Carson Wentz has now gotten all of our attention and hopes. His career has been interesting. He had success in Philadelphia although he did miss out on playing in the Super Bowl. He still has a ring though.
His first year he had 16 TDs and 14 INTs.
In 2017, he had 33 TDs and 7 INTs.
In 2018, he had 21 TDs and 7 INTs.
In 2019, he had 27 TDs and 7 INTs. In 2020, he had 16 TDs and 15 INTs while being sacked 50 times in only 12 games. This was his last year in Philly and they ended up benching him the last four games. There was not much he could do that year since their offensive line was in shambles. Their star right tackle, Lane Johnson only played 35% of the snaps. Their right guard, Brandon Brooks missed the season. Their left tackle Andre Dillard missed the season and they had to turn to 7th round pick Jordan Mailata. Dallas Goedert missed 5 games, DeSeand Jackson missed 6 games, Marquise Goodwin missed the entire season, Alshon Jeffrey missed the first 8 games. The leading receivers were Greg Ward, Zach Ertz, Travis Fulgham, Dallas Goedert, and Jalen Reagor. But Wentz got most of the blame because that it what happens to QBs.
His next season in Indy, 2021, he had 27 TDs and 7 INTs. After that he started 7 games in Washington in 2022, and 1 game in 2023 & 2024.
He seems very careful with the ball and completes about 63% of his passes. He needs protection like most QBs. He could be a sneaky good signing.
Hopefully, Darrisaw returns which would leave concerns with Jurgens, Jackson, and surprisingly or disappointingly Fries.
PFF grades …
Donovan Jackson (31st out of 69) 60.7 overall, 62.9 pass block, 58.2 run block
Will Fries (46th out of 69) 54.7 overall, 67.4 pass block, 54.1 run block
Ryan Kelly (4th out of 33) 77.1 overall, 82.4 pass block, 74.0 run block
Brian O’Neill (2nd out of 68) 82.0 overall, 77.6 pass block, 81.1 run block
Justin Skule (53rd out of 68) 51.5 overall, 48.4 pass block, 50.0 run block
Michael Jurgens 57.0 overall, 45.2 pass block, 71.0 run block
I expect Fries will start to come around since he has been recovering from injury. I hope Kelly will return soon. If Darrisaw returns and plays well then it makes them much better for the QB.
Bottom line. We got to get this DUBYA this week!
Minnesota Vikings News and Links
In the meantime, O’Connell isn’t putting all the blame on McCarthy.
“We didn’t play well as a team. We didn’t play well enough. We didn’t coach well enough. There’s a lot of aspects of it that we missed the mark on but it is Week 2,” O’Connell said on KFAN-FM 100.3 Tuesday morning. “We are a 1-1 team with a chance to get right back on track this week. I think, coming out of that game, there were some real learning opportunities for our young quarterback.”
“He was hit too much for my liking early on. We had some mental breakdowns and some physical breakdowns that we’ve got to find a way to rectify. I think we’ll be able to do that as we move on and press forward,” said O’Connell.
McCarthy was sacked a whopping nine times over the first two weeks. That trails only Titans rookie QB Cam Ward, who was sacked 11 times. When he has been protected, McCarthy has struggled to get the ball to his playmakers.
“Young quarterbacks have days where there’s always going to be the maximizing of the learning opportunities,” said O’Connell. “It’s very much easier to do after you come back, storming back in a football game on the road, in the NFC North, in the opener. But, you know, you’ve got to equally — if you’re going to be a 1-0 team, and a mindset of doing the things we try to do to win one game — we all have to acknowledge what took place on Sunday is not the standard.”
“I think, specifically for a quarterback, a right-handed thrower, that right ankle… that’s where you’re generating all your initial force off the ground, via transferring that through your mechanics to, inevitably, the ball leaving your hands with a lot of torque and revolutions on it. It’s all generated from the ground and I think one of the things that got away from him in the game was he wasn’t on the ground enough,” O’Connell reasoned.
