Well you could see this coming from a mile away.
More specifically, Sam Ehlinger being announced today as the Indianapolis Colts backup quarterback to Carson Wentz following the release of Brett Hundley has been in the works for months.
During training camp when Wentz needed his foot surgery, it was Ehlinger who helped teach Hundley the playbook. Not Jacob Eason, not Marcus Brady, not Scott Milanovich. That’s after Ehlinger lost his brother and went through more personal loss than most of us can imagine.
Then Ehlinger stepped up to the plate. As him and Eason competed back-and-forth for what was then the starter job because of the ‘5-12’ week status of Wentz’s injury, they went neck-and-neck like the final stretch of the Kentucky Derby.
I always said on the air that the longer ‘The Two E’s’ cancel each other out at each practice from a skill perspective, that’s only a win for Ehlinger.
Ehlinger provided intelligence, comfortability, and creativity at the line of scrimmage. Eason had a big arm. Hundley had nine below-average NFL starts. Who do you think was really going to win that battle?
Whether this actually means anything or not, when Jim Irsay addressed the media in August during the rookie QB battle, he only addressed Eason by his last name, and Ehlinger by his first.
I have no idea if I’m going crazy with ‘FBI Director’ mode like an ex-girlfriend stalking the new girlfriend on Instagram, but that always sat different with me leaving Grand Park that day.
And at the end of the day, you could see this coming for months. It should surprise no one.
Remember in training camp when Ehlinger’s biggest caveat was his arm strength?
He literally got hurt on the next play following that big throw against the Detroit Lions. So expectedly, everybody forgot about it. Yeah I get it, it’s a preseason game. But the guy answered everybody’s biggest concern when he got his first exhibition start.
That matters. Big time.
So now what do the Colts do with Wentz? If he plays more than 75 percent of snaps, the Philadelphia Eagles get a first round pick.
If we’re officially on Ehlinger watch, that would be one of the wildest stories in franchise history. But you’re telling me the Colts can afford to not have a first rounder right now? Chris Ballard is desperate.
All we need now is Gus Johnson to call a Colts game on FOX. Give me an old fashioned ‘EHLINGERRRRRRRR!’
