Carson Wentz was elite in this key passing category in 2021

The Washington Commanders‘ acquisition of Carson Wentz was largely met with vitriol amongst the national media.

Without acknowledging he was the best quarterback they could acquire at the time, writers and pundits alike maligned the decision to trade for Wentz after his volatile tendencies played a huge part in the Colts’ Week 18 collapse.

We don’t fault any Commanders fans whom are skeptical of Wentz. The 29-year-old has been traded in consecutive offseasons and the Colts unloaded him after one season … in which he produced 3,563 passing yards and 27 touchdowns, played all 17 games and tied his career-low with seven interceptions.

What matters for Washington, though, is that Wentz represents a seismic upgrade over Taylor Heinicke with his experience and skillset. The biggest difference between the quarterbacks? Wentz’s cannon of a right arm.

At 6-foot-5 and 237 pounds, Wentz makes downfield throws with ease. In fact, according to Next Gen Stats, the Commanders’ incumbent starter was one of the league’s best deep-ball passers last season in Indianapolis.

Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz was one of the NFL’s best deep-ball passers last season.

Wentz checked in as the No. 7 best deep passer in 2021, ahead of Russell Wilson, Derek Carr and Aaron Rodgers, respectively. The only QBs who were more efficient in that department were Patrick Mahomes, Matthew Stafford, Justin Herbert, Kyler Murray, Matt Ryan and Josh Allen. Pretty impressive company.

According to Next Gen Stats, deep pass attempts must travel 20 or more yards in the air and these rankings were measured by expected completion percentage (xComp) and completion percentage above expectation (CPOE). Both measurements consider the level of difficulty of these deep balls.

Wentz finished 23-of-53 for 797 yards and seven touchdowns to just three interceptions (106.3 passer rating) on such passes.

• Comp: 43.4%
• xComp: 33.3%
• CPOE: +10.1%
• PASSING SCORE (on deep attempts): 93

Wentz’s proficiency on deep throws was definitely aided by the Colts’ spectacular running game led by Jonathan Taylor. With defenses crowding the line of scrimmage to stymie Taylor, Frank Reich dialed up play-action more than most teams. That context matters, but Wentz still had to deliver these deep strikes with accuracy, and he did just that … despite Indy not having any proven deep threats at WR.

It’s one thing for a coaching staff to put a quarterback in position to succeed. At that point, it’s on the QB to deliver and Wentz did, time and time again.

That’s great news for the Commanders, who love to establish the run and set up play-action. With the team’s receiving corps having plenty of speed to burn, Wentz could turn in similar efficiency on throws beyond the numbers in 2022. That should give Ron Rivera and Scott Turner plenty to think about for the rest of the summer.