“I had a good conversation with Sean [McVay] and I was able to talk to Andy Reid as well about his experiences last year,” O’Connell explained. “A lot of the things that both of those guys, who I hold in such high regard, they had very similar things to say, independent of each other. A lot of those things, if not all, have already been confirmed with what Carson has been able to do on the practice field.”
“He’s made throws. He showed his athleticism. He’s big. He can see everything on the field and he’s played a ton of football,” said O’Connell. “He’s carried teams on his back before. He’s not going to need to do that. He’s just going to need to go out there and do the things he’s wildly capable of doing and do that job at a consistent level. My hope is we get the execution around him to be the standard we want it to be.”
“It’s exciting,” he said on Wednesday. “Pretty fast pace the last couple weeks for me. It’s been fun to see J.J. and interact with him and be a part of what they’ve been doing here this whole offseason. It’s a bummer, obviously, what happened to him. Been there more times than I care to admit. But it’s been fun to see how he’s responded already — and exciting for me, I’m not gonna lie. It’s been a couple years since I played in a game like this, with real consequences.”
When asked if he thought he’d ever get another opportunity to start, he admitted that his mind has wandered to such places. After his one season with the Commanders ended, Wentz didn’t land another job until the Rams came calling in November of 2023. This year, he was a free agent until the Vikings brought him in to replace Sam Howell in late August. Now 32 years old, the former Eagles phenom didn’t know if or when he’d get another chance to show what he can still do.
“I’m a human being,” he said. “It’s hard to not have those thoughts. But at the same time, when they come, I try not to think too futuristically. Just be where I’m at, be grateful for the opportunity at hand, not try and put too much pressure on myself but not take it for granted either. It’s a very human thing to dwell on and think about, but that’s where my faith comes in.”
Wentz said he feels great physically and is “in a good spot” in terms of his knowledge of the offense. This week is all about dialing in on the game plan and getting ready to go play efficient football.
“It’s fun to go out there and sit through install meetings, knowing this is a chance, personally, that it’s been a couple years since I’ve had a meaningful start,” he said. “I’ve been staying ready behind the scenes, doing whatever I can. It’s been fast paced trying to learn this offense, learn these guys. It is quite a bit different, but at the same time, once we went out there, it’s a Wednesday practice, and I kind of fell right back into that same routine I’ve had for 10 years now.”
“I grew up rooting for this team. It’s one of those things, you play long enough and you can kind of forget about those things, because it’s football, you’re bouncing around teams. But being here, I kind of alluded to it when I first got here, just how cool it is for me. I used to cheer for the guys that I’m walking down the hallway seeing (on the walls). I used to come to the Metrodome and I was waving the towel, I was part of the Skol chants, all the things. So running out of the tunnel this week will probably hit me a little bit different in a really cool, kind of surreal way.”
Carson Wentz has made a leap like this before.
Well, not exactly.
A growth spurt in his youth isn’t quite on the same level as jumping into the starting lineup in the NFL.
“I just remember praying, ‘God if you get me to 6-feet that would be terrific’ when I was 5-foot-8 as a (high school) freshman. And then we just kept going,” Wentz recalled Wednesday with a laugh. “Everybody’s got their own journey. That’s the unique part. And so God’s writing mine differently than other people.”
…
Wentz dislikes the circumstances of his promotion but is eager for what’s awaiting him.
“It’s a bummer, obviously, what happened to him – been there more times than I care to admit,” Wentz said regarding McCarthy’s status. “But it’s been fun to see how he’s responded already, and exciting for me, I’m not gonna lie. It’s been a couple years since I played in a game like this with real consequences.”
…
Take last Thursday as Exhibit A. McCarthy attended to his fiancée in labor; Wentz subbed in for the 22-year-old quarterback and repped with the 1s. O’Connell called it “one of the blessings” of last week.
A trial run, if you will.
Thursdays in the NFL typically entail blitz packages, third-down call sheets and a simulated environment that’s hellbent on urgency, which can breed some player anxiety, O’Connell told Allen.
But Wentz didn’t flinch.
“We had a phenomenal Thursday practice and the ball, I don’t think it hit the ground more than one time,” O’Connell shared. “He was in total command. I was really pushing the group via the play clock coming off the Chicago game because I thought we were a little slow with our operation, especially early, and I was trying to push the entire group and obviously the quarterback is going to feel that.
“And Carson did a phenomenal job with that,” O’Connell remarked and then recalled that Wentz has “carried teams on his back before” but won’t need to do that in his Vikings debut if execution improves.
O’Connell elaborated on Wentz’s practice presence and poise in his press conference Wednesday:
“It just kind of felt like a normal day,” O’Connell said in reference to last Thursday. “And I think the execution and kind of how I was pushing the group, looking for the growth from Game 1 to Game 2 from a procedural standpoint before the ball’s ever snapped – huddle, alignment, landmarks, emotions, and details of things – his ability to absorb all that and then run the show was apparent to everybody.”
He added, “I was telling the team today, you’ve got a guy that’s played at a really high level, played a lot of football, and ultimately is at a place in his career where I think you can really tap into a lot of that while also shaping a game plan he’s comfortable with and he can go out and have consistent success.”
In collaboration with quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and offensive assistant Jordan Traylor, the 32-year-old Wentz hastened his learning, got acquainted with installs and prepared like the starter.
“He’s really taken to the role he came in for – knowing that he’s one play away,” Phillips said.
Thielen has watched Wentz compete in practice with a purposefulness that he linked to age.
“He’s a guy that plays with a lot of confidence. You feel that and you see that even before he was starting, just his confidence in individual (drills) and routes on air and in scout-team reps, just going and slinging the football around and having fun doing it,” Thielen said. “As you get to be an older player and a veteran player, you learn to just go and enjoy it and not treat it so much like a job and a profession, but really just taking advantage of the moments that you have, and he’s a guy that does that, which is great.”
Phillips noted there’s variance with every quarterback. Aspects such as individual strengths and past experiences are agents in comfort level within a new offense. A positive for Wentz, bearing in mind that his debut for Minnesota will occur 28 days after his arrival, is his vast experience with different systems.
“A lot of [what we do as an offense] made sense to him conceptually,” Phillips said. “It’s just the verbiage, it’s kind of connecting those systems together: ‘OK, this is that. This is what I know as ‘that.’”
“And he’s got the confidence of our group. I know that,” Phillips continued, doubling down on O’Connell’s comments that Wentz impressed last Thursday in McCarthy’s stead when he was absent from practice to support the delivery process of his first child Rome Micah McCarthy. “I think people noticed [Carson] right off the bat. He’s big. He’s got a live arm, all those things. But actually stepping in – it’s kind of why you have a veteran backup – I mean, he stepped in and we had a really good practice.”
Wentz of course is not an ordinary QB2 on any roster.
…
To an extent, Wentz presents a skill set similar to former Vikings starter Sam Darnold. The former is a couple inches taller, but both have powerful lower bodies and can therefore make plays with their legs and generate good torque and revolutions on their throws. Phillips shared they gravitate toward some of the same throws (Darnold loved attacking the middle of the field) and identified a comparable mindset.
“A little bit of gunslinger in both of them, and you kind of like that,” Phillips expressed. “Sometimes you love it, and sometimes you try to rein it back in. But at the same time, you’d kind of rather [have] the guys that you have to rein back a little bit [rather] than [encourage] them to throw the shots and those types of things when some guys in this league, you know, they’re prone to throwing the checkdown.
“I think you like it the other way around, where you pull ‘em back a little bit,” Phillips added. “And Carson’s made a lot of plays over his career. I mean, he’s had, really, MVP-type seasons in this league. So I think there’s a lot of confidence [and] a lot of respect among the players in what Carson can do.”
…
“It’s definitely given me a different perspective going from being a starter to traded, cut, all the things, that being a backup the last two years behind some future Hall of Fame quarterbacks, getting to see it done at a very high level,” Wentz said about his run of six teams in six seasons. “Also just the perspective of not taking this for granted. You never know when your next chance is going to be in this league. The league’s hard; two years ago I was at home until mid-November. It’s not something I want to take lightly or take for granted. So I’ve definitely got a lot of perspective, both from, you know, physically seeing how it’s done, but also just the mental side of, you know, being appreciative and not wasting an opportunity.”
…
“I think everybody’s got kind of their own routine [throughout the week], so to speak, but just seeing how they go about play calls and understanding the defense and processing quickly – Matthew and Pat are as good as it gets at their position. And they couldn’t play the game much differently, to be honest, and the offenses are very different, too” Wentz said, expressing how his recent experiences may benefit him. “I gleaned a lot from both in a very different way that I think, hopefully, I can utilize this Sunday.”
…
“The coaches have done a great job just helping me try and grasp this as [quickly] as I can,” he said with a sincere appreciation. “And that was one of my probably favorite things, just about getting a chance to sign here a couple weeks ago, was just knowing from afar the type of game plans Coach O’Connell puts together, the way he calls plays – just really respected and appreciated and admired that from afar.”
…
Brosmer, an undrafted rookie in line to serve as the backup to Wentz, is doing some admiring as well.
“He’s so professional, and you can see how smart he is, how fast he’s picked up on our stuff, and how he handles himself as the backup these past two weeks,” Brosmer noted. “You always talk about preparing like a starter, and you learn new ways to prepare like a starter. Watching him visualize everything, doing walk-throughs together – he brings me out for walk-throughs and we walk through the plays together, and Josh [McCown] will read the plays out, and we’ll talk some defenses, and hearing how he views the defenses and how he views the concepts, it’s really cool to hear. I love learning and love people teaching me new things. Carson is a new guy I’m learning from how to see the field differently, maybe.”
The Vikings leader on the other side of the ball extended respect too.
“Obviously, I haven’t been in meetings with him or know everything from that side of it, but my impressions of him have been very positive,” Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores remarked. “And look, he’s been around the block, so this isn’t, you know, gonna be his first time lining up in an NFL game.”
…
Perhaps it’s a climactic homecoming. Maybe it’s just another opp for Wentz to be an exemplary teammate. However it goes, Sunday’s kickoff against the Bengals at U.S. Bank Stadium will be cherished.
“My family was already planning to come. So now everybody’s – now there’s even more coming,” Wentz smiled. “Again, you never wish for injuries in those capacities, but just the way this is happening, to get a chance – team I grew up for, close to home, all the things – yeah, everybody’s excited for the chance.”
McCarthy’s eventual return will also be exciting after wetting his feet and assessing ways to improve.
“When you’re not playing you better be learning from the guy that is,” said Phillips, likening McCarthy’s circumstances to last year. “You have to learn from other people’s mistakes and the coaching points that they get when they do something that maybe is not within the bounds of the offense. You’ve got to make sure that you’re kind of storing those things away in your head to make sure that you can learn and not make the same mistake, not only that you made, but that someone else made in that same situation. We know that J.J. will be very intentional, just as he was rehabbing, and staying in it, staying involved.”
Having been a backup with limited regular-season snaps the last two seasons with the Chiefs and Rams, the last time Wentz played truly meaningful snaps was in 2022 with the Commanders. Wentz had 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions in eight games that season, but it’s noteworthy that the 2022 Commanders didn’t have a strong roster.
According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), the Commanders graded 26th in pass blocking, 24th in run blocking, 15th in receiving and 24th in running the football. Their defense ranked 13th, serving as the strongest unit on an overall middling roster.
What’s interesting — but perhaps not surprising — is that Wentz seems to play to the level of his supporting cast. When his team’s PFF grades are good, he’s good. When he’s team’s PFF grades are average or below average, he follows suit.
Take a look at how he performed compared to his team’s PFF grades from 2017 to 2022.
2019 Philadelphia Eagles (9-7)
Pass blocking: 3rd
Run blocking: 1st
Running: 28th
Receiving: 21st
Defense: 18th
These Eagles were graded very well by PFF on the offensive line, but the running game, receivers and defense left something to be desired. Wentz was still good, however, passing for 4,039 yards with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 63.9% of his attempts.
Full participants
LT Christian Darrisaw (knee)
CB Jeff Okudah (concussion)
Darrisaw being a full participant on Wednesday doesn’t mean he’s going to make his season debut on Sunday. He was listed as a full participant the Friday and Saturday before the Bears game in Week 1, and he was never going to play in the game. He was full last Wednesday, too, although that was just a walkthrough day.
At his press conference on Wednesday, Kevin O’Connell gave another wordy non-answer about Darrisaw’s status. Whether or not the Vikings will have their star left tackle against Trey Hendrickson and the Bengals appears to still be completely up in the air. The safe way to play it as a fan would be to not expect to see Darrisaw and then be pleasantly surprised if he does play.
Okudah, the Vikings’ No. 3 cornerback, appears to be on track to return from a one-game concussion absence.
Limited participants
OLB Andrew Van Ginkel (concussion)
S Harrison Smith (illness)
Did not participate
QB J.J. McCarthy (ankle)
C Ryan Kelly (concussion)
LT Justin Skule (concussion)
- McCarthy has a long way to go
- The O-line is still a concern
- Mason has to be a featured weapon
- The defense is still good…
- …but injuries have been a factor there, too
According to ESPN Insights, the Bengals have allowed opposing quarterbacks to post a 38 QBR, which is second best in the NFL through two weeks. The Bengals are also tied for the second-most interceptions with four and they’re applying pressure despite a 4% blitz rate, which is lowest in the league.
The data points from Pro Football Focus are similar.
7th in total defense
15th in run defense
10th in coverage
13th in pass rush
13th in tackling
On the flip side, the Vikings rank dead last in total defense and 31st in run defense and tackling. They’re also 30th in coverage and 25th in pass rush, according to PFF.
What’s more likely: The Bengals are good and the Vikings are bad on defense, or the opposite?
The Bengals are actually good on defense — or the beneficiary of facing Joe Flacco and Trevor Lawrences in the first two games of the season? Remember, this is largely the same Bengals defensive personnel that finished 25th in yards allowed per game (348) last season, while only six teams allowed more points per game (25.5).
Note: The Vikings faced an awful bears team with Caleb Williams and a Falcons team with a young QB who was on his 5th or 6th start.
Jaguars.com broke the news: “The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed S Kahlef Hailassie, the team announced today. Hailassie was most recently on the Minnesota Vikings practice squad. He joined the Vikings this offseason after spending his first two NFL seasons with the Cleveland Browns (2023-24).
“With Cleveland, Hailassie played in 10 games (one start) and recorded six tackles (one for loss) and one pass defensed as well as two special teams tackles. He originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Kansas City in May of 2023 and spent the offseason with the Chiefs before being waived and joining the Browns.”
Robinson, who signed a one-year, $12 million deal with the Texans, did not play in Houston’s Week 2 game after starting and playing 59 snaps at left tackle in Houston’s Week 1 loss to the Rams. In that game, Robinson allowed just one quarterback hurry in 36 snaps as a pass protector.
Why the changes? Robinson seems to have fallen behind Ersery and Howard on the depth chart, and the Texans had options after former Vikings second-round pick Ed Ingram returned from an abdominal injury to start at right guard against Tampa.
After left tackle Christian Darrisaw suffered torn ligaments in his knee last October, the Vikings madea. trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars for Robinson. They had to give up a conditional 2026 fourth-round pick and a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick to get him.
When he signed with the Texans, it put Minnesota in line to receive a 2026 compensation pick. Where would that compensation pick fall in next year’s draft? There’s speculation from team insiders that it could be a fourth-rounder, but Over The Cap projects it as a fifth-round selection.
Playing time factors into the compensatory formula, so just because Robinson was benched doesn’t mean he’ll stay benched. In fact, he could very well find himself with a new team. On August 26, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Ersery impressed enough during training camp and the preseason that the Texans were considering trading Robinson.
Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:
- No discussion of politics or religion
- No feeding of the trolls
- Leave the gender hatred at the door
- Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must)
- Speaking of which, if discussing a newer show or movie, please use spoiler tags
- No pictures that could get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employer
- If you can’t disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away
- While navigating the open thread, just assume it’s sarcasm
0 CommentsSee More:
