However he ended that day using a golf cart out of Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with a black brace on his proper knee. Torn ACL. By no means the identical. Wentz rebounded in 2018 and ’19 — his stats hovered across the prime 12, the Eagles gave him a four-year, $128 million extension — however he cratered in 2020, by each measure one of many worst quarterbacks in soccer.
Now, the Washington Commanders have guess on Wentz after he performed comparatively nicely for the Indianapolis Colts final 12 months — not less than till an epic, end-of-season collapse. The Colts traded him away and not using a clear plan to interchange him, a sign of how far his inventory has fallen since 2017. In Washington, Wentz is a transparent improve over Taylor Heinicke, and at the price of two third-round picks, he’ll be anticipated to have a serious affect on the offense.
The query for Wentz and Washington — each coming off two years of below-average quarterback play, each with potential — is how excessive every can push the opposite. And the query for Wentz particularly could also be, “What modified since 2017, and is it fixable?”
Soccer analysts say it’s extra sophisticated than that. On the most simple degree, Wentz is an effective match for offensive coordinator Scott Turner’s vertical scheme, stated ESPN’s Matt Bowen stated. Though the quarterback turns 30 in December, although he’s handled again, knee and foot accidents, Bowen stated Wentz nonetheless has energy and expertise to make the deep, troublesome, tight-window throws the Commanders have lacked since Turner arrived with Coach Ron Rivera in 2020.
“Finally, I feel when you may have him in Washington, that is what you need: You need him to stretch the sector,” Bowen stated. “You need him to make the big-time throws, the game-changing throws down the sector to the third degree. You need him to be very productive in vital sport conditions, third down and within the crimson zone. That is what you need.”
Kevin Cole, an information analyst for Professional Soccer Focus, argued Wentz shouldn’t be judged in opposition to his 2017 efficiency as a result of he overperformed in key conditions that 12 months, similar to third down. By the metric Anticipated Factors Added, Wentz had the fourth-best third-down season of any NFL quarterback within the final decade, in response to TruMedia. Cole stated a extra life like goal is his 2018-19 kind, when Wentz was a “fringe top-10, fringe top-12” participant.
Final season with the Colts, Cole stated Wentz was “fairly shut” to that degree statistically however poor play in high-profile video games — the New England win in Week 14, the Jacksonville loss in Week 18 — made him appear worse than he was. Wentz is a excessive variance quarterback, able to making throws others can’t however carrying the danger of utmost draw back that might manifest in a season, like 2020, or a sport, like Jacksonville.
“You might have to have the ability to dwell with that [variance],” Cole stated, “and that is troublesome for followers and for coaches and for everybody else to do.”
On movie, Bowen stated, there are a number of explanations for Wentz’s inconsistency. Essentially the most obvious is poor mechanics together with his decrease physique and launch level. This causes him to overlook layup throws and retains the offense from staying on schedule.
The opposite, Bowen stated, is Wentz’s penchant to belief his bodily presents. As a substitute of checking down, Wentz tries to increase performs, which may result in explosive positive factors or losses, similar to sacks or interceptions. Wentz’s ball safety has been an issue his whole profession — his 58 fumbles from 2016-20 have been 11 greater than some other participant within the league — however from 2017-19, he was hitting on sufficient huge performs to make up for it.
The turnovers, after his enchancment final season, should not his solely persistent errors. Wentz’s dedication to extending the play will get him sacked usually. Within the final two years, he’s been sacked 82 occasions, second solely to Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow (83). Of these sacks, solely 33 — about 40 p.c — occurred in lower than three seconds, in response to TruMedia.
“We’ve got to see extra consistency by way of the decision-making, by way of when to take the throws which can be obtainable and [how to keep] the offense out of detrimental conditions,” Bowen stated. “There is not any query concerning the expertise. It is simply been very inconsistent the final couple years, and that is why he is on his third staff in three years.”
It is going to be Turner’s job to get Wentz to seek out that steadiness. This can be tough as a result of a number of experiences through the years in Indianapolis and Philadelphia have described Wentz as a poor chief who doesn’t react nicely to exhausting teaching. Colts Coach Frank Reich, the previous Eagles offensive coordinator who was seen because the one who might repair Wentz after the disastrous 2020 season, acknowledged to The Athletic final fall that Wentz likes to be in management on the line of scrimmage.
“There’s uncomfortable moments,” he stated. “We’re each fairly cussed. We get in a disagreement, and it goes a step additional than, ‘Oh, that feels bizarre. We actually don’t agree on this.’ Nevertheless it’s at all times positive. We work by way of that stuff. Clearly, because the coach, I’m at all times gonna have the final say. However I by no means attempt to use that place. I need it to be a collaborative factor. However there’s a chain of command. That chain of command needs to be adopted for it to work.”
If Turner can work with Wentz, Bowen stated Washington has sufficient expertise on the talent positions and on the offensive line to get the perfect out of Wentz. He’d have the ability to stretch the sector with tight finish Logan Thomas. He can take vertical, one-on-one pictures down the sideline to receiver Dyami Brown. He can exploit the center of the sector with gadget receiver Curtis Samuel or discover Antonio Gibson popping out of the backfield. And he can ship a well-timed ball to star receiver Terry McLaurin on quite a lot of routes.
“How we choose Carson Wentz this 12 months will likely be … these throws,” Bowen stated. “You are going to must be constant and correct and throw with anticipation from the pocket. As a result of the scheme works. There is not any query the scheme works. It is simply going to come back all the way down to his potential to operate and produce in that offense and make the performs in vital sport conditions.”
Regardless of the potential pitfalls, regardless of the unlikelihood of Wentz returning to 2017 ranges of manufacturing, Cole argued Washington is healthier with him than it was with some other quarterback from the final two years. The variance curler coaster could also be troublesome to experience, and the general public opinion of Washington’s commerce will seemingly rely upon whether or not Wentz can ever recapture his kind from 2018-19, which Cole stated could be extra a sensible expectation.
“At the least there’s some upside, if every little thing goes proper for him,” the analyst stated. “If the staff is keen to take that likelihood, it might repay.”
