Eli hasn't been good in like ever and now he's old.
Eli....
(1) Is the same age (or younger) than several other quality QB's out there.
(2) Has been playing from his back the past couple years as their OL-play has deteriorated.
You don't seem to be able to accept that taking Barkley make the most sense (which is your right) -- I believe the opposite as follows:
- Does the team believe it can win with a 2-time SB MVP? I don't know, but I certainly can understand why?
- Do you remember when the last regime horribly bungled his benching and the uproar over that? Do you want the new regime to intentionally do the same thing? What kind of locker room are you going to have at that point? What of the rookie's not even close to being ready -- what kind of spillover will that have?
- If they believe they can make a run, you give them the best weapon the O can have, a true "gold-jacket-er" as Gettlemen said. That weapon (running-game AND passing-game) can also help the defense by keeping them rested.
-- How potent can that O be with last year's 5th best TE (as a rookie), a more experienced Shepherd, a healthy OBJ, and a much better LT?
-- Do we know how Chubb would fit their scheme if we picked him instead? I don't but their trading him tells me it was some kind of combination of (a) scheme-fit, (b) diminishing skill-set, and (c) disastrous pricetag <-- especially for next year when they're going to try to get OBJ signed!
-- I totally get that when you're in position (#2) to get your next franchise QB, you should totally consider that
BUT that's the only reason to not take Barkley. IF you don't care about the rookie QB's and IF you think you can win now...taking Barklet clearly makes the most sense to me....especially when you consider the potential uproar a benching Eli-starting-Eli-rinse-repeat cycle would look like.