This Day in Eagles History: The Combine That Changed Everything — Carson Wentz Electrifies Indianapolis

Ten years ago this week, a kid from North Dakota State walked into Lucas Oil Stadium for the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine, and nothing about the Philadelphia Eagles was ever the same.

Carson Wentz — all 6-foot-5, 237 pounds of him — showed up to Indianapolis during the February 23-29 combine window and turned the entire quarterback class on its head. He ran a 4.77-second 40-yard dash, second among all QBs. He broad jumped 9 feet, 10 inches. He clocked a 6.86-second three-cone drill, one of only four quarterbacks to crack under 7 seconds. And when he threw? Mike Mayock called it the "cleanest" workout of any quarterback there.

Before that week in Indianapolis, Wentz was a fascinating small-school prospect. After it, he was the reason Howie Roseman picked up the phone and made the trade that altered Eagles history.

Let's be real about what happened next. The Eagles traded a king's ransom — their No. 8 overall pick, a third-rounder, a fourth-rounder, a first-round pick in 2017, and a second-rounder in 2018 — to the Cleveland Browns to move up to No. 2. They leapfrogged everybody to grab Wentz, and at the time, this city lost its collective mind. Half of Philly thought Roseman was a genius. The other half thought he'd mortgaged the franchise for a guy from the FCS.

Turns out? Both sides were kind of right.

Wentz's 2017 season was legitimate MVP-caliber football. He threw 33 touchdowns against just 7 interceptions. He had this team at 11-2 and looking like the best squad in the NFL. Philadelphia was electric. The NovaCare Complex had a swagger you could feel from Broad Street. And then came the torn ACL against the Rams in Week 14, and the entire city held its breath.

What happened after that is the stuff of legend. Nick Foles stepped in, caught a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl, and delivered this city the Lombardi Trophy it had waited 57 years to hold. But none of it — not the NFC Championship demolition of the Vikings, not the Philly Special, not the parade down Broad Street — happens without Wentz building that 11-2 foundation. Period.

The Wentz era didn't end the way anyone drew it up. The injuries piled up. The 2020 collapse was ugly — historically ugly. The trade to Indianapolis. The benching. The wandering from the Colts to the Commanders to the Rams to the Chiefs. It's been a rough road for a guy who, for one shining season, looked like the future of this franchise.

But here's the thing about February 24, 2016. On this day ten years ago, the dominoes started falling. Wentz crushed his combine workouts. The Eagles' brass sat in those Indianapolis meeting rooms, watched the tape, studied the measurables, and decided this was their guy. That decision led to a trade-up, which led to an MVP-caliber season, which led to a Super Bowl championship. The chain of events is undeniable.

And in a beautiful twist of irony, the trade that sent Wentz to Indy in 2021 netted the Eagles a first-round pick that became — wait for it — part of the package that helped build the roster Jalen Hurts led to Super Bowl LVII. Even when the Wentz era ended, it kept giving.

So today, we tip our cap. Ten years since a North Dakota kid walked into that combine and changed everything for the Birds. It didn't end perfectly. But man, what a ride.