I was wrong.

I watched Carson Wentz play at North Dakota State. I watched him in person at the Senior Bowl. I saw a really talented prospect, but one that I thought would need time to adjust to life in the NFL, on and off the field.

The NFL can be overwhelming to young players. Matt Leinart and Vince Young once faced each other in the national championship game. Leinart was a great college QB and lived in the spotlight. That was when USC was the biggest show in college sports and the number one team in Los Angeles. Forget the Lakers and Dodgers, L.A. was all about USC. Young is arguably one of the great college players ever. He did breathtaking things in leading Texas to consecutive Rose Bowl wins and a national title (over Leinart).

Both Leinart and Young were Top 10 picks in 2006. Leinart struggled on the field and showed that he wasn’t ready for the NFL off the field. He was more interested in partying than studying. Leinart managed to stay in the league for 7 years. He went 8-10 as a starter, threw for 4065 career yards and 15 TDs. Young was only in the league for 6 years, but left with a starting record of 31-19. The Titans won with good defense, a solid run game and some big plays. Young only led them once to a Top 15 finish in points scored. His athleticism helped him win games, but Young just never developed as a passer. He also had off-field issues, mostly to do with financial matters and not being able to handle the pressure of the NFL.

Carson Wentz is ready for the NFL. He is a “gym rat”, as Mike Mayock would say. Wentz loves football. Not just playing it, but the work that goes into preparation. He is willing to sit in the QB room watching tape for hours, trying to understand his offense and the opposing defense. Wentz isn’t afraid to ask questions, of teammates or coaches. He wants to learn. He wants to improve.

Think about background. Leinart and Young were elite high school prospects. Wentz played for a year and went to North Dakota State. That’s a great program at the FCS level, but isn’t the same thing as Texas, USC or other major football schools. Leinart and Young were used to being great players that dominated the competition. They were athletically arrogant, as the saying goes. That means they didn’t always have to do the little things to succeed because of their natural gifts. Wentz was a late bloomer who grew into his body and developed into a top athlete. It took time. It took work.

Wentz developed into a guy that any school in America would love to have. Can you imagine if he was at LSU? Les Miles would still have a job and who knows how good those teams might have been. Wentz didn’t lose the chip on his shoulder. The good kind, I mean. He stayed hungry. He kept the work ethic that helped make him the athlete and player he is. You get the best of both worlds. You get a guy who is 6-5, 237 who can run, throw the ball 65 yards or drop a pass into a bucket from 35 yards away. That same guy has the mentality of the 6-1, 210 scrappy QB from Purdue or Missouri or Boise State.

I watched the Sunday night game with Brian Hoyer at QB for the Bears. Ugh. He had a couple of plays where receivers were running down the field, open. Hoyer made terrible throws and didn’t even give his guys a chance. It really hit me at that moment. Wentz makes those throws. He gives his guys a chance to make those plays (insert joke here). Hoyer has thrown more than 1,000 passes in his NFL career. He’s smart, tough and hard-working. But he simply can’t do the things that Wentz can. All the experience in the world wasn’t going to put those passes on target. You can either make those throws or you can’t.

Wentz can.

So many people thought the season was essentially over when Wentz became the starter. Having a rookie starter changed everything.

Oh, it changed everything alright. Possibly NFL history. Wentz is doing things that no other rookie QB has ever done. He has the Eagles playing better than anyone would have expected even if Sam Bradford was the QB. Wentz just helped the Eagles beat the Steelers 34-3. The Eagles had scored 32 total points in the 3 previous games against the Steelers. And that was with Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick at QB. Not exactly chopped liver.

We have to give Doug Pederson a lot of credit here. He fell in love with Carson Wentz in the pre-draft process. Pederson saw something special in the young man. He saw a player that might have reminded him of former teammates like Dan Marino, Brett Favre or McNabb. But Pederson also saw a guy that might have reminded him of himself in terms of intangibles. Pederson did whatever it took to stay part of football. He played in 3 different leagues and held whatever side jobs were necessary to keep the dream of football alive. Wentz had to earn a spot at NDSU and then patiently sat and waited for his turn to play. Neither Pederson nor Wentz had anything handed to them.

Pederson wanted to take things slow with Wentz. He wanted to have Bradford play this year so that Wentz could prepare for the future and truly be ready when his chance came. But I don’t think Pederson realized how special Wentz would turn out to be. Rather than sticking to a pre-determined schedule, Pederson embraced the chance to let his star rookie play.

I remember watching Randy Pausch’s amazing Last Lecture years ago. One of the points of that talk that stuck with me was when he said to challenge kids and sometimes they will amaze you. Don’t dumb things down for them. Give them a chance to show just how gifted and talented they are. The Pederson-Wentz partnership is a great example of that.

Pederson didn’t make the offense incredibly simple. You see Wentz making pre-snap adjustments all game long. You see him throwing the ball 30, 40 and even 50 yards downfield. He makes NFL throws in tough situations. The Eagles faced 3rd/12 on the final play of the 1st quarter on Sunday. Pederson had Wentz drop back and throw a deep dig route for a 19-yard gain. That easily could have been a draw or screen or other safe play. Instead, Pederson challenged his rookie to sit in the pocket, find a receiver and get him the ball. Wentz threw a strike to DGB for the first down.

History tells us rookies aren’t supposed to play like this. Football coaches tell us rookies probably shouldn’t even play, if you can avoid it. Sure, they have talent, but they don’t have experience. They’ll make costly mistakes that will hurt the team.

I’m glad Carson Wentz didn’t listen to history. I’m glad Doug Pederson didn’t listen to conventional coaching wisdom. They are doing amazing things together and the 2016 season has a chance to be something special.

Let’s see where the kid takes us.

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