How the NFL’s perception of Carson Wentz has changed

[UK_EaglesFan89]

How the NFL’s perception of Carson Wentz has changed

 Two years ago, Carson Wentz came in at No. 3 on NFL Network’s list of the top 100 players in the league.

All he’s done since then is throw 48 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, complete 66 percent of his passes and fashion a 96.7 passer rating.

And drop out of the top 100.

It’s stupid, of course. We all understand Wentz should be in the top 100. He’s a really good player. But instead of complaining about it, let’s consider what it means.

Because it didn’t just happen. Nobody was out to get Carson. His fall out of the top-100 may be ridiculous, but it happened for a very real reason and represents a very real national perspective.

When he got hurt in L.A. late in the 2017 season, Wentz was 24 years old and the best young quarterback in football. Pat Mahomes and Deshaun Watson were rookies and Lamar Jackson was still at Louisville. 

Now Wentz is 27 and going into Year 5, and he’s just as talented as ever. His numbers considering his lack of receivers are crazy. That 96.7 passer rating throwing to Nelly, Mack Hollins and Alshon is 9th-highest in the NFL over the last two years. Yet he’s dropped from No. 3 entirely off the list.

It's all about perception.

Carson is no longer seen as this hot young quarterback taking the league by storm. He’s now perceived as injury prone and incapable of carrying a football team from opening day through a deep playoff run.

It’s amazing how perception can change so quickly, but that’s what happens. This year’s Next Biggest Thing is next year’s Washed-Up Has-Been.

The reality for Wentz is somewhere in between. When he’s been healthy, he’s been really good. But he’s going into Year 5 and the sum total of his postseason career is a 3-yard completion to Boston Scott.

So it’s really hard to fairly rank Wentz because he’s 27 and hasn’t won a playoff game. Hasn’t even finished one.

And this is a fickle business. 

Kyler Murray had a nice rookie year and I think he’s going to be really good, but he has no business being ranked ahead of Wentz. Josh Allen did some exciting things last year, but he has no business being ranked ahead of Wentz.

But people look at those guys now the same way they looked at Wentz two years ago. Young, exciting, improving, full of potential. Part of a new wave of NFL quarterbacks.

And when you look at the big picture, there’s a sense that young QBs are leaving Wentz by the wayside.

Mahomes and Watson are three years younger than Wentz. Jackson is four years younger. 

They’re now the hot young QBs. Now they're the future.  

That’s just natural.  Maybe it’s not fair that while you’re out there throwing 48 TDs and 14 INTs your reputation takes a hit, but that’s life.

I liked Carson’s answer when I asked him last week about not being in the top 100. 

"You can always use anything and everything as just a little bit of extra motivation,” he said. "I'm not going to let that cause me to lose any sleep or anything, but I do look forward to going out this year and showing what I can do.”

I’m glad he’s pissed. Or as close to pissed as Carson gets. I want angry Carson. 

Because you can hang your head and feel bad about being snubbed by somebody’s list or you can shrug it off and go do something about it and win some games and get to the playoffs and prove you really are one of the 100 best players in the league or maybe one of the 10 best.

In the end, only Carson truly controls how he's perceived. In the end, Carson's vote is the only one that counts.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/carson-wentz-nfl-top-100-perception-pat-mahomes-lamar-jackson-deshaun-watson

[PoconoDon]

As long as he and the rest of the Eagles are winning Super Bowls, I don't care where he's ranked.

[time2rock]

Maybe the Eagles have the same perception of Wentz and hence the Hurts pick. 

[DeathByEagle]

2017 with the right offensive scheme, Wentz was the best QB in the NFL. 2016, 2018, 2019 that scheme was crap. Ding and Dunk football, poor play selection, giving up on the running game and calling 15 pass plays in a row. 

I'm hoping all these new coaches brings that spark we need to fire back up the creative, balanced offense we had in 2017. When given a QB the right pieces, right system for their game they will look unstoppable. Jackson is a decent player but what makes him look great is the scheme the Ravens put around him. 2017 we put that together and what came out was having the MVP of he league running that that. 

Yes, I'm crazy but I think Wentz can be a top 3 QB in this league year in and year out. We need the coaching to be better. 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

16 hours ago, DeathByEagle said:

2017 with the right offensive scheme, Wentz was the best QB in the NFL. 2016, 2018, 2019 that scheme was crap. Ding and Dunk football, poor play selection, giving up on the running game and calling 15 pass plays in a row. 

I'm not sure I'd put that all on scheme to be honest. A lot of that is on the roster, and so Howie, for not having resilience to injuries to our only speed receiver. 

[PoconoDon]

On 8/7/2020 at 7:40 AM, time2rock said:

Maybe the Eagles have the same perception of Wentz and hence the Hurts pick. 

[DeathByEagle]

11 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

I'm not sure I'd put that all on scheme to be honest. A lot of that is on the roster, and so Howie, for not having resilience to injuries to our only speed receiver. 

Problem is in 2017 we didn't really have a speedy wide receiver either. The one so called Speedy wide receiver never even went deep and caught a deep pass. 2017 had very little to do with speed, they were just more creative. Better game planning, play designs, better scripting of the place. We were the number one offense in points scored in the first half that year. Number one offense in the league. And we really did not have a speed guy. I think our leading yardage receiver was Agholor for deep passes followed by Jeffrey. Torrey Smith had a mediocre season and I think only one catch over 30 yards.. I think scheme had a ton to do with that season success. 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

5 hours ago, DeathByEagle said:

Problem is in 2017 we didn't really have a speedy wide receiver either. The one so called Speedy wide receiver never even went deep and caught a deep pass. 2017 had very little to do with speed, they were just more creative. Better game planning, play designs, better scripting of the place. We were the number one offense in points scored in the first half that year. Number one offense in the league. And we really did not have a speed guy. I think our leading yardage receiver was Agholor for deep passes followed by Jeffrey. Torrey Smith had a mediocre season and I think only one catch over 30 yards.. I think scheme had a ton to do with that season success. 

Thing is... Deep pass conversion isn't necessarily biggest factor. Just having a legit deep threat the team's have to take seriously can be enough to open things up. Smith drew some DPI calls and was enough of a threat for defenses to be wary of him. That helped i think. 

[time2rock]

The beauty of perception is, it can change again ... and again ... and again.  If Wentz goes on a year this season (and **knock on wood** stays healthy), he’ll be included in these meaningless rankings once again.  Lead this team to a Super Bowl victory (or 2) and he’ll be atop the meaningless rankings (and people will care as much as not being ranked this year ... they’ll be too happy to have another championship).  

[DeathByEagle]

30 minutes ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Thing is... Deep pass conversion isn't necessarily biggest factor. Just having a legit deep threat the team's have to take seriously can be enough to open things up. Smith drew some DPI calls and was enough of a threat for defenses to be wary of him. That helped i think. 

But that was the thing, they didn;t use him as a deep threat, not even a decoy. If you rewatch his route tree in that season, he was mainly on mid level routes. Nelson was there decoy on the streaks and deep posts mainly. Smith wasn't even used in the role everyone thought he was brought in for. 

[eglz1]

22 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Thing is... Deep pass conversion isn't necessarily biggest factor. Just having a legit deep threat the team's have to take seriously can be enough to open things up. Smith drew some DPI calls and was enough of a threat for defenses to be wary of him. That helped i think. 

If deep passes are seldom or never converted how seriously do we expect opposing defenses to take that threat? The deep game is seldom a high percentage game for any team but it has to work often enough to be viewed as real.

[PoconoDon]

FLY CARSON FLY!!