Donovan McNabb weighs in on Carson Wentz's durability and expectations with Eagles

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Everyone has an opinion on Carson Wentz, even the former franchise quarterback of the Eagles, Donovan McNabb. 

This morning, 5 was on CBS Sports Radio with Zach Gelb and spewed his take on Wentz, one that doesn’t offer the new franchise quarterback much of a leash. 

Here’s what he said on the topic: 

I think in the next two years or so, he needs to find a way to get out of the second round of the playoffs. What Nick Foles was able to do, take them to a Super Bowl and then possibly take them back to the NFC Championship proves that, hey, some people can get into that offense and be very successful. [Wentz] hasn’t been healthy. He hasn’t really proven to me, besides the year before he got hurt, in his first year, of really the MVP candidate. He needs to get back to that mode. 

I think, personally, if he can’t get out of the second round in the next two, maybe three, years, but really two years, to be honest with you. If he can’t get out of the second round, they should look to possibly draft another quarterback because you just don’t know about his durability. Staying healthy is very key in this league. The team only goes as far as their quarterback takes them. And they put so many eggs in the basket with Carson Wentz and he has to prove that in the next two years. 

Well, the first thing here is that we should correct McNabb. The year Wentz got hurt was his MVP-caliber season. Had he played those last three games, he probably would have won the award. No harm done. Moving on. 

Now, let’s get to the gist of McNabb’s point. He has Wentz on a very short leash. If Wentz can’t get to an NFC Championship game in two years, they should move on, according to McNabb.  

I get part of what McNabb is saying even though he didn’t really say it. The Eagles are clearly in win-now mode; their window to win Super Bowls is open right now and they need Wentz to play well for that to happen. But to say he needs to get out of the second round because “you don’t know about his durability” doesn’t really make much sense. Sure, if he’s healthy, he’ll probably be good and the Eagles will find success. Is McNabb’s point that if Wentz isn’t healthy, they should move on? Well, that’s a salient one, I suppose. 

Here’s the thing, though. The idea that the Eagles should just draft another quarterback is a hard proposition. Franchise QBs don’t grow on trees. It’s why the Eagles were so aggressive to trade up in 2016…because they identified Wentz as that guy. And it seems unlikely the Eagles are going to stink if Wentz is on the field. So, then we’re talking about a pretty big jump up in the draft to get another elite quarterback. 

Maybe McNabb didn’t put too much thought into this answer. Because getting into the NFC Championship Game in two years seems like a pretty arbitrary goal. What if Wentz plays well in the playoffs and the Eagles lose close games in the divisional round in back-to-back years? Still moving on? Yeah, probably not. 

And we didn’t even talk about the contract. The Eagles have seemed pretty on-board with getting an extension done with Wentz this offseason or next. If that happens, you can forget about them moving on. Then they’ll be locked in with Wentz for better or for worse.

McNabb was also asked about some other stuff pertaining to the Eagles and around the league. Listen if you want: 

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