Can Howie Roseman’s subs play like 2017′s? Carson Wentz, Andy Reid vs. the Eagles in the playoffs?

Howie Roseman won executive of the year in 2017 not just for revamping the 2016 roster but also for stockpiling understudies so capable that, when things went bad, the Eagles still won Super Bowl LII.

Roseman probably has the award locked up again after acquiring A.J. Brown and Haason Reddick this summer, but he’ll surely win it again in 2022 if this year’s understudies prove to be as capable as those five years ago. Then again, voters hate collapses, which usually are blamed on personnel, and, as GM, that’s Roseman’s department. At any rate, Sunday’s game against the Saints will be another test.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Saints predictions: Our beat writers make their picks for Week 17

In 2017, MVP-favorite Carson Wentz, in his second season as the starting quarterback, blew out his knee with three games to play. Left tackle Jason Peters, the team’s best player, was already hurt. So were middle linebacker Jordan Hicks, third-down back and punt returner Darren Sproles, and special-teams captain Chris Maragos, and all of a sudden the Birds were without five of their 25 most significant players. They dubbed themselves “Club Rehab,” and marveled as their replacements captured the No. 1 overall seed.

In 2017, second-year tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai replaced Peters and was effective. Najee Goode and Dannell Ellerbe effectively filled in for Hicks, as Nigel Bradham and Mychal Kendricks assumed more responsibility. Punt returner Kenjon Barner and rookie Corey Clement shared the load at running back with deadline addition Jay Ajayi, and players like Kamu Grugier-Hill helped fill the special-teams hole left by Maragos.

And, of course, backup quarterback Nick Foles went on a six-game run to Super Bowl MVP that cemented his legend forever.

Five years later, the Eagles find themselves in a similar spot.

MVP-favorite Jalen Hurts, in his second season as the starter, suffered a shoulder injury in Chicago in Game 14. Right tackle Lane Johnson, the team’s best player, tore an abdominal muscle six days later at Dallas, not long after nickel corner Avonte Maddox injured his big toe. They joined safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, whose lacerated kidney will cost him at least a fifth straight game, and punter Arryn Siposs, who is out indefinitely after suffering an ankle injury in Game 13.

Can Roseman’s replacements in 2022 create magic like those in 2017 did?

Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew threw for 355 yards and two touchdowns last Saturday at Dallas, but he also committed three turnovers. He was no Nick Foles.

Hurts returned to practice Thursday and Friday, but he was limited. He reportedly is unlikely to play in Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints. Minshew’s effectiveness could color voters’ decisions.

Meanwhile, Jack Driscoll has given every indication that he’s as capable a backup tackle as Vaitai. That Driscoll has to play at all is actually an indictment of Roseman, who used a first-round pick on tackle Andre Dillard in 2019, only to discover that Dillard cannot play on the right side. That’s also a black mark against offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland. Then again, if a fourth-rounder like Driscoll can contribute all over the line in 35 games since 2020, it speaks to Roseman’s eye and Stoutland’s tutelage.

While Dillard looked solid and Minshew showed promise, the struggles of the replacements for CJGJ and Maddox could be the Eagles’ undoing.

The Birds took K’Von Wallace in the fourth round in 2020. He played five snaps against Dallas. One was the third-and-30 completion that swung the game to the Cowboys. Wallace is so shaky that undrafted rookie Reed Blankenship, not Wallace, immediately assumed Gardner-Johnson’s starting role.

Nickel corner Josiah Scott also went in the fourth round of the 2020 draft, to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who traded him to the Eagles in May 2021. Scott was responsible for the zone of the field in which third-and-30 was completed. The dropoff from Maddox to Scott in regular nickel play has been crippling.

» READ MORE: ‘My confidence is never shaken.’ Eagles corner Josiah Scott has moved on from third-and-30

One positive is that veteran punter Brett Kern might be an upgrade over Siposs.

There is a scenario in which the NFC playoffs are as Philly-licious as roast pork and Tastykake. Things must go to chalk, and upsets must happen, but nothing is implausible.

The way things stand right now, the Washington Commanders would take the No. 7 seed and play the No. 2 Minnesota Vikings. Could Wentz, reinserted as the Commanders’ starting quarterback, beat Minnesota? After all, the 12-3 Vikings are a team that has just a plus-five point differential on the year. If Wentz & Co. win in Minneapolis, that would bring them to No. 1 seed Philadelphia for the divisional playoff round. This would afford Eagles fans a chance to finally shower hate on Wentz, who was injured when the Commanders visited on Nov. 14.

Assuming the No. 5 Cowboys win at No. 4 Tampa Bay, who currently stand as the NFC South’s representative, that would send the Pokes to No. 3 San Francisco, where they would be an underdog. They also would be on a four-game winning streak. The anticipation of a Cowboys-Eagles NFC championship game is almost too titillating to contemplate.

The cherry on top? Facing Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

Mind. Blown.