The Carson Wentz Case for Vikings QB2
Kevin O’Connell has made the QB2 conversation seemingly way more intriguing than it would be for many other teams. Sure, it’s important because the Vikings’ starter as of now is J.J. McCarthy, who has never before taken an NFL snap, so there’s a spotlight shown on the fact that there’s a real path to playing time for whoever is QB2.
The Aaron Rodgers drama is seemingly over, and as quarterbacks fall off the board of options, it seems as if the Vikings are down to a pool of Carson Wentz, Ryan Tannehill, and some other quarterbacks that have become more expendable after offseason moves like the Seahawks’ Sam Howell.
In a scenario where the Vikings don’t need to give up any draft capital and can just sign a guy on a cheap deal to come in and provide support for McCarthy, Wentz seems like a pretty good option, given his similarities to Sam Darnold and what KOC was able to do with that type of QB with their first-round pedigree that has, to this point, not lived up to the hype around halfway into their playing careers.
Carson Wentz’ Locker Room Concerns
Let’s just be honest; Wentz has not been the same guy mentally since he tore his ACL during his MVP-caliber season in 2017, and Nick Foles stepped in and walked his team to glory by defeating Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in that year’s Super Bowl at U.S. Bank Stadium. No, we don’t need to talk about the NFC Championship.
Wentz also reportedly wasn’t a great locker room guy in Philadelphia after all of that happened, and not to excuse his actions, but having that type of season just to go down to injury and have your backup come in and win a ring and have his own statue built in front of the stadium to the delight of every single Philadelphia Eagles fan in existence is probably a pretty tough thing to process. Just tearing your ACL alone is a very tough mental recovery.
Former Teammate and Current Viking Speaks Highly of Wentz
To provide context on the whole story, it’s apparently not even fair to say Wentz is or was a locker room problem. Just take his former Washington Commanders teammate and current Minnesota Viking Jonathan Allen’s word for it:
Yeah, I have absolutely no idea where that comes from. Sometimes I feel like the NFL can be like a high school…like a high school. There’s so much drama and just rumors and things that just quite frankly aren’t true. I mean, I have no idea where that could be coming from.
Jonathan Allen on Washington D.C.’s Audacy 106.7’s The Fan
Not only did Allen dismiss the rumors of Wentz being a problem in the locker room (at least during his Washington days), but he even spoke very highly of the QB’s character:
…quick memory, positive on the sideline, no pouting. I mean, I think you can just look at the guys around him and see how they respond to him and that tells you everything you need to know about his character.
Carson Wentz’ issues in the locker room seem to be a thing of the past, and “the past” means 6 or 7 years ago.
Wentz is a High Upside QB2
Wentz hasn’t been a great QB since he tore his ACL in late 2017 in a game against the Rams, but he’s never ever been really terrible, either. Consider the numbers of the years he got legitimate starting opportunities post-2017:
- 2018 (w/PHI): 3,074yds, 21 TDs, 7 INTs, 69.6% comp.
- 2019 (w/PHI): 4,039yds, 27 TDs, 7 INTs, 63.9% comp.
- 2020 (w/PHI): 2,620yds, 16 TDs, 15 INTs, 57.4% comp.
- 2021 (w/IND): 3,563yds, 27 TDs, 7 INTs, 62.4% comp.
- 2022 (w/WAS): 1,755yds, 11 TDs, 9 INTs, 62.3% comp.
Sure, the numbers tapered off toward the end, and he hasn’t seen much action in 2023 or 2024, but neither did Darnold. Wentz has all of the talent in the world and is very similar to Darnold. There were times last year when Darnold made plays that reminded me completely of prime MVP Wentz.
You’re not bringing in this guy to be the starter; you’re bringing him in to backup J.J. McCarthy and be your “break glass in case of emergency” option. Carson Wentz arguably provides the most upside of the currently unattached quarterbacks on the market and is a very small risk for the Vikings at this point in the game.
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