The career of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz has been an absolute roller coaster. From the moment he was drafted second overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016 until now, as he works to turn the Colts around after a 2-4 start, he has seen the highs and lows of the NFL.
In 2017, Wentz was playing at an MVP level. That season, he also tore his ACL and had to watch his teammates win the Super Bowl from the sideline. From 2018-2020, Wentz battled numerous other injuries, witnessed declining play, and was eventually replaced by Jalen Hurts as the Eagles starting quarterback.
During his last two seasons in Philadelphia, he became one of the most criticized players in the league, and it was mostly justified. While the Eagles as a whole battled numerous injuries and a depleted roster, Wentz was a much inferior player compared to the 2017 version of himself. He occasionally flashed that talent, but he mostly threw a lot of interceptions and, some would arguem took a ton of unnecessary hits.
That’s why in March of 2021, the Eagles decided to trade him to the Colts because it was evident he needed a fresh start. Six weeks into the season, that transaction is proving to be beneficial for Wentz’s career seeing that he’s playing at a much higher level.
No player threw more interceptions than Carson Wentz last year, as he had 15 in just 12 games.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 18, 2021
This season, Wentz has thrown the fewest interceptions of any QB that has played every game for his team this season (just 1).
Much improved early on in Indy.
Carson Wentz improving with the Colts
Although the Colts have struggled to win games, Wentz has seemingly cleaned up many of the flaws that plagued his game in Philadelphia. That starts with the complete 180 with his interception problem. ONE pick on the year! Unbelievable.
After six games last year with the Eagles, Wentz had thrown for 1,401 yards, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions while completing 58.7% of his passes. Six weeks into this season with Indianapolis, Wentz has 1,545 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception with a 64.2 completion percentage.
https://twitter.com/colts/status/1450132742650347530?s=21
Another critical stat that shows his development is one that isn’t always attributed to quarterbacks — and that’s sacks. In his first six games last year in Philadelphia, he was sacked 25 times. This year with the Colts? Just 14, even with that banged up offensive line! Obviously, in general, the offensive line has a lot to do with this specific statistic, but one of Wentz’s previous problems was holding on to the ball for too long while trying to make things happen and taking preventable sacks.
This version of Wentz starting for Indianapolis this year is a much more mature and comfortable quarterback. He’s been able to play smart and stay within a system instead of forcing throws and making costly mistakes. He’ll have to continue playing that way and keep gradually improving if the Colts are going to turn their season around, but right now the early returns suggest that isn’t an unreasonable outcome, especially if Indy can grab a win Sunday night while the Titans endure a gauntlet of a schedule over the next month.
Indianapolis Colts: Projecting Indy’s ceiling with healthy Carson Wentz
The Indianapolis Colts moved to 2-4 with a victory yesterday. Here’s a projection of how the rest of the season can go if they remain healthy.