The Eagles moved up to the No. 2 pick in the 2016 draft to take Carson Wentz, and they hope he will eventually grow into a franchise quarterback.
Eventually.
As for this season, the team would prefer to see the rookie hold a clipboard and learn about life in the NFL without stepping on the field.
That explains these odds from Bovada. The over/under for Wentz starts this season is 3½.
This is obviously a tough bet to place now because of the Sam Bradford situation. If Bradford remains on the team and is the starter, the odds of Wentz's working his way up from third-string aren't great. But if Bradford doesn't come back, and Wentz is the backup behind an unproven Chase Daniel, four starts isn't out of the question.
In the last 10 years, 27 quarterbacks have been taken in the first round. Of those, just five have started three or fewer games in their rookie seasons.
Bovada also placed over/under targets for some of the other notable rookies:
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• Jared Goff passing yards: 3,400
• Goff total touchdown passes: 16½
• Ezekiel Elliot rushing yards: 900
• Elliott total touchdowns: 7½
• Derrick Henry rushing yards: 600
• Henry total touchdowns: 5
• Joey Bosa total sacks: 5½
Goff is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year at 2/1, followed by Elliott (5/2), Henry (7/1), Corey Coleman (15/2) and Josh Doctson and Laquon Treadwell (12/1).
