is Fant, not Hockenson.First, the Vikings take a tight end because theirs are not good and they’ve been trying (unsuccessfully) to get a receiving threat late in drafts: Bucky Hodges and Tyler Conklin. Kyle Rudolph is 29 and on a contract he can’t live up to. He might be the slowest player in the league (exaggeration, but he seriously looks like he’s running through mud). David Morgan is a pretty good blocker, but he isn’t a receiving threat. That leaves them with no legitimate threat at the TE spot鈥?which just happens to be a favorite target of Kirk (Kurt) Cousins.Remember watching him play for the Washington Football Team? The only player on that roster that scared anyone (before Chris Thompson) was Jordan Reed. If Reed had stayed healthy, Washington would never have fallen out of love with Cousins and he’d probably still be in the NFC East.The Vikings are fully committed to Cousins for two more years and need this experiment to work out. Cousins is an elite passer when targeting tight ends and even better when there are two tight ends on the field.Source: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the...ht-ends/Putting Fant and Rudolph on the field gives them a multitude of options. Rudolph bullying linebackers and safeties in the short to intermediate and Fant stretching the seams and pulling safety help away from Diggs and Thielen.The Vikings passing game becomes literally impossible to defend when they have these kinds of weapons at all the skill positions, especially when you add getting Dalvin Cook back.Now, I know that most draftniks have Hockenson above Fant, which means I’ve got to sell you on why I’m selecting Fant:1. Fant’s effect on the defense is more beneficial to the Vikings’ other top skill playersFant’s ability to stretch the defense vertically is going to impact all aspects of the offense. Defenses have to respect his speed. By pulling a safety further from the sidelines Womens Mike Quick Jersey , he opens things up for Diggs and Thielen, especially if they see cover 2. This also forces the defense to try to cover Dalvin Cook with a linebacker and I just don’t think there are many linebackers capable of doing that. Additionally, Thielen is absolutely devastating in the middle of the field. If Fant commands safety coverage and/or can force the defense to play deeper in the middle of the field, Thielen is going to have more room to operate in that space.2. The difference between the Fant and Hockenson as blockers is not what you may thinka. https://thedraftnetwork.com/articles/noa...developmentFant reminds me a little of Dallas Goedert as a blocker. He is a willing participant, works extremely hard, and has shown significant improvement. These two tight ends are both really well rounded and it’s almost a shame they played on the same team. Had one of them played anywhere else, he’d have been asked to show more of their “weaknesses.” Hockenson is also a strong receiver. Fant is also a strong blocker. Iowa knew their strengths and played to them (of course) and that works against them in evaluation. We can’t assume that Fant was a bad blocker just because Hockenson was asked to do it more often. That’s a testament to how good of a blocker Hockenson is more than a knock against Fant.3. Consider the floor to upside ratioNow, take a minute to rank the best tight ends in the game. Even go back to the last 20 years. The names at the top of your list are there because of their receiving prowess. Poor blocking can ruin a tight end’s game, but we aren’t talking about a tight end who can’t block. Fant’s floor is extremely high because he is such a strong receiver. There is virtually no chance that he flames out in the league.In addition to that high floor, Fant has as much upside as any tight end to enter the league in some time. He has the athletic profile to dominate and his teammates talk about his work ethic as being exceptional. This guy might be the best tight end in the league in the matter of a few years. Hockenson will be a very good tight end http://www.eagleslockerroom.com/authentic-wes-hopkins-jersey , I just don’t think he has the same potential as Fant.While I was initially disappointed by the board when it got to me at 18, I keep getting more and more excited about this pick. If this is the direction the Vikes actually go, my friends here in ND are going to love watching Cousins earn their excitement back. Because, when he has a threat at the tight end spot, he’s almost worth the contract they gave him!