Trade talks involving Carson Wentz have reportedly cooled down a bit in recent days, as the Eagles front office continues to search for fair compensation for their 28-year-old signal caller.
We’ve already heard that Chicago and Indianapolis have shown interest. On Tuesday, we learned both San Francisco and Houston have called the Eagles inquiring about Wentz.
Although is hasn’t actually come into fruition yet, Wentz playing in a new city next year feels like it’s already a foregone conclusion. His relationship with Howie Roseman seems fractured and he’s yet to come out and say anything regarding new head coach Nick Sirianni.
Wentz is going to be playing for another team next year. Regardless of which team decides to pull the trigger on him, the real question is, will he actually bounce back and succeed in his new home?
Many pundits will tell you no, mostly because of how aggressive his regression was last season. To go from a top-12 quarterback in football to arguably the worst starter in the league in one year is unheard of. Fans and pundits don’t have a template to base their thoughts off of when it comes to Wentz’s downfall. And that’s because nothing like this has really ever happened in the history of the NFL.
It’s fair to have pause on wanting to trade for Wentz. Not only was he terrible last season, multiple reports have painted him as a selfish diva who’s unable to admit that any of what’s transpired this past year was his fault. But what so many of us forget is how good of a quarterback he was in the years prior to 2020.
Sure, he did suffer an injury in each of those three seasons, two of which ended his season prematurely. But the numbers he produced speak for themselves.
What the stats say
Between 2017 and 2019, Wentz started 40 games and only had two starts in which he had below a 74 QB rating. In 2020, Wentz’s passer rating was 72.8. It’s impossible to know all of the factors that went into such a monumental drop off, but based on Wentz’s entire resume, it’s also impossible to say he’s just going to be that bad for the remainder of his career. The chances of him never bouncing back are slim.
When comparing Wentz’s five-year resume to other all-time great QBs or QBs who are still active, it’s easy to see how good Carson Wentz really is.
Among quarterbacks who have a minimum of 60 games played and1,000 attempts in their first five years, Wentz ranks 12th in completion percentage with 62.68%. He ranks 28th out of 85 quarterbacks in TD% (4.5), and fourth out of 20 quarterbacks in INT% (2.01).
Of course, there are fans that will look at those stats and say something like, “take out his 2017 season and he’s trash!” And to them I say, you’re wrong.
Taking out Wentz’s 2017 stats actually raises his overall completion percentage for his career, putting it at 63.2%. His TD% drops a bit if you take away his 33 touchdown passes from 2017, but his INT% still ranks fourth all-time without stats from 2017.
Based on all of this evidence, giving Wentz a fresh start with a new team like the Colts or Bears would more than likely see him succeed. The Frank Reich connection with the Colts is one pundits have discussed frequently, but we can’t forget the John DeFilippo connection in Chicago either. Both of these coaches saw Carson Wentz at his best and obviously knew how to get the most out of him. Reconnecting with either of these coaches would obviously be beneficial for Wentz’s career.
Maybe Wentz’s career in Philly is over, but that doesn’t mean his career won’t thrive elsewhere. The chances of Wentz finding success in a different city are higher than you may think.