Eagles reporter reveals frustrating truth about Commanders’ Carson Wentz

We’ve defended the Washington Commanders decision to trade for Carson Wentz all offseason, but there’s no arguing the organization — especially Ron Rivera — has taken a huge gamble by handing the keys of the offense over to a QB who’s widely said to be entering his last chance to prove himself as a franchise guy.

It’s unclear if Rivera’s coaching future is tied to Wentz’s success, or lack thereof, this upcoming season, but like Frank Reich before him, the third-year head coach has stuck his neck out for the 29-year-old quarterback.

Everyone can recognize Wentz’s talent. He can make every throw and oddly flourishes in a collapsing pocket.

In 2021, he was one of PFF’s highest-graded quarterbacks under pressure with a 57.6 grade. Only eight QBs produced higher marks and Wentz had the fifth-lowest turnover-worthy pass rate at the position when faced with pressure.

At the same time, though, Wentz can make the easiest throws seem impossible and his penchant for committing back-breaking and impossible (left-handed, shuffle pass, etc.) turnovers has seen his stock plummet as far as QB rankings.

Eagles fans and reporters had a front-row seat to Wentz’s volatile tendencies and Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia recently joined the “Washington Football Talk” podcast to explain how the QB “teases fans.”

An Eagles report revealed some frustrating truths about Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz.

"“The most frustrating thing about him is you still see the glimpses of a special player,” Zangaro told the podcast, via NBC Sports Washington. “He’s still big and strong, he still has a rocket of an arm, he can throw on the run about as well as anybody in the league, he can still buy time and he teases you with all that.“You’ll probably see it this year, there will be moments where you look at him and go, ‘All right, that guy has top-10 talent,’ and then it feels like he just can’t get out of his own way. It’s tough to watch.”"

Ding, ding, ding!

Again, no one knows Wentz’s peaks and valleys more than Eagles reporters, who covered him for five seasons and watched him overcome a rocky rookie year (14 interceptions, 79.3 passer rating) to become one of the league’s premier passers as a sophomore when he finished third in MVP voting with 33 touchdowns.

While Wentz was relatively consistent in 2018 and 2019, his career since then has been defined by his recklessness. Zangaro later added, “Even as we saw last year in Indy, the mistakes are just the worst mistakes ever.”

A quarterback can only be responsible for so many maddening (and ill-timed) turnovers before that begins to define their career.

Despite looking the part of a top 10-12 QB for most of last season, everyone remembers Wentz falling on his face with the Colts’ season on the line.

No one remembers that he largely elevated an Indy offense that had a wonky offensive line and an average collection of pass catchers. Conversely, everyone remembers his left-handed throw from his own end zone that resulted in a Titans pick-six in a 24-24 ballgame with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Wentz made marked improvements with his ball security last season. He just has to learn when to live to fight another down. Six years into his career, though, it’s not unfair to say he is who he is at this point.

And for the record, we can still endorse the trade and recognize Wentz’s greatest weaknesses. It doesn’t have to be one way or the other.

Why Commanders fans should be optimistic about Carson Wentz

By looking at the statistics, Washington Commanders fans can get an unbiased view of Carson Wentz and what he could bring to the table in 2022.