Tag: Carson Wentz

Carson Wentz: Experience with Doug Pederson will help transition to Chiefs offense

Kansas City #Chiefs QB Carson Wentz believes experience with Doug Pederson will help him transition seamlessly into Andy Reid’s offense.

The NFL circles regarding coach relationships and front-office personnel are small, leading to familiarity. The head coaching trees of many all-time great staffs have influenced generations while creating opportunities for new or former players to keep their careers alive.

The Kansas City Chiefs have experienced extreme success and consistency under head coach Andy Reid, who has influenced many future NFL coaches by working with his staff. One of his proteges is current Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson. He won a Super Bowl and had success with quarterback Carson Wentz during their five seasons together in Philadelphia.

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t know the X’s and O’s yet,” Wentz told reporters on Thursday. “I see them from afar watching film or games, you know, whenever I’d see the Chiefs on, on film and those types of things.

“But I would imagine it’ll make sense to me pretty quick because of that, you know, being five years with Coach [Doug] Pederson. And that offense is, you know, there’s always little intricacies and differences.”

Wentz was a Pro Bowler under Pederson and was considered one of the best quarterbacks in the league before injury. Pederson has served under Reid for years as a coordinator and has played for him as a quarterback in Philadelphia.

“I think a lot of it will make sense to me and kind of resonate with me pretty quickly,” Wentz explained. “That part I’m looking forward to, you know, the last couple of years, offenses have been very different than I’ve been in. I’ve goten to see a lot, experience a lot. So I think this one will hit home and be the most familiar for me over the last couple of years.”

The similarity in styles could benefit the Chiefs in getting Wentz up to speed as Patrick Mahomes’ backup. This would be a solid situation for the veteran quarterback trying to get his career back on track.

Carson Wentz on decision to sign with Chiefs: ‘Just seemed like a good fit’

Carson Wentz went into detail about his decision to sign with the #Chiefs during his introductory press conference in Kansas City.

The Kansas City Chiefs are adding new personnel to their Super Bowl-winning roster in hopes of the elusive three-peat. With so many injuries around the league last season, especially at the quarterback position, the importance of having depth can’t be ignored.

Earlier this week, the Chiefs agreed to terms on a one-year deal with veteran quarterback Carson Wentz to serve as Patrick Mahomes’ new backup. The former Pro Bowler, who is entering his ninth NFL season, spoke with reporters via Zoom on Thursday to explain his reasoning for signing with Kansas City.

“[There are] lots of unknowns about the future,” Wentz explained. “It’s all [about] taking one day at a time, first and foremost. But, you know, [there is] big intrigue in wanting to come here. Why I’m here today is just the winning culture and seeing it from afar.

“Seeing around the league for the last couple years, and just the culture that coach Reid has kind of set, and you see it and have admired it for years. That was a big piece of the puzzle for me and the desire to be here on a winning team, in a good culture, in a good community with a good fan base. Just seemed like a good fit.”

Wentz spent the 2023 season as a backup for the Los Angeles Rams, appearing in two games. He wasn’t on an NFL roster until November of last year, spending most of his time preparing for a phone call and questioning his future.

Chiefs to sign former Pro Bowl QB Carson Wentz

The Kansas City #Chiefs are expected to sign Carson Wentz to serve as Patrick Mahomes’ backup in 2024.

The Kansas City Chiefs are adding extra Pro Bowl experience to their quarterback room this offseason.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, former Pro Bowl quarterback Carson Wentz is signing with the Chiefs. The contract is reportedly a one-year deal, and complete details haven’t been released yet.

Wentz was the second overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, earning Pro Bowl honors in 2017. The Eagles won Super Bowl LII that season after Wentz went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 14.

Wentz spent last season as a backup for the Los Angeles Rams, appearing in two games after being signed on Nov. 8. He won his lone start and was 17 of 24 with two passing touchdowns and a rushing score.

After five seasons in Philadelphia, he had one-season stops with the Indianapolis Colts and Washington Commanders.

The Chiefs had Blaine Gabbert as the backup quarterback last season behind Patrick Mahomes, and the veteran victoriously started the regular-season finale. Wentz has significant game experience and should do a sufficient job, assuming Brett Veach doesn’t bring in anyone else before training camp.

Chiefs signing former Rams QB Carson Wentz to back up Patrick Mahomes

The Chiefs are signing Carson Wentz to a one-year deal, giving him a shot to back up Patrick Mahomes

Carson Wentz is going from backing up one Super Bowl-winning quarterback to backing up a three-time champion. According to reports, the Kansas City Chiefs are signing Carson Wentz to a one-year deal.

Wentz was most recently with the Los Angeles Rams as their No. 2 quarterback behind Matthew Stafford, holding that role for the second half of the 2023 season after being signed mid-year.

Wentz, the former No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, was last a starter in 2022 when he was with the Washington Commanders. He started seven games that year but went 2-5, throwing 11 touchdown passes with nine interceptions.

