Carson Wentz looked competent running the Commanders offense in their preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers on Saturday, a surprise to some considering all the training camp commentary on his volatile accuracy.
Wentz completed 10 of 13 passes for 74 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, mostly in the first quarter, before taking a seat for the remainder of the 23-21 loss.
That performance came as no surprise to ESPN's John Keim, who gave his observations on Wentz and oft-injured Curtis Samuel during his Monday appearance with The Sports Junkies on 106.7 The Fan.
Keim agreed with the notion that Wentz looked pretty good and comfortable in the offense, adding, "And I would say for me, in camp, what I would always say is the passing game looked inconsistent because it's more than just the quarterback."
"You have receivers that he's getting used to and receivers sometimes that are running routes at different depths," he explained. "You have to learn how does this guy come out of his break. Sometimes there are some routes, McLaurin would even say it, that he comes out of this route too fast, which the quarterback has to get used to and they haven't worked together a lot. You have Curtis Samuel in and out. None of your starting tight ends are there. Your starting center's out."
"So there's going to be a natural progression to begin with," Keim continued, "and then you throw those factors onto it and it's like, well yeah. And then with Wentz, sometimes it's getting used to receivers, sometimes it's the pocket is starting to tighten up and your base gets too wide and you're overthrowing guys. So there's definitely some of the mechanics because that's kind of who he's been throughout his career.
"But I never thought that, oh my gosh, this is gonna be horrible because you just knew it was like this is a [work in progress]. When I talked to people over there, nobody seemed like... I mean they would almost be like a little bit surprised. Well let me say this: One coach is like the perception out here is wildly different than it is indoors, in the facility, with that. So having said all that, I'm not surprised that it looked the way it did on Saturday."
"And I certainly feel like he looks more comfortable, and I even tweeted this, I said he looks more comfortable already than at any point Ryan Fitzpatrick did last year," he said. "And that's just a point about a new guy coming into a system. He looks more comfortable. Even in practice I felt he looked more comfortable in the offense, it was just a matter of things have to start clicking a little bit more as they progress."
Junkies host Eric Bickel remarked how he's been irritated by the characterization that Wentz, who's started 85 career games in the NFL, is somehow completely incompetent.
"This is what I always say, he's got a track record," Keim replied. "And the track record, while, again, there are definitely times... and sometimes that inaccuracy is in the form of... you'd see this on film, too. Third down-and-6, you throw a pass where you've got to lead the guy into the first down on some sort of crosser and you're hitting the wrong shoulder