Commanders players give glowing reviews of Carson Wentz at OTAs

The Washington Commanders enter their second day of OTAs on Wednesday. It’s important to note that organized team activities aren’t worth overreacting to, whether it be a positive (a player looking like a world-beater) or negative development (a team leader not showing or a veteran looking out of sorts).

OTAs are more for introducing new playbook concepts and new teammates learning to play together. They’re also a great opportunity for rookies to leave a strong impression on the coaching staff in whatever reps they might get.

For the Commanders, though, all eyes on Carson Wentz.

It feels like we’ll be saying that leading up to Week 1 of next season. Entering what many believe is his last chance to prove himself as a franchise quarterback, you wouldn’t blame Wentz if he looked a little tight at Tuesday’s practice.

Instead, Wentz looked pretty darn good. And that goes beyond the fact he was impossible to miss at 6-foot-5 and repping the yellow QBs jersey.

In fact, multiple Commanders players addressed the media after practice and couldn’t help but applaud Wentz’s arm talent and leadership (!) instincts.

Carson Wentz is already drawing praise from his Commanders teammates at OTAs this week.

First up? Team leader and defensive captain Jonathan Allen.

"He’s everything you want from your starting quarterback. He’s a leader—talks to every guy on the team, not just the receivers or the running backs or the offensive line. Talks to the defensive guys, and he wants to be here and he wants to win. Really not much more I could ask for."

Allen praising Wentz’s leadership? That sure aligns with what Wentz’s former Colts teammates said about him on his way out of Indy amid reports from inside the building suggested he displayed poor leadership. It’s almost like that narrative was overblown and borderline falsified to pin the team’s epic end-of-season collapse squarely on Wentz’s shoulders.

Regardless, Allen’s ringing endorsement of Wentz should resonate with every Commanders fan. As one of the team leaders and de facto brand ambassadors, it speaks volumes that Wentz has seemingly already won Allen over.

Someone else who was blown away by Wentz? First-rounder Jahan Dotson, who’s currently on cloud line experiencing his first real NFL practices.

"“Catching passes with Carson, I said it was gonna be a dream come true, so honestly it’s a dream come true. I’m looking forward to each and every day.“How precise he is,” Dotson said when he was asked what’s impressed him the most about Wentz so far. “When he says he wants you to be somewhere at this exact time, he means that. I’ll try to do that every single day.”"

You love to see that!

We don’t typically save the best for last in these scenarios, but linebacker Cole Holcomb’s review of Wentz’s first practice might take the cake.

"“First thing I know, he’s got a cannon. Dude can sling the ball. We got a lot of fast guys, a lot of fast receivers. I think we got a lot of good weapons and he’s gonna extend our offense in terms of the length of the field. It’ll help open up a lot of opportunities in the pass game for that deep ball.”"

Wentz does, indeed, have a cannon. That’s never been a question, but Holcomb brings up a great point about the QB’s weaponry. With a strong offensive line, stacked running back rotation and improved receiver room, the 29-year-old Wentz has the potential to take the Commanders offense to new heights in 2022.