Despite what some members of the Eagles fanbase will tell you, this city is still very interested in what Carson Wentz is up to. The Jalen Hurts v. Carson Wentz debate has never been as aggressive as the Nick Foles argument was, but every now and again, you’ll still hear fans groaning about how the organization failed Wentz, etc.
Now that Wentz is a member of the Washington Commanders, Eagles fans have more reasons to hate on him. Or at the very least, pay attention to his play.
NFL insider Adam Caplan decided to chime in on the Wentz v. Hurts debate when he appeared on 106.7 The Fan’s Sports Junkies show this week. In short, Caplan thinks Wentz is a much more talented quarterback than Hurts. Here’s the full snippet:
It’s not even close. Wentz is so much more talented than Hurts. I mean, the guy can play. The thing you’re gonna see, folks, that Commanders fans are gonna see this season, there are gonna be some games where you’re gonna go, ‘Why did Philly trade him?’ Now, he does force the ball every now and then,” he continued. “But what you hope is there are no stories about lack of leadership, teammates questioning his leadership, stuff like that. I’m not saying they’re gonna be a Wild Card. Odds are against it. But they certainly could be .500 or a little better, maybe 9-8. There’s enough talent there to do it.”
NFL Insider: Carson Wentz ‘so much more talented’ than Jalen Hurts
Now, before I give my two cents on this excerpt, I’ll preface it by saying that I am no longer a Wentz stan. Like any mentally healthy person, I’ve moved on from the relationship. So this isn’t going to be laced with biased takes. I promise.
For starters, Caplan isn’t really ‘wrong’ here. Wentz is a talented quarterback. Physically speaking, he has everything you could ever want from a franchise quarterback. Even the biggest Wentz haters can admit that much. It’s everything else that Wentz doesn’t bring to the table that turns most fans off.
If intangibles, leadership qualities, and durability didn’t matter, I’d take Wentz as my signal caller. But of course, those things matter. A lot.
If all the stuff about Wentz wanting out and having a falling out with Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman is true, then that’s on him. In the years since Wentz’s departure, Howie has proven to be one of the best general managers in the NFL. Truthfully, he proved that during the Wentz tenure. I mean, he built a Super Bowl team after all.
The central question here is, is Wentz more talented than Hurts? I’d say yes, but Hurts is so well liked in the locker room and all we ever hear about is how great of a leader he is, so on and so forth. Physical talent is only a piece of the pie when it comes to playing quarterback in the NFL. If you have no respect within your own locker room, if your teammates don’t go to bat for you, then you’ll never win anything of significance as a quarterback in the NFL. That’s just the reality of being a quarterback in today’s game.
Among the Eagles fanbase, there are still plenty of people who have their concerns with Hurts. I’m one of them. But there are also a ton of fans who think Hurts is the truth; the quarterback who’s going to lead this team to the promised land once again. His personality and demeanor is the complete antithesis to what Wentz is and I think that’s why Hurts does have so many fans supporting him.
If Hurts was just another talented quarterback who wasn’t heralded as leader in every way imaginable, the adoration for him probably wouldn’t be as high.
Regardless of anyone’s thoughts on the matter, Hurts will be the Eagles quarterback in 2022, and Wentz will be the Commanders’ signal caller. That Week 3 matchup between Hurts and Wentz can’t come soon enough.
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