This PFF stat proves Commanders’ Carson Wentz hate is overblown

Already viewed as a laughingstock, the Washington Commanders‘ decision to acquire Carson Wentz brought every troll and hater out of the woodwork. At the time, Wentz’s reputation was at rock-bottom after he failed to deliver wins against the Raiders and Jaguars in the Colts’ final two regular season games.

As a result, Indianapolis missed out on the playoffs and the franchise, spearheaded by owner Jim Irsay, couldn’t run Wentz out of town fast enough.

At face value, the Commanders taking Wentz off the Colts’ hands looks questionable, especially when Indy was reportedly considering releasing the quarterback. That’s the problem with taking things at face value; you fail to recognize other (pertinent) narratives that persuaded Ron Rivera and Co. to pull the trigger on the deal.

But enough about the trade. We could sit here for hours and eviscerate the national media for failing to acknowledge that Wentz was the best attainable (!) quarterback for the Commanders. It’s a lost cause at this point.

What we can do, however, is continue to defend Wentz’s reputation and this Pro Football Focus stat proves his hate is overblown.

The Commanders’ Carson Wentz was among the best quarterbacks when faced with pressure last season.

In a recent article, PFF graded every starting quarterback from last season based on their efficiency in a clean and pressured pocket. Long-rumored Commanders target Jimmy Garoppolo ranked dead-last with a dreadful 29.2 grade in a pressured pocket and was one of two QBs with a grade that dipped under 30.0.

Wentz, on the other hand, flourished under pressure, producing a PFF grade of 57.6 that trailed only Aaron Rodgers, Daniel Jones (clearly an outlier), Kyler Murray, Dak Prescott, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen for the best in the NFL.

Per PFF analyst Bryant Horn, Wentz boasted a 50% completion rate for 1,011 yards and six touchdowns on 162 pressured attempts. He averaged an impressive 6.2 yards per attempt and recorded 47 first downs in such scenarios.

The Colts’ offensive line has a world-beater’s reputation, but it was woefully inconsistent last campaign. Eric Fisher proved to be a disaster stopgap at left tackle filling in for the retired Anthony Castonzo, and Quenton Nelson and Ryan Kelly posted uncharacteristic player grades of 69.1 and 56.9, respectively.

https://twitter.com/StevenIHaglund/status/1540790717596938241

The right guard position was also a revolving door, so the notion Wentz worked behind a formidable offensive line isn’t true. To the 29-year-old’s credit, he thrived in chaos, which has ironically been one of the themes of his career.

For comparison’s sake, Heinicke’s 40.0 pressured-pocket passing grade was among the worst at the position. Only Garoppolo, Tua Tagovailoa, Davis Mills, Justin Fields, Lamar Jackson, Zach Wilson, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Ben Roethlisberger and Trevor Lawrence had a worse grade than the Old Dominion product.

That should provide some perspective in terms of how much of an upgrade Wentz represents under center for the Commanders. We’re not denying he’s a volatile quarterback, but the notion he’s completely washed and incapable of winning games is misinformation. After all, only a select handful of QBs were better under pressure in 2021 than the former second overall pick.