Expectations for Carson Wentz Need to Scale Back
PHILADELPHIA - How bad has it been for Carson Wentz in the first half of the 2020 season?
If you listen to the independent observers the Eagles' quarterback has been among the worst in the NFL.
ProFootballFocus.com has Wentz graded as No. 31 of 36 signal-callers, ahead of only backups forced into significant action like Nick Mullens and Andy Dalton, along with young disasters Sam Darnold, Drew Lock, and Dwayne Haskins. The first in that latter grouping being the leader of the only winless team in the NFL and the last having already been benched.
Wentz's 23 "turnover-worthy plays" outpaces the runner-up by a staggering total of 10 and Wentz himself has been credited for 15 of Philadelphia's 16 turnovers at the midway point of the 2020 campaign.
The Philadelphia fifth-year quarterback is sacked more often than anyone else and he holds onto the football far longer than the average signal-caller.
If you're in the PFF sucks club, however, you might turn to FootballOutsiders.com to find out Wentz has been labeled as the second-worst starting QB in the league behind the Adam Gase-handcuffed Darnold.
Consider that in a season where NFL QBs are completing passes at the highest rate (65.6 percent) through the first eight weeks in history, Wentz is somehow at a career-low 58.4 percent and the advanced numbers say it's even worse than that with NextGenStats tabulating Wentz's completion mark over expectation ahead of only Darnold, Haskins and the aging Joe Flacco.
To be fair, many of Wentz's issues can be traced to the supporting cast.
Contrary to some narratives Wentz's rookie receivers - Jalen Reagor (when out there) and John Hightower - have played very poorly, and even more concerning has been Miles Sanders when healthy, a player who continues to be in the wrong spot far too often as an outlet receiver.
Add in the contract-related regression of Zach Ertz, along with injuries to him and Dallas Goedert at tight end, the now-annual injury concerns of DeSean Jackson at WR plus the musical chairs on the offensive line and you've had a perfect storm leading to the poor play of the QB1.
Arguably the only bright spot on Philadelphia's offense in the first half has been the emergence of receiver Travis Fulgham.
Still, the true star QBs in this league would simply not regress to the level Wentz has. That means he deserves plenty of the blame here as well.
After all, Wentz excelled late last season with weapons like Greg Ward, Boston Scott, Josh Perkins, and Deontay Burnett when he was almost forced to allow Doug Pederson's offense to "work for him," instead of always pressing the issue.
With "better playmakers" around him in 2020 Wentz is defaulted back to his DNA as a player, always pressing, always extending the play. The kind of hero ball that often results in those turnover-worthy plays.
"I’m not going to change my aggressive mentality," Wentz said after turning it over four times against the Dallas Cowboys. "We’re going to start connecting on some of those big plays."
The best comp for Wentz has always been Brett Favre due to the North Dakota State product’s gunslinger mentality but Wentz has an above-average fastball not Favre's historic Nolan Ryan-like arm strength in which the Hall of Famer could fit the football in the tightest of windows.
The goal in the second half for Wentz should be trying to regain the magic of December of 2019 and that means turning into more of an Alex Smith-like game manager, a descriptor most dislike because it's usually looked upon as an insult.
The bigger insult, however, is that the comps for Wentz have turned from the NFL’s best at the position to players like Darnold and rookie backup Jalen Hurts, who some actually believe would be a better option right now.
"I have to be better," said Wentz. "There’s mistakes out there - some of it’s maybe not on the same page. ... That stuff I can keep cleaning up."
Wentz better clean it up because there's no come-to-Jesus moment looming.
"I’m going to pull the trigger," he said. "I’ve never been wired to hesitate. ... I’m going to stay aggressive, I’m not going to change who I am. But I can protect it better.”
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Tuesday and Thursday on "The Middle" with Eytan Shander, Harry Mayes, and Barrett Brooks on SportsMap Radio and PhillyVoice.com. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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