Can Carson Wentz break any Commanders single-season passing records?

The Washington Commanders acquired Carson Wentz knowing they’d have to tolerate his maddening tendencies. While Wentz can look like a top-10 quarterback in moments, he has brain cramps that make you wonder how now-three different teams have given him a crack at being their franchise gunslinger.

Of course, it’s those moments of brilliance — like his 49-yard touchdown to Terry McLaurin in Week 1 — that keep teams interested. You might never win a Super Bowl with Wentz as your quarterback, but how many QBs can you say confidently say have championship potential?

Right now Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford, Joe Flacco and Nick Foles are the only active QBs who’ve reached the mountain top.

But let’s not get too far into the weeds with that.

After posting consecutive great games to star the year, Wentz is quietly on pace to shatter some Washington single-season passing records.

Can Carson Wentz break any single-season Commanders passing records?

Here are some Commanders single-season passing records of note.

• Passing yards – 4,917 (Kirk Cousins, 2016)
• Passing TDs – 31 (Sonny Jurgensen, 1967)
• Passer rating – 102.4 (Robert Griffin III, 2012)
• Completion rate – 69.8% (Kirk Cousins, 2015)
• Pass completions – 406 (Kirk Cousins, 2016)
• Pass attempts – 606 (Kirk Cousins, 2016)

Now, let’s take a look at Wentz’s career-highs in those departments.

• Passing yards – 4,039 (2019)
• Passing TDs – 33 (2017)
• Passer rating – 102.2 (2018) 
• Completion rate – 69.6% (2018)
• Pass completions – 388 (2018)
• Pass attempts – 607 (2016, 2019)

Based on that sample size alone, you’d say Wentz has a realistic shot of breaking some of Washington’s single-season records. And based on his performance to start the season, your confidence should increase ten fold.

In Week 1, Wentz went 27-of-41 for 313 yards (65.8%) and four touchdowns while boasting a 101.0 passer rating. In Week 2, Wentz went 30-of-46 for 337 yards and three touchdowns while boasting a 99.7 passer rating.

For the season, Wentz is completing 65.5% of his passes for 650 yards and seven touchdowns to three interceptions and a 100.3 rating. If you equate those numbers over a 17-game schedule, Wentz is on track to make some history.

Those stats speak volumes, but there’s a handful of other factors working in Wentz’s favor, too. For starters, these are the best weapons he’s had in his career. On top of that, the Commanders’ defense looks like it’s going to give up a lot of points this season, so Wentz will be asked to throw a lot (he dropped back 41 times vs the Jaguars); perhaps even more Ron Rivera and Scott Turner would like.

And finally, Turner’s offensive scheme was made for Wentz. The quarterback should reap the benefits of Turner being his play-caller. As long as he keeps the turnovers down, Wentz and Turner should form a great OC-QB pairing.

When you mix all of these ingredients together, it wouldn’t be shocking if Wentz had multiple Commanders single-season passing records all too himself when all is said and done. Cousins’ passing yards milestone will be tough to beat, but touchdowns, passer rating, completions and completion rate are seemingly well within reach for the 29-year-old.