The Mechanics of Carson Wentz: Week 4 vs Miami Dolphins

The Mechanics of Carson Wentz series is back for the regular season, as I am going to dive into every game one by one to break down how Wentz looked mechanically. How did he perform against the Dolphins? (Video via Indianapolis Colts YouTube)

The Indianapolis Colts are finally in the win column, defeating the Miami Dolphins 27-17 in week four. While it wasn't a perfect game by any means, the Colts were able to get a much needed win early in the season.

Quarterback Carson Wentz put together his best statistical game of the year this past Sunday. He finished the day completing 24 of 32 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns.

With Wentz continuing his steady play, I dove back into the film to see how his mechanics held up against the underwhelming Dolphins' pass rush.

If you are interested in reading back on the offseason series, click this link here.

Operating Well When Kept Clean

In 2020, Carson Wentz was an abject disaster in most areas of his game. One major concern from last year was the fact that he even struggled when he was kept clean in the pocket. While he hasn't had as many clean pockets as expected so far this year, he has shown some improvement when he is not under duress.

On this first throw, he does a good job of scanning the field before finding his target for the first down. He goes through his reads, looks off the safety, and then sets back to his left for the completion. His sequencing through the pass is good, as you can see the weight transfer through the paused portion of the video.

My only nitpick would be that his front foot doesn't step forward from where his back foot is aligned. If you watch it closely, his front foot drifts a bit to the left and opens up his front half slightly too much. It wasn't an issue on this throw, but that is the only minor concern on an otherwise positive play.

For the most part, I do think that Wentz has shown improvement in his mechanics this year (especially when he has been kept clean). His sequencing is certainly much better than what it was a year ago, and he is aligning that back foot with his target on a pretty consistent basis.

The front foot drifting left is a concern yet again on this clip, but I like how he hangs in the pocket as things begin to get a little tight. He still properly aligns his back foot, while transitioning power through his entire body. There are some minor things to clean up, but there has been a noticeable improvement in some areas.

Setting to the Right has Been Much Better

My debut piece for this series was all about setting the hallway. In that piece, Dub Maddox broke down how Wentz has a tendency to over-set his back foot when throwing to the left and under-set his back foot when throwing to his right. While his left is still a bit inconsistent, I have seen a lot of improvement throwing to his right.

The deep shot to Parris Campbell in the second quarter is the best example of that. He looks off the safety in the middle of the field before coming back to his right for the vertical shot. This is an outside the numbers throw that Wentz aligns with, and sets, perfectly.

All in all, this is a near-perfect throw that has to be caught by Campbell down the sideline.

Changing Arm Angles

Something that I didn't talk about too much in my original mechanics series is the importance of changing arm angles when throwing for quarterbacks. The example below isn't the perfectly synced up throw, but the adjust in his arm angle does get a positive look from me.

Wentz is facing defenders closing in on this throw and has to quickly work back to his checkdown. In order to avoid the pass getting knocked down, he adjusts his arm angle and throws a good side-armed pass to get positive yardage.

Mechanically speaking, it isn't the most perfect play in the world, but that quick adjustment to get the ball out is still a positive sign.

The Front Foot Scares Me a Bit

I mentioned it a bit in the videos above, but the front left foot with Wentz does scare me a tad. Wentz had a tendency to swing that foot very wide last year, and it was one of the many reasons why his mechanics began to deteriorate late in the season. Here is what Mark Schofield of Touchdown Wire told me in the offseason regarding Wentz in 2020:

"His front foot/front leg was a mess all year. He often locked it up totally, other times he wasn’t pointing that foot where it needed to be."

While it certainly doesn't look as bad as it did last year, I'm seeing some concerning signs with that foot the last two weeks. This play below is an example of a play where Wentz could have slide to his left and kept that front foot forward. Instead, he swings it back even with his back foot, and the ball comes out a bit late as a result.

I'm not sounding the alarm bells on this just yet, but it is something to watch going forward.

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Breaking Down his Two Worst Misses

Miss to Zach Pascal

To anyone watching the game on Sunday, there were two clear "misses" by Wentz in the second half. The first one came on a third down throw to receiver Zach Pascal over the middle.

When re-watching the play, it is apparent that Wentz's back foot is definitely misaligned on the throw. He sets to the middle of the field despite throwing it more to the right of his body. He needs to set in front of the receiver's route rather than behind it to be as accurate as possible.

When assigning blame though, it is hard to put this one entirely on Wentz. Was it a great throw? No, but if Pascal continues his route rather than sitting at the sticks, it is probably still a completion.

Miss to Michael Pittman Jr

Now this miss was 100% on Wentz. The Colts run a RPO play with first and goal late in the game. The play-call turns out to be a good one, as Pittman Jr uncovers in the back of the endzone. The issue is with Wentz's mechanics as he pulls the ball out to pass.

He gets lazy with his footwork and doesn't set his feet prior to the pass. This leads to him being off-balance on the throw. All of his kinetic energy sits in his back foot and doesn't transfer throughout his body. When that happens, the ball will almost always end up missing high.

Overall, this play is just a quarterback seeing an open target and losing his mechanics on what he likely thought was an easy throw. I don't think this throw is indicative of things to come by any means, it is just a mistake in mechanics at a crucial time in the game.

I'm confident that this type of mistake can be cleaned up after film review and repetition.

Final Thoughts

While this was Wentz's best game statistically this season, I still think he can show more going forward. He has shown positive signs with his mechanics (especially when compared to last year) but they still aren't as crisp as they need to be.

I am liking a lot of what I have seen from Wentz thus far in 2021. The next step is for him to get healthy and build off of these good signs. He has been a solid game-manager so far. Now, he has to go out and prove that he can be the future of the franchise.

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