Carson Wentz: Job Saver or Franchise Savior?

Wentz upon a time, there was a quarterback that was highly touted coming out of North Dakota State. Despite having a short resume, he did lead his team to back-to-back FCS Championships and was seen as a surefire top-five pick in the 2016 NFL draft.

At 6-foot-5 and 237 pounds with a cannon arm, Carson Wentz came into the league with the prototypical fit and frame of a franchise quarterback. And his career started with a bang, as he led the Eagles to an 11-2 record in his second season before suffering a season-ending ACL injury. His team would go on to win the Super Bowl that year, but Wentz would quickly wear out his welcome in Philadelphia over the next few seasons.

Fast forward to today and Wentz is on to this third team, after getting traded from the Indianapolis Colts to the Washington Commanders, with a trail of negativity and whispers of being a poor teammate following in his wake.

After having pipe dreams of Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson coming to Washington, fans were disappointed after hearing their consolation prize was Wentz.

The irony is those same fans had a sense of excitement when the team added Ryan Fitzpatrick to the mix last season. How did Fitzmagic work out in Washington?

Shouldn’t Wentz be given a chance to try to come in and prove himself? Statistically, he looked like an above-average quarterback the last two seasons. Is he going to be the quarterback of the future that fans have been waiting for? Probably not, but this team was able to make the playoffs with a dinking and dunking Alex Smith, so a playoff berth would be a step in the right direction.

Yes, it would be amazing to solve the age-old quarterback conundrum this team has had for ages, but with this franchise, any progress has to be applauded, especially when you how pathetic the team has been during Dan Snyder’s tenure.

Yes, the Rams added Matthew Stafford and were able to win a Super Bowl, so the dream of having something similar happen next season runs deep across many NFL fanbases, including Washington.

But what isn’t understood is the Rams have been contenders for quite some time, making the playoffs four of the past five seasons, and even having Jared Goff lead them to a Super Bowl. This wasn’t just about a quarterback putting the team over the top, the Rams have been good.

Washington on the other hand has been to the playoffs four times over the past 15 years and hasn’t won a playoff game since 2006.

So what does Wentz bring to the table? Let’s take a look.