What Kind of Year Does Carson Wentz Need to be Considered Successful?
What Kind of Year Will Make Carson Wentz a Success?
Ever since the Washington Commanders traded for Carson Wentz earlier this offseason the national media have filled countless segments aimed at talking down on the 29-year-old signal-caller. In fact, it seems like the only football topic they’ll touch when it concerns the Commanders. But it got me thinking…just what kind of year does Carson Wentz need to be considered a success in Washington?
Jim Irsay Gone Wild?
When going over the idea of what kind of year he needs, one has to note immediately that not all the issues in Indianapolis were Carson’s fault. He had a pretty good season going on until he caught COVID and face-to-face practice time with the team was not possible during the last two weeks of the season. He still finished 6-3 down the stretch of the last nine games of the year.
After being humiliated by the Jaguars in the last game, Colts owner Jim Irsay started a pretty vocal tirade against Wentz. Basically blaming him for the team not making the playoffs despite Wentz being sacked six times in the Week 18 contest. Irsay was quoted as saying trading for him was “a mistake.”
Rumors that he’s not a great teammate have surrounded Carson Wentz since his days in Philly. What a lot of national media outlets have failed to point a light at is the fact that Carson’s Indy teammates have had nothing but good things to say about him.
Here we go again! About to be 5 years with the Colts and 5 different QBs! Thank you Carson for everything this year my guy! Wish you nothing but the best! — Darius Shaquille Leonard (@dsleon45) March 9, 2022
Appreciate you @cj_wentz. Great teammate and friend! He will be great! — MPJ (@MikePitt_Jr) March 9, 2022
“I mean, it is what it is, you know. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion,” Wentz said on the Colin Cowherd Podcast. “I thought last year was a really fun year. I thought we did some incredible things, came up short at the end. Obviously I struggled down the stretch there and timing was poor. But yeah, I didn’t expect that. I didn’t expect things to unfold the way they did and I thought things were in a pretty good place there.”
The Kind of Year Carson Needs
No matter what his former teammates think, the kind of year Carson Wentz needs to be considered a success with the Commanders starts with winning at least ten games and making the playoffs in 2022. That literally is the floor on expectations. It may seem extreme to some, but when you’re paying a guy $28 million a year, you expect results.
Stat-wise, I would expect a successful, healthy year to be somewhere around 4000 yards passing with 35-40 touchdowns, and completing somewhere near 70% of his passes depending on how much the Commanders run the ball. With the group of weapons they’ve put together for Carson and his big-play arm, he should be able to light the scoreboard up this coming fall. More importantly, Carson needs to gel early and often with his teammates.
This may be Carson’s last chance at being a starting quarterback in the NFL. He needs this to work just as much as the Commanders need him to work as their starter. If things go well, this could indeed be a match made in heaven in terms of an offensive fit.
He MUST Win the Locker Room Over
In Indy, he seemed to do well with the locker room. His time in Philadelphia was marked by rumors of selfishness and refusing to be accountable for his mistakes. Which, reportedly, led to locker room issues.
Defensive line captain Jonathan Allen says, “he doesn’t get the ‘terrible reputation’ that follows Wentz.”
“I think the thing that’s bad about the NFL is how reputations can be built through the media,” Allen told NBC Sports Washington’s JP Finlay in a one-on-one interview last week. “I feel like he’s been given a terrible reputation, and I haven’t known him as long as some people so I’m not going to say they’re wrong, but from what I’ve seen, I don’t see where all the negative press comes from.” “Now, obviously, time will tell, but from what I’ve seen, he’s a great leader, he wants to come out here and win, play hard, have fun and really just be a great teammate,” Allen said. “I really have no complaints, I’ve loved everything I’ve seen. Communicates with everybody, doesn’t seclude himself, very open to the team. I mean, he’s fitting right in.”
As of right now, things look promising for Carson as it appears the Commanders locker room has welcomed him in with open arms. Maybe he can work on changing the national narrative next.
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