Carson Wentz has started all 14 games of his rookie season. The results have been mixed, for him and the team. Because the Eagles started 3-0 and Wentz posted such good numbers in that stretch, some people now want to say that he’s been exposed and the Eagles shouldn’t have traded for him. Others say Wentz has regressed and isn’t as good now.

I disagree with both of those ideas.

No one is trying to pretend Wentz is perfect or great or anything like that. The numbers for him and the team are not impressive right now. Wentz has some issues that he must work through. He has a handful of plays every game that remind you he’s a rookie QB. There is a lot of work to be done between now and next August for him to take a big step forward.

You need context to understand Wentz now, then and into the future. The Eagles started 3-0 because the whole team played at a high level. The defense allowed a total of 27 points in those games. The defense allowed 27 points on Sunday. There wasn’t pressure on Wentz to win games early on. The Eagles would have him throw a lot for a series or two, but mostly ran a balanced offense.

The O-line had the same 5 starters in all of those games and the line played well. Things have drastically changed up front. There have been 2 starters at LG and RG. There have been 4 different starters at RT, with a pair of them being rookies. Matt Tobin played significant snaps in one game at LT and in another game at RT. Continuity is crucial up front and the Eagles have had virtually none of it since Lane Johnson began serving his suspension.

Think about the first 3 games. Skill players made some big plays for Wentz. Jordan Matthews had the impressive TD catch in the opener. Nelson Agholor had the long TD vs Joe Haden that got us all excited. Darren Sproles had a 73-yard catch and run in the Steelers game. Dropped passes weren’t a huge problem back then. Now think about the last 6 or so weeks. How many times have skill players done anything special? Matthews couldn’t get a toe down last week and that cost Wentz a TD. Zach Ertz failed to cross the face of the defender, creating an INT. There have been drops all over the place. Agholor had to be benched for his issues. There have been injuries to Matthews and DGB, as well as all of the RBs. A point guard can make the best passes in the world, but he only gets an assist if the other players make their shots. Whether you are a PG or a QB, you need help from those around you. Wentz is getting minimal support right now.

Wentz had more of a complementary role early on. He still ran the show, but all of the players and units around him played a big part in his success. Right now Wentz is being asked to carry the offense. And he’s not getting much help from the defense. Not many rookies can handle that role.

Jameis Winston went 6-10 as a rookie. He threw 535 passes. Wentz is already at 540 with 2 games to go. Winston finished with a rating of 84.2.

Marcus Mariota went 3-9 as a rookie. He threw 370 passes and finished with a rating of 91.5. The Titans were 28th in scoring and 30th in yards.

Blake Bortles went 3-10 as a rookie. He threw 475 passes and finished with a rating of 69.5.

Derek Carr went 3-13. He threw 599 passes and finished with a rating of 76.6.

Johnny Manziel had all kinds of issues, on and off the field. He’s out of the league now.

EJ Manuel went 4-6 as a starter and lost his job in the offseason. He’s now just a role player.

Teddy Bridgewater went 6-6 as a starter. He threw 402 passes and finished with a rating of 85.2.

Carson Wentz is posting numbers that fall into line with that group. He’s playing like most rookies do, up and down.

There is no question that Wentz is making more mistakes now than he did early on. That’s because the circumstances have changed so much. Wentz threw 60 passes against Cincy a few weeks back. The Eagles were down 29-0 and had banged up RBs. Of course you are going to throw the ball a lot and ask the rookie QB to carry the offense. What else can you do?

Defenses also have a lot of tape on him and the Eagles offense and that helps them to defend Wentz. The Eagles have tape on the defenses, but since Wentz is a rookie that doesn’t have the same value. He’s still got a lot to learn about his own offense, let alone what opponents do. Wentz is smart enough to see some things on tape, but he’s not at a point where he can process that information during a play and use it the way a veteran QB would. QB is the toughest position in all of sports.

The passing offense was ugly on Sunday. Wentz was 22-42-170. That’s bad. But let’s remember that he was going against the #4 defense in the league, was on the road and had to deal with wind. Eagles WRs really struggled on Sunday. In Week 14 of his rookie year, Donovan McNabb was 7-17-49 in a loss to Dallas, who had a Top 10 defense that year.

The key to me in all of this is that Wentz has stayed mentally and emotionally strong. That’s huge for a QB.

Think about being a rookie QB. You were likely a college star and are used to winning. Suddenly you are losing games and making all kinds of mistakes. That can be overwhelming. This part of the game has gotten the best of plenty of QBs over the years. Wentz says all the right things publicly. He must be saying the right things behind closed doors as well. You don’t hear or see any issues between him and his teammates. Wentz accepts blame when things go wrong and he gives credit to others when they go right.

Watch him on the field and you don’t see a scared player. He could possibly set the NFL record for passes thrown by a rookie. Wentz doesn’t panic when he drops back. He isn’t looking to dump the ball off to the first open guy. He’s not running half a second after his back foot plants in the ground. Wentz is trying to do the right thing, sitting in the pocket and going through his progressions.

Wentz has been able to fight through slow starts in some games. He put his team in position to win the last 2 weeks despite ups and downs before that. Think about young and veteran QBs over the years who got pulled during an off day. Wentz doesn’t let his mistakes overwhelm him. He moves on to the next play. You can argue that’s a double-edge sword, as he sometimes repeats mistakes more than you’d like.

Think about the mistakes he does make. He holds the ball too long at times, reluctant to give up on a play. He sits in the pocket, even with pressure in his face, and will have some passes go awry because he can’t step into the throw. There are times when he’s too aggressive with his throws. These are all bad things and they need to be addressed.

But they are good problems to have. Would you rather him be Nick Foles, who retreated more than the worst army in history? Would you rather Wentz wait until players were wide open to throw the ball to them? Would you rather he throw the ball away at the first sign of trouble? Wentz wants to make plays. It is easier to rein that in than to take someone who is nervous/reluctant and get them to be more aggressive.

Wentz has all the physical tools you could want in a QB. He needs to work on his mechanics. He needs time in the offseason to study game tape at length so he can learn from his mistakes (reads/decisions). He needs more time in the Eagles playbook. He missed a lot of Training Camp and the preseason last summer.

Wentz also needs help. He needs a stable OL. He needs a WR who can make a play for him. He could use a skill player that can deliver more than one 40-yard gain a season.

It would be great if we could see Wentz getting better in obvious ways. That’s not the case. The circumstances have ruined any chance of that. I don’t think we should lose sight of what a strange season this has been for him. He went from #3 to starter in the most unexpected way. Wentz threw 612 passes in his college career. He’s thrown 540 so far this year and will likely end up with more than 612 on the season. He’s taking in all kinds of experiences right now and they will benefit him greatly in the future. We all thought Wentz could be effective this year in the right situation. That plan went to hell in a handbasket and Wentz is now trying to carry the team on his back.

If anything, I’m more impressed by Wentz now more than ever. You can fix his mechanics and work on his issues. We’ve seen a player that has taken everything that has been thrown at him and has handled it like a champ. No media meltdowns. No playing the blame game. No off-field issues. He goes out every Sunday and throws 40 or so passes, loses in the last minute and then goes right back to work. And don’t overlook that. It is easy to study tape at 5am when you’re winning. It takes a real professional to do that when the tape is going to be ugly.

Next year we need to see tangible results. That’s when we’ll find out if Wentz can take all the lessons from this year and use them to make him a good QB.

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