Joe Giglio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Flattering company

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Winslow Townson/AP Images

High praise

Carson Wentz has become the talk of football. Since bursting on the scene as a draft prospect last winter, the Eagles rookie has been compared to current and former quarterback—some among the all-time greats in NFL history. Here's a full list.



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Ben Roethlisberger

This one should be popular for years to come. During the lead up to the draft, John Kryk of the Toronto Sun called Wentz a 'leaner' Ben Roethlisberger.

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Joe Flacco

This was inevitable. The last 1-AA (or FCS) quarterback to be drafted in the first round was a tall, big-armed quarterback from Delaware was Flacco in 2008. Wentz used the comparison for confidence leading up to the draft.



"I think the success of guys like Joe Flacco or Tony Romo or, the list goes on whether it's quarterbacks or other position players," Wentz said. "There's a lot of talented individuals at the FCS level that can play. Especially a guy like Flacco coming in really right away as a rookie and winning some ballgames I think shows that that adjustment can be made by special players for sure."

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Bob Leverone/AP Photo

Cam Newton

Days before the draft, NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth compared Wentz's size to Cam Newton.



"The first thing that jumps out of you," Collinsworth said. "Sort of like when you walk into a room with Cam Newton, you go 'Oh my gosh, look at this guy.' On tape, he's huge, he can throw the heck out of the ball. He can go from the far college hash-mark, which is wider than it is in the NFL, and make deep out throws all the way across the field. The thing that surprises you is the way he runs the football. He is a powerful, powerful guy. When you're a young quarterback in the NFL, learning how to read those NFL defenses, the ability to pull the ball down and run with it is going ot benefit him well for a long time."

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Andrew Luck

In February, long before Wentz was on the radar for football fans in Philadelphia, Mike Mayock threw out the comparison to the young quarterback admired throughout the NFL.



"When I look at Wentz, I see a kid that's as athletic or more athletic than Andrew Luck," Mayock said. "He's bigger than Andrew Luck. He's got arm strength comparable to Andrew Luck. He just doesn't have the experience that Andrew Luck has at a high level that Andrew has coming out of college. So I see a ceiling for this kid similar to Andrew Luck. That's why I believe in this kid so much."

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Brett Favre

This one has been used in different variations. From the big arm to the willingness to throw the ball through traffic and into tight windows to the affinity for hunting to the fact that Favre was one of Wentz's favorite quarterbacks to watch growing up. Then, of course, there was the matter of Wentz's head coach making the direct Wentz-Favre comparison.



"A little bit of Brett Favre," Doug Pederson said when asked who Wentz reminds him off. '"He has that mentality, that aggressiveness that Brett has. Those are some of the skill sets I see in Carson."

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Two-for-two.



You voted, and the @Toyota Player of the Week for Week 2 is @cj_wentz! pic.twitter.com/vbSdwiVwAr — Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 22, 2016

Aaron Rodgers

"I said he can throw it just as good as (Aaron) Rodgers on the run, on the move. He's got good release, he's real accurate on the run," Eagles left tackle Jason Peters said after Philadelphia's Week 1 win. "That's who he reminds me of, is Rodgers when he gets to moving, the way he darts the ball on the run."

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Jim Kelly

While Pederson compared Wentz to the great quarterback he used to back-up, Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich did the same thing when referencing the Bills Hall of Famer.



"Physically, he reminds me a little bit of a combination of Andrew Luck—though, I've never played with him—just watching him play, but a guy that I did play with in Jim Kelly, the size, strength and just the toughness," Reich said. "The mentally tough, physically tough attitude and not being afraid to stand in the pocket and take a hit. I think Carson showed that, having played with Jim Kelly all of those years, a hall of fame quarterback, you don't want those guys to take hits but it is the willingness on fourth and four with guys coming up the middle to make the play to Ertz and take the hit because that's what it takes to make the play and keep the drive alive, so those are good signs."

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Jack Dempsey/AP Photo

Peyton Manning

MMQB's Andy Benoit after a film session with Wentz: In fact, this brings us to Exhibit A in our case for Wentz's pro-readiness: his tremendous grasp on how the running game works. He has the ability to check to certain runs at the line of scrimmage, a la Peyton Manning. There's more involved that what meets the laymen's eye here. As Wentz says, you think about "what kind of front the defense is in; where the linebackers are; whether it's two-high safety or one-high. A lot of different things go into calling the run game—especially at the line of scrimmage.

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Noah K. Murray/USA Today Sports

Tom Brady

Another nugget from MMQB's

Andy Beniot after a film session with Wentz

: Which brings us to Exhibit D in Wentz's pro-readiness: his adroitness in setting pass protections. Instead of having the protections built into the play call, North Dakota State would have Wentz get to the line of scrimmage, eye the defense, and then call the protection. This is Tom Brady type stuff. It's a step or two beyond identifying and adjusting to blitzes. Seeing a blitz and changing the protection is 200-level quarterbacking, maybe 300-level depending on how well the defense is disguised. Getting to the line and calling the entire protection from scratch is 400-level quarterbacking.

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Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports

Alex Smith

This is tame compared to the rest, but makes sense. Dane Brugler of CBS Sports called Wentz a "souped up" Alex Smith before the draft. It's not quite the same as comparing him to top 10 quarterbacks ever, but the description makes sense. He's like Smith with a better arm. That's a big-time quarterback.

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Orlando Jorge Ramirez/USA Today Sports

Blake Bortles

Remember when the Wentz hype was, you know, reasonable? Bortles is a nice young quarterback and certainly one many teams would like to have for the future. Prior to the draft, NFL.com used Jacksonville's Blake Bortles as a comparison. Things have changed a bit since then.