Ray Didinger: Paxton Lynch A First-Round 'Risk And Reach'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Eagles have the 13th overall pick in the draft and they need a quarterback.
However, that may not be an ideal spot for a team in need of a QB this year.
"Where they're sitting in the draft at 13, it's not a good position for them to be looking at a quarterback," NFL Hall Of Fame analyst Ray Didinger told the 94WIP Morning Show on Friday. "There are really only two quarterbacks in this draft that I would feel just absolutely comfortable with taking in the first round. And that's Jared Goff from [the University of] Cal and Carson Wentz from ND [North Dakota] State. I've seen enough of [Wentz] now, I've studied him enough now, Ang [Angelo Cataldi] I think he's the real thing. He's a guy that has the skill set, the size, the arm, all that stuff to be a really good NFL quarterback.
"But that's it. Those two."
Listen: Ray Didinger on the 94WIP Morning Show
Wentz, a 6-5, 232-pound mobile quarterback, is expected to be drafted way before pick 13. The same is likely for the pure-passing Goff.
"That's the problem," Didinger agreed. "I think Goff and Wentz will both go in the top 10. The name that you're gonna hear over and over again is, in these next couple months, Paxton Lynch"
Lynch, 6-7, 245 pounds, is another physically gifted and mobile quarterback. Many analysts, however, have labeled him as a project who needs to improve his accuracy.
Didinger calls Lynch a first-round "risk and a reach."
"I wouldn't take him in the first-round," Didinger said. "If he's your only quarterback option at 13, I would go for a surer bet at another position where you have need and the Eagles obviously have need. If I'm at 13 and Goff and Wentz are gone, then I'm probably gonna go offensive line."
The Eagles have only drafted a quarterback in the first-round four times in their franchises history. And they haven't done so since 1999, when Andy Reid selected Donovan McNabb with the No. 2 overall pick.
Now, with Reid's disciple Doug Pederson as the team's new coach, many believe owner Jeffrey Lurie is directing the franchise back to the Reid days.
"So much of what they're doing now seems to be trying hit the reset button on the Andy Reid," Didinger explained. "And if that's the case then -- OK, the veteran backup transition guy, who is the bridge to the next guy who you draft, that makes perfect. The only thing is, you've gotta be right on both ends, more particularly on the quarterback you draft."
