Carson Wentz is having an amazing sophomore season. His team is winning (8-1). He leads the NFL in touchdown passes (23) and has a passer rating of 104.1. There are a lot of people who think he should be the league’s MVP.

Not everyone loves Wentz.

His two most infamous critics are Scott Kacsmar of Football Outsiders and Cian Fahey. They really didn’t like him a year ago, but have eased up a bit, begrudgingly giving Wentz some credit. Still, it feels like pulling teeth to get them to acknowledge anything positive.

Many Eagles fans know who these guys are and hit them up on Twitter after every Wentz TD pass. Kacsmar and Fahey seem to think they are being asked to admit Wentz is the best QB in the league. Eagles fans can be a tad aggressive at times so I get some of this. But these guys bring this upon themselves by playing the semantics game to the nth degree.

The Eagles scored 51 points against the best defense in the league. Great showing, right?

Lazy? Wentz hasn't completed 20 passes in 5 of his last 6 games. There is nothing special about 15-27 for 199, except the 4 TD part. https://t.co/8X8WucHaRy — Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) November 5, 2017

True. That isn’t an amazing stat line. But what about scoring all those points?

Except it didn't. Even needed a 35-yd pass from Foles on a 4th down to get to 51. https://t.co/KbmTruzu0I — Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) November 6, 2017

Okay…

The last DEN-PHI game (2013) also saw winning QB not play in the 4Q. Peyton Manning: 28/34 for 327 yds, 4 TD Now that's domination. — Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) November 6, 2017

So now the standard for Wentz is matching one of the greatest QBs of all time in a game from arguably the greatest QB season in NFL history. Seems fair.

The funny thing here is that Kacsmar hated Wentz initially because he saw him as a dink and dunk QB. He likes air yards.

Yes, I have an agenda. And it's been clear for years: I don't like QBs getting credit for dink-and-dunk offenses. https://t.co/4n11j26rrP — Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) September 26, 2016

Wentz did throw a lot of short passes last year. He was a rookie, playing most of the year without his RT, and had the weakest set of weapons in the league. Of course you are going to throw a lot of short passes. This was a fair criticism, but Kacsmar rarely seemed to give it context. This year Wentz is 8th in the league, averaging 7.8 yards per passing attempt. The Eagles are a terrible screen team so most of the big plays are due to air yards. I guess we’ve moved on from that criticism.

Kacsmar has made sure to point out that the Eagles have benefited from turnovers. They have had more drives start in the Red Zone than any other team and Wentz has 5 TDs on those drives. Those are “easy” TDs. It is fair to point out Wentz has benefited from those situations. If we take them away, Wentz is still tied for 2nd in the league with 18 TD passes. That’s impressive, right?

No, but more ordinary. A QB has had 18 TD passes thru 9 games 45 times since 2010. Wentz ranks 43rd in yards on that list. Hmm… https://t.co/NMWViRDpzK — Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) November 7, 2017

Here’s the bottom line. Wentz is a good QB having a terrific season. Kacsmar doesn’t care for him. Wentz just isn’t his cup of tea. He also doesn’t care much for Tom Brady so this isn’t some anti-Eagles agenda. Scott is a smart analyst and pretty good writer. Eagles fans piling on him at every opportunity doesn’t help matters, but Kacsmar just comes across as way too obstinate on this subject with the way he finds the negative angle to nearly everything Wentz does.

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Fahey really doesn’t like Wentz. He detailed all of his flaws back in March of 2016.

One player who Fahey loved was Vernon Adams. From the gridiron masterpiece “Vernon Adams Deserves to be A First-Round Pick in the 2016 NFL Draft”.

Jared Goff and Carson Wentz are considered the top two quarterbacks in this class. One of them is most likely going to be the second-overall pick for the Cleveland Browns or the seventh-overall pick for the San Francisco 49ers. Both could even go in the top 10. Neither should though.

Goff and Wentz are both closer to the perception of what makes a good NFL starter inside the league, but Adams is the better prospect. On first viewing, Goff appeared to be the best prospect. It’s easy to fall into that trap. Adams is shorter and plays in that Oregon system so the first viewing of his skill set can be misleading.

Adams was not a 1st round pick. The NFL didn’t think as highly of Adams as Fahey did. He is now in the CFL, as a backup. Adams went 1 for 3 for 8 yards this year.

Anyone who writes about draft prospects is going to be wrong. I thought Kevin Kolb was going to start for the Eagles and be a good QB. I liked Danny Watkins and thought age was the only concern with him. He was one of the safest picks in the draft. I just knew Matt McCoy and Ryan Moats were going to be stars for the Eagles. Loved those guys. Oops.

When you’re wrong, admit it and move on.

I always say that I hope I’m wrong when I rip a draft prospect. I would rather my opinion be wrong and that kid get to live out his dreams.

