Eagles' No. 2 Pick Carson Wentz – From A to Z

The Eagles hope they have found their franchise quarterback.

On Thursday night, the team selected Carson Wentz out of North Dakota State with the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft (see story). The 23-year-old was the second quarterback taken, after Cal's Jared Goff went to the Los Angeles Rams.

Wentz is the first quarterback the Eagles have taken in the first round of the draft since Donovan McNabb (also No. 2) in 1999. If he has the same career, the franchise would be thrilled.

Here's a closer look at the future of the franchise, from A to Z:

Accuracy - For his career at North Dakota State, Wentz completed 64.1 percent of his passes, including 63.7 percent as a junior in his only full season.

Bismarck - His hometown in North Dakota. He went to Century High School, where he started as a 5-foot-8 freshman before eventually becoming a 6-foot-5 starter as a senior.

Championships - Wentz led the NDSU Bison to their last two FCS national championships.

Division I-AA - It's now called FCS and it's where Wentz is coming from. There have been four FCS quarterbacks taken in the first round - Doug Williams, Phil Simms, Steve McNair, Joe Flacco - and all four have played in a Super Bowl.

Eight - The number of games he missed during his senior college season with a broken wrist. He came back in time to win the national championship game.

Fargo - The city became his home for the last five years while he was in college.

Griffen Neal - He recently signed with the Saints, but as the quarterback at Fargo South, he beat Wentz in his final high school game in November of 2010.

Henley - Wentz has a dog that he likes very much. His name is Henley.

Intangibles - You've heard this word a ton about Wentz. He has all the intangibles - basically he has things you can't see in the stat sheet that make him a potentially great quarterback.

Jensen - Brock Jensen was the quarterback at NDSU before Wentz and he was the big man on campus. He quarterbacked the team to three consecutive titles before he left school and Wentz took over.

Klieman - Chris Klieman became the head coach of NDSU in 2014 after being the team's defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach previously. This is a story he told about Wentz on Breakfast on Broad this week:

"We found out on Sunday that he broke his wrist and he was obviously devastated on Sunday, but took that time to realized that this could probably end my college career. And then on Monday, we're up here at a staff meeting and I go downstairs and he's sitting watching film with the freshman quarterback that's going to start next Saturday. I'm sitting there, talking to him about his injury and he's saying ‘I have to get this guy ready to play.' He's that kind of assertive leader. He was on the sideline with a headset on. We trust the kid. He was a coach for us for eight weeks.  

Loss to end a season - The last season that ended in a loss for Wentz was in 2010, when Century High lost to Fargo South in the North Dakota 3A semifinals.

MDU Resources Community Bowl - Wentz's hometown of Bismarck, North Dakota, had a big viewing party at the football stadium to watch their native son get drafted on Thursday night.

North Dakota - His home state is really behind him (see story).

Older brother - Wentz's older brother Zach is where his competitive nature comes from. Zach is three years older and was a star at Century High before Carson.

Passing record - Wentz set a school record, throwing 143 straight passes without an interception.  

Quarterback - He didn't become a full-time starting quarterback in high school until his senior year.

Running - Wentz has a big arm, but he also is a threat to run. He ran for over 1,000 yards in his college career and had an average of 4.8 yards per attempt.

Size - While he entered high school at 5-foot-8 and 125 pounds, he's grown to 6-foot-5 and 237 pounds.

Toughness - Wentz is known for lowering his head and gaining some extra yards. He has admitted he doesn't know how to slide - it's something he needs to learn in the NFL.

Under the radar - While Wentz had the size and ability, he didn't become a popular name in draft talks until recently. He really shined at the Senior Bowl and combine.

Versatility - In high school, while he played football, Wentz was also a basketball and baseball player. He won a state title in basketball as a senior.

Wins - Many question the competition Wentz faced, but he has done a lot of winning at NDSU. The Bison have won five straight FCS championships.

X's and O's - Check out Wentz's appearance on Jon Gruden's Football Camp.

Year 1 - The Eagles have been pretty clear that they'd prefer Wentz to basically redshirt in 2016 and have a chance to learn on the bench. He sat and watched North Dakota State win three national championships before he became the starter.

Z - Wentz is the sixth quarterback with a "Z" in his last name to be taken in the first round, joining Johnny Manziel, Mark Sanchez, Steve Pisarkiewicz, George Izzo, Boley Dancewicz. (Sure, it's a stretch, but we made it.)

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