Perhaps the most controversial pick of the 2020 NFL Draft was Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts, who was selected in the second round by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Yes, those Philadelphia Eagles that recently signed Carson Wentz to a four-year, $128 million contract. While the drafting of Hurts was curious, Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman offered a rather unique explanation:

“For better or worse, we are quarterback developers,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said. “We want to be a quarterback factory. When we make these kinds of decisions, we always go to our principles and who we are and what we believe in, and right or wrong, this is who we are.”

No matter how you slice this – “Wentz is injury-prone”, “the Eagles need red-zone help”, “he’s (Hurts) a great teammate”, “the Eagles need an insurance policy” – it’s a weird move after spending a lot of money on your quarterback.

The other part of this that is odd is Roseman’s assertion that they are quarterback developers and want to be a quarterback factory. Let’s take a look at the quarterbacks that have passed through Philadelphia since Doug Pederson’s arrival in 2016:

Carson Wentz

Chase Daniel

Nick Foles – Super Bowl LII

Nate Sudfeld

Josh McCown

Let’s take it a step further and examine the quarterbacks during Roseman’s first GM run from 2010-14 before he was banished to a storage closet or something by ex-Eagles head coach Chip Kelly in the mid 2010s:

Michael Vick

Kevin Kolb

Vince Young

Mike Kafka

Nick Foles

Trent Edwards

Matt Barkley

Brad Smith

Mark Sanchez

Now, other than Foles (who was drafted during the Andy Reid regime and Super Bowl LII MVP) and Wentz, who am I supposed to believe that the Eagles developed here?

Vick? He was already a Pro Bowl quarterback that needed to rediscover himself after serving prison time.

Kolb started in Arizona briefly before being out of the league in short order.

Vince Young and Mark Sanchez had already peaked at their previous stops.

Meanwhile, the team drafted Clayton Thorson in the 2019 NFL Draft. He is already a member of the Dallas Cowboys. They signed Cody Kessler last season but he didn’t make it out of the preseason.

Roseman clearly believes in what he is preaching. Yet, the results say otherwise. If the Eagles are a quarterback factory or trying to develop one, that factory still has some work to do.

To some degree, Eagles brass probably was not happy with how they lost to the Seattle Seahawks in the postseason including Wentz’s concussion. The Hurts move is trying to ensure that never happens again. They learned from the Foles experience in 2017 and want to be able to repeat it – if they have to.

Oh, do we know if Hurts can play? That might be the biggest mystery of all. Pinning hopes on a rookie quarterback in any capacity to be a significant contributor to a potential Super Bowl contender is a rather bold strategy.

Let’s see if it pays off for them.