Fahey watched Wentz as a rookie and wasn’t impressed. He wrote about him this summer, comparing Wentz to Blake Bortles.

Nothing about Wentz’s rookie season suggested he fit Lurie’s definition of a franchise quarterback: “someone who has the physical talent, the mental leadership qualities, and mental toughness to be a consistently winning quarterback that puts you in contention to win a championship. He has to have that ‘it’ factor. The single most important trait is the mental fortitude to handle the challenges that face a young quarterback. He has to be a smart quarterback — in today’s NFL, quarterbacks have to routinely make intricate decisions in 2.5 seconds or less.”

Sure, Wentz could get better. He might actually turn into the generational talent he’s often described as, but there’s no rational reason to expect him to.

The funny thing is that a lot of people who watched Wentz play last year felt just the opposite. There was evidence that he could take a big leap forward. Obviously you had to have an open mind. If you expected him to fail, that’s what you were going to see. It wasn’t as if Wentz was great in the month of December and announced to the whole world that he would become a star QB this year. It was more subtle than that.

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The anti-Wentz holdouts are like those Japanese soldiers after WWII who didn't realize the war was over and their side had already lost. — Derek / IgglesBlog (@igglesblog) November 6, 2017

Leave it to Derek so summarize things brilliantly and succinctly.

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One storyline we’re starting to see is that Doug Pederson does too good a job designing and calling plays. Almost any QB could make this play, right?

Alshon Jeffery 32 yard TD pic.twitter.com/4BGkQwgb7T — ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD2_) November 5, 2017

The NFL will adjust to these plays and then Wentz will be exposed as the mediocre player he really is.

Bullshit.

That play is a designed RPO, but exactly how is that different from a QB getting outside and then making a defender choose whether to come after the QB or stay back in coverage? The RPO is designed, but the concept is the same. And Wentz has shown he is very good on making touch throws to targets on the move while he is on the move. Not everyone can do that. Wentz has made similar plays before.

Shot 10 – 'Game within the game': Everett thinks Ertz is blocking & blitzes. Ertz releases, Wentz avoids and hits him for HUGE 1st down pic.twitter.com/4bmFnQhbD5 — Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) September 11, 2017

#FlyEaglesFly Carson Wentz continues to impress with this scrabble play for a 73 yard TD reception by D. Sproles. https://t.co/9Ve6o7zSk6 — Bovada Official (@BovadaLV) September 25, 2016

Offensive and defensive coaches have been playing cat and mouse games for more than a century. Defenses will adjust. Offenses will adjust to that.

If Wentz only made plays like this, I would say this is a valid criticism, but that’s just not the case. He hit Trey Burton for a 27-yard TD on a sluggo route, something that all teams use. Last week Zach Ertz caught a short TD on a play-action pass. That’s Football 101. Last week Wentz hit Mack Hollins for a 24-yard gain on a Bang 8 route. Don Coryell and Norv Turner have used that over and over for 40 years.

Mixing a traditional NFL playbook with some college concepts is a good thing. It helps the QB adjust to the NFL quicker. You don’t want to rely on those plays too much. At some point you must be able to execute base plays that work due to precision timing and execution. “Gotcha” plays should be a tool, not the foundation of the offense.

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Evaluating Carson Wentz is tough. Eagles fans just haven’t seen anything like this. Peak Ron Jaworski or Peak McNabb weren’t this good. Vick gave us an amazing ride for part of a season in 2010, but even that was different.

Wentz is not the best QB in football. Aaron Rodgers is still the king of the mountain. Tom Brady is still a freak. Drew Brees is having a great year and will be a HOF’er. After those three, I think it really gets down to style points. What kind of QB do you like? How important are intangibles?

Russell Wilson has a Super Bowl win and does some amazing things, especially behind a terrible OL. Dak Prescott, Jared Goff and Wentz will always be compared closely because they came in at the same time. Deshaun Watson looked freakishly good before he got hurt.

There are some terrific veterans having up and down years. Cam Newton, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan and Matt Stafford are inconsistent this season. Young guys Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota and Derek Carr have all been slowed by injuries.

If I have to pick a guy to win one game for me, I’m probably going with Brady. If I’m picking a QB for the next decade, I’m going with Wentz. You can also make a compelling argument for Wilson, Prescott, Goff or Watson there.

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As much as Eagles fans love Wentz, it is good to have some people who don’t like him. It helps to have informed opinions from those who see things differently to provide some perspective. It is a shame that some of those people seem to take things to the other extreme.

Imagine one of the critics looking at the stats below and trying to find the negative slant to that.

#Eagles Carson Wentz 2017 Red Zone Passing 24/36, 15 TDs, 0 INTs, 0 Sacks… 117.6 QB Rating pic.twitter.com/FAMkpG2oi1 — Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) November 5, 2017

Wentz is good.

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