He sat out the first half of the 2023 campaign while waiting for a team to sign him, eventually landing with the Rams in early November. In his one start with Los Angeles, he went 17-for-24 with 163 yards, two touchdown passes and one interception. He also rushed for 56 yards and a touchdown in a win over the 49ers in the season finale.

The Rams opted not to re-sign Wentz, instead bringing in Jimmy Garoppolo to back up Stafford.

Former Eagles’ QB Carson Wentz agrees to a 1-year deal with the Chiefs

Former Eagles QB Carson Wentz signing with Kansas City Chiefs to be the primary backup to Patrick Mahomes

After waiting until ten weeks into the 2023 regular season, quarterback Carson Wentz returned to the NFL and joined the Los Angeles Rams.

Wentz didn’t have to wait long this off-season, and according to Adam Schefter, he is signing a one-year deal with the defending Super Bowl champion, Kansas City Chiefs.

Wentz, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2016 NFL draft, spent five controversial seasons in Philadelphia, even earning a contract extension before eventually being traded to Indianapolis.

After a late-season collapse with the Colts in 2021, Wentz was traded to the Commanders.

He went 2-5 in seven games as Washington’s starter in the 2022 season, throwing for 1,755 yards, 11 touchdowns, and nine picks.

Wentz spent one season in Washington before being released ahead of a $26 million cap hit for 2023.

Wentz, 31, started the Rams’ regular-season finale against the San Francisco 49ers, completing 17 of 24 passes for 163 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

In eight NFL seasons, Wentz has completed 62.7% of his passes for 22,292 yards, 153 touchdowns and 67 interceptions.

WATCH: New Commanders TE Zach Ertz’s highlights

Zach Ertz comes to Washington with 709 career receptions and 46 touchdowns.

New Commanders tight end Zach Ertz comes to Washington with plenty of experience. A second-round pick in 2013, Ertz enters his 12th NFL season in 2024.

Washington fans know Ertz all too well. Having spent the first 8.5 seasons of his career with the Eagles, Ertz regularly caused matchup problems for the Commanders. Ertz has played 17 career games against Washington and has 93 receptions for 888 yards and three touchdowns. Ertz has three games against Washington in which he has caught 10 or more passes.

For his career, Ertz has 709 receptions for 7,434 yards and 46 touchdowns. After the Eagles traded him to the Arizona Cardinals in 2021, many believed his best days were behind him. But then Arizona head coach Kliff Kingsbury reignited Ertz’s career. Ertz was so effective under Kingsbury that he earned a two-year extension that offseason.

Now, Kingsbury is Washington’s offensive coordinator and, with a need at tight end, reunited with Ertz.

The Commanders are expected to select a quarterback at No. 2 overall in the 2024 NFL draft. Ertz will be the perfect safety valve for a young quarterback. During his career, he has helped other young passers, such as Carson Wentz, Jalen Hurts and Kyler Murray.

Courtesy of the Commanders’ social media, let’s look at some of Ertz’s career highlights finding the end zone.

 

Ranking 2024’s top 12 free-agent quarterbacks

Here are the top 12 quarterbacks who are about to hit the open market

The Carolina Panthers certainly won’t be on the lookout for a quarterback this offseason—at least as far as their main roster is concerned. But let’s rank the ones who are about to hit the open market anyway.

Here are the top 12 free-agent quarterbacks of the 2024 offseason:

Carson Wentz’s 17 carries obliterated previous Rams record for most rushes by QB

Carson Wentz carried the ball 17 times on Sunday, which is by far the most ever by a Rams QB in one game

Carson Wentz was part quarterback, part running back in the Los Angeles Rams’ win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. He ran the ball as many times as he completed passes, totaling 219 total yards – including the game-winning rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

With Mike LaFleur calling the offensive plays, Wentz carried the ball 17 times for 56 yards and a touchdown. It was four more carries than any other Rams player had, and it also set a record for the most rush attempts by a quarterback in franchise history.

According to Stathead, Wentz’s 17 rush attempts are seven more than any other Rams quarterback. Tony Banks ranked second with 10 rushes in a game back in 1996, but no other Rams quarterback had more than that until Wentz carried it a whopping 17 times on Sunday.

Query Results Table
Rush Rush Rush Rush Rush Rush
Rk Player Att G# Week Date Team Opp Result Att Yds Y/A TD 1D Succ% Pos.
1 Carson Wentz 17 17 18 2024-01-07 LAR SFO W 21-20 17 56 3.3 1 4 58.8 QB
2 Tony Banks 10 15 16 1996-12-15 STL ATL W 34-27 10 27 2.7 0 2 20.0 QB
3 Tony Banks 9 8 9 1996-10-27 STL BAL L 31-37 (OT) 9 47 5.2 0 2 44.4 QB
4 Tony Banks 9 13 14 1996-12-01 STL NOR W 26-10 9 10 1.1 0 2 22.2 QB
5 Roman Gabriel 9 11 11 1965-11-28 RAM GNB W 21-10 9 11 1.2 0 QB
6 James Harris 9 6 6 1974-10-20 RAM SFO W 37-14 9 23 2.6 1 QB
7 Bryce Perkins 9 11 12 2022-11-27 LAR KAN L 10-26 9 44 4.9 0 3 44.4 QB
Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 1/9/2024.

Matthew Stafford, for comparison, hasn’t had more than six rush attempts with the Rams and Jared Goff never had more than seven. Bryce Perkins had nine rushes in a 2022 game, which is the most by a Rams quarterback since Banks in 1996.

If not for Wentz’s mobility, the Rams would not have won this game, and LaFleur did a great job maximizing it with some designed runs and rollouts.

Rams should bring back Carson Wentz as their backup QB in 2024

After leading the Rams to a win on Sunday, Carson Wentz showed he should stick around as Matthew Stafford’s backup in 2024

Carson Wentz not only led the Los Angeles Rams to a win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, but he may have earned himself a spot on their roster in 2024. With Matthew Stafford constantly battling injuries and Stetson Bennett’s future in Los Angeles up in the air still, Wentz would be a perfect backup quarterback for the Rams next year.

It’s a position Los Angeles has been unable to figure out for years and this season, it cost them a potential win over the Packers in Week 9. That ultimately didn’t come back to bite them, but the decision to go with Brett Rypien in that game with Stafford out proved to be a poor one.

Wentz looked much more capable of running Sean McVay’s offense on Sunday than most backup quarterbacks have in several years. And when it comes to traits McVay looks for in a quarterback, Wentz has the mobility and the quick trigger as a passer that fit the mold of many Rams backups in the past.

Against the 49ers on Sunday, Wentz completed 17 of 24 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns. His one interception was a pass that went right through the hands of Tutu Atwell. Pro Football Focus credited Wentz with making three big-time throws, which are passes with “excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window,” and he didn’t have a single turnover-worthy play.

It was by no means a phenomenal performance throwing the ball, but his touchdown pass to Puka Nacua was a dime, as was a tight-window throw to Davis Allen for 10 yards on fourth-and-2.

Here’s that touchdown pass to Nacua from 19 yards out.

And the 10-yard seed to Allen over the middle.

His mobility was on full display, too. He rushed 16 times for 57 yards (excluding a kneel down), which are the most carries by a Rams quarterback since 1950. Wentz moved the chains three times on third down by picking up the first down with his legs, and he also had a 12-yard touchdown run on a designed QB draw.

That’s not a play you can run with many quarterbacks but Wentz has the size and speed to make it work.

It was an all-around solid performance by Wentz in his first game since the 2022 season. He’s probably not starter material anymore but for a team like the Rams with a quarterback that’s injured often, Wentz makes a ton of sense as Stafford’s backup in 2024.

The Rams need someone who can keep the ship afloat if Stafford were to miss a few weeks, which Rypien was unable to do this year. John Wolford and Bryce Perkins also struggled as the Rams’ backups over the last few seasons.

Assuming Wentz isn’t seeking a lucrative contract in free agency this offseason, the Rams should bring him back as Stafford’s backup.

Commanders fire head coach Ron Rivera after 4 seasons

Rivera finishes his time in Washington with a 26-40-1 record.

The Washington Commanders have fired head coach Ron Rivera one day after the team finished a 4-13 season with a 38-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. It was Washington’s eighth consecutive loss.

Rivera finishes his time in Washington with a 26-40-1 record and missed the playoffs the past three seasons. In Rivera’s first season (2020), he unexpectedly led the franchise to an NFC East title, albeit with a 7-9 record.

However, hopes were high heading into 2021. Washington spent in free agency, signing cornerback William Jackson III, wide receiver Curtis Samuel and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Jackson and Fitzpatrick moves proved disastrous and Samuel missed virtually his entire first season in Washington before becoming an integral part of the offense over the past two seasons.

Washington finished 7-10 in 2021, but Rivera believed the team would bounce back in 2022. The team became the Commanders in Feb. 2022 and attempted to trade for veteran quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers before settling on Carson Wentz.

It proved to be another disastrous move for Washington. Wentz struggled badly, starting only seven games, and Taylor Heinicke started for most of the season for a second consecutive year. Heinicke was signed in Dec. 2020 off the street as an emergency quarterback during COVID-19 and quickly became a fan favorite.

Despite Rivera’s best efforts to replace him, Heinicke would become his most dependable quarterback through his four seasons as head coach. In 2023, Rivera anointed Sam Howell Washington’s “QB1” shortly after the end of the 2022 season. Howell showed promise through 10 weeks but struggled mightily during Washington’s final seven games.

Rivera’s failure to adequately address the quarterback situation, in addition to his personnel blunders — in the draft and free agency — proved to be some of his biggest mistakes.

However, Rivera was the leader the franchise needed during some dark times, including the continuous drama and scandal involving former owner Dan Snyder and the team changing its name twice.