“Either you die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Harvey Dent’s words in one of the most iconic superhero movies of our time, The Dark Knight. It seems appropriate for a time like this, a time when, as an Eagles fan, you’d hope it never came, but it’s here. Since 2016, the Eagles have committed to former No. 2 overall pick, Carson Wentz. A commitment you’ve made is a fair amount of ups and downs.
Wentz came on the scene by surprising the league and leading the Eagles to a 3-0 start. The world saw him fight the Ravens while playing with former NFL Security Eric Weddle. We saw that the wheel path worked perfectly when Wentz passed him Sproles for a touchdown against the Steelers. His rookie season showed Philadelphia that the Eagles selected the correct QB from the 2016 Draft.
Fortunately, it improved from there. In 2017 Wentz started running and was, in my opinion, the best QB in football. There was certainly no debate. He led his team to a mind-boggling start with eleven wins and just two losses, but while Wentz and the Eagles were standing on the highest mountain, the QB star was eliminated from the season due to a torn ACL. Unfortunately, this is where the nightmare for the Eagles began.
It was amazing to see Foles advance in the playoffs, but you’re lying to yourself if you thought he would after the way he played against the Raiders that year. There was no way anyone would see it coming until Pederson changed the way he played the offense. As the story unfolds, Foles led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl victory, but in doing so, chaos ensued.
Some have gone so far as to say that Wentz has not been the same since 2017. His mechanics have been off, his time has been off, and perhaps he has formed trust issues with the offense surrounding him or even a change in the coaching staff. a certain thanks to a shortened offseason that involved nothing more than rehabilitating that torn ligament. In 2018, Wentz rushed back from the injury, causing a broken vertebra in the lower back, another injury that eliminated the QB during the season.
Last season, however, we saw two versions of Carson Wentz. At first, we saw the QB that was pushing to find its form while also trying to find targets to trust. Wentz struggled from week 2 through week 13 and there was no way to hide it. The Eagles were on a downward spiral and were almost out of the question for the playoffs until that very moment happened after the loss to the Miami Dolphins.
Wentz changed the switch to his pre-injury form. It led the team to a 4-0 finish and the NFC East Division title. He had a passer rating of 97.5, 109.3, 108.2, and 88.4 during that final stretch. He also went for 1,199 yards and 7 touchdowns without interceptions. Wentz was crying without any of his initial WRs. In fact, only two QBs went through more than 4,000 yards and led their teams to the playoffs without a 1,000-yard receiver. One was Carson Wentz and the other was Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes.
This leads us to understand why this year is so important to Carson Wentz. Currently, Wentz is not viewed as one of the best QBs in the NFL. The media will blame him for his injuries and lost games, and while there are plenty of ways to counter that claim, the fact is that Wentz has yet to play four quarters of a playoff game. The league is undergoing a change right now. There are so many promising young QBs who have become extremely attractive to represent the league, and somewhere in the midst of chaos is Carson Wentz.
Wentz is at a crossroads right now, he has had a great career thus far, but has yet to find his consistent level of play. It has shown us games of pure brilliance, but it has also made us scratch our heads. It also doesn’t help that Wentz hasn’t had a decent or even healthy receiving core since 2017. Missing the chance to play on the greatest stage of all certainly hurt, but time passes quickly.
2020 will be the fifth season for Carson Wentz and undoubtedly the most important. The Eagles will get a healthy DeSean Jackson to start the season and have resupplied their WR group with new talents like veteran Marquise Goodwin and rookies: Jalen Reagor, John Hightower and Quez Watkins. They will also have last year’s hero in Greg Ward and a certain JJ Arcega-Whiteside, as well as an apparently reformed Alshon Jeffery who is recovering from injury. There are 8 goals that could be very vital to Wentz’s success this season.
He will also finally have a consistent game thanks to a star in training named Miles Sanders, who will be supported by Corey Clement and Boston Scott. We now know that all of these backs can also be used in aerial play. Sanders actually had more receiving yards last season than all wide receivers.
The Eagles have not only loaded on targets for Wentz, but have also rocked the coaching staff on offense. They have promoted Press Taylor to the aerial game coordinator and added players like Rich Scangarello, Marty Mornhinweg and Andrew Breiner.
The plan is ready, the stage will be too. Carson has everything he needs to help him and this offense is successful. He showed what he could do when he trusted the players in the practice squad last season, he also showed what we could do when he had healthy receivers, now there may be no margin for error for Wentz. Unless the Eagles face a similar collapse in health as what happened last season, Carson Wentz is expected to make the leap to one of the NFL’s elite QBs. If he doesn’t, well, then the Eagles recruited Jalen Hurts …
Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
31 years old, devoted husband and father, Eagles & Sixers enthusiasts. Co-host of Flippin ‘the Birds.
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