The rise and fall of Commanders QB Carson Wentz

With Carson Wentz sidelined due to a broken right finger, Taylor Heinicke has led the Commanders to a 3-1 record. When Wentz is ready to return, Washington will have a decision to make on who will start at QB for the rest of 2022. Washington coach Ron Rivera hasn't tipped his hand on the QB call.

This begs the question: What happened to Wentz? 

Rewind to 2017. At this point in the season, the NFL's MVP favorite wasn’t Tom Brady. It wasn’t Aaron Rodgers. It was the second-year starter Philadelphia drafted second overall from North Dakota State. The Eagles went on to win the Super Bowl that season with Wentz sidelined with an ACL injury, and suddenly things began to take a turn.

His meteoric rise has since been rivaled by a slow decline.

To get to the bottom of Wentz’s demise, we can’t just look at statistics because they indicate nothing is wrong. 

Setting aside Wentz’s final season in Philadelphia,  a season behind an injury-riddled offensive line, he has been one of the more productive QBs of the past five years. His interception percentage was top 10 in the NFL in 2021, 2019, 2018 and 2017. His QBR has perennially been in the top half of the league. While that mark wasn't back at his MVP-caliber self, it wasn't bottom of the barrel either.

What ails Wentz isn’t the aggregate statistical picture. Nor is it a shortage of physical tools. In fact, the Eagles moved up to get Wentz in the 2016 NFL Draft precisely because of his strength, size and running ability. 

Instead, two major problems have been the focus of Wentz’s critics. 

The first is crunch-time decision making. Numbers can signal a great career or a great season, even a great game without showing a critical interception, poor clock management or lack of game awareness. 

Wentz has struggled with these issues through his career. Despite his strong 2021 season statistically in Indianapolis, Wentz’s tenure was marked by a playoff-dictating loss to the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars in the final game of the season. 

Wentz’s other major problem has been holding a locker room together—an issue fans can’t see on the field. Reporting in Philadelphia and Indianapolis at the time of Wentz’s respective departures showed how he lost the locker rooms and sparred with the front office.

In the offseason, Colts owner Jimmy Irsay couldn't wait to rid the team of Wentz, whom Washington acquired for 2022 second- and third-round selections and a conditional 2023 third-round pick.

There’s little to suggest that Wentz has been a problem in the Commanders' locker room, but with Heinicke now in the driver’s seat and the team coming off a major win against the Eagles, his role may again come under fire.

If he were a beloved teammate, a leader essential to the future of the Commanders, there wouldn’t be a question about his return. 

Bottom line: The Commanders could be Wentz's last chance to prove he’s an NFL starting quarterback, and recent developments once again place that in jeopardy.