Dan Orlovsky on Carson Wentz: 'He Must Be a Dud'

ESPN's Dan Orlovsky thinks the problems the Indianapolis Colts have with Carson Wentz aren't about his play on the field.

The Indianapolis Colts are reportedly "swinging big" in the quarterback market this offseason, but two big targets came off the board yesterday in Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson.

Whether the Colts connect on their big swing or not, it looks like Carson Wentz's days are numbers with the Colts.

ESPN's Dan Orlovsky isn't the first, but may have said the loudest, that the problem with Wentz goes beyond what we see on the field.

Moving on from a player that was statistically top 5 from week 4 to week 16 has more to do than just performance https://t.co/NX3SCFCJRh

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) March 8, 2022

"The reality is it seems the Colts are more disappointed in the person than they are the player," said Orlovsky on Get Up ESPN. "We've talked about Carson Wentz as a player, and some of the statistics say for the most part he was a top-10 player (quarterback), top five for a 12-week stretch (Week 4 to Week 16), and the Colts were 9-3 in that stretch."

"The only two guys that were better QBR-wise during that stretch were Aaron Rodgers and Justin Herbert. That doesn't happen by mistake. It doesn't happen by accident over 12 weeks."

"But it seems like they want a leader that is different."

"When I hear [Colts general manager] Chris Ballard say they're going to make the best decision for them now and in the future. When I hear 'the future', it makes me believe that Carson Wentz off the field, as a leader or as a person, doesn't match the person that's on the field."

"It's really hard for me to sit there and think that there's available options that are incredibly better performance-wise than Carson Wentz."

That's why I think they're more disappointed in the day to day person. He must be... and I don't want to be a jerk... he seems like he must be a dud in the locker room for them to give up what they gave up for him and then also for him to have the performance on the field and go 'nope, it's time for us to move on."

The notion that Wentz's problem extends beyond his up and down season. We mentioned it last week when Mitch Trubisky was predicted to be the Colts quarterback in 2022.

Like Orlovsky said, Trubisky doesn't appear in any way shape or form an improvement on a quarterback who threw for 27 touchdowns against just seven interceptions his first year in Indianapolis.

Those are numbers a team can build on with a 29-year old quarterback.

Unless there are things going on behind the scenes that overshadow the player on the field. It sure seems that way.

And Orlovsky agrees.