The 2018 and 2019 version of Carson Wentz
Wentz would return to the starting lineup in Week 3 of the 2018 season, against the Indianapolis Colts. There was some rust, to be sure, but the confident and decisive quarterback was still present, and that player showed up on this throw to Wendell Smallwood out of the backfield:
Again you see the quarterback making an anticipation throw before it breaks open, but Wentz trusts in the coverage and in his reading of the play. Confident quarterbacks make this throw on time, while quarterbacks lacking that confidence wait to see it come clear, after Smallwood clears the linebackers.
That confident quarterback continued to suit up for the Eagles, throughout the 2018 season into 2019. But in the 2018 season he suffered another injury which eventually cut his campaign short, a fracture in his back that dated back to his time in college. Wentz would be shut down at the end of the 2018 season, giving way to Nick Foles yet again, but he would return to the lineup and play the entire 2019 season.
Yet when he returned, while the confidence was there to attempt some of these anticipation throws into windows that he succeeded in attacking in 2017, the execution was not on the same level. Take this incompletion against the Green Bay Packers, which comes on the same type of double-move highlighted earlier against the Denver Broncos from the 2017 season. Wentz’s throw hangs a bit – and the QB makes this fading away which we are starting to see more of – and the defender recovers to prevent the completion:
Or take this missed opportunity against Washington, as you again see Wentz fading away after making a throw. The hesitation and the feel of pressure is starting to creep into his game with each snap:
Perhaps the most glaring example of the difference between 2017 Wentz and the 2019 version is this interception against the Seattle Seahawks:
This is very similar to how he ended his 2017 season. A hole shot against Cover-2 along the boundary. Only this time, the throw hangs, and it gives time for the defender to recover and make the interception.
Of course, Wentz did not finish the regular season on a down note. Instead the quarterback willed his team to the playoffs, throwing to a hodgepodge of weapons in the passing game as injuries mounted around him. It might have been some of his best work as a quarterback, but it was papering over the issues that were creeping into his game. The hesitation, the fading away in the pocket, the lack of execution that we once saw from Wentz. Gone was the fearless quarterback in the pocket. There were still flashes of him to be sure, but not with the same level of consistency we saw in 2017. This was a different player, and the concern was growing.
A year later it would all crumble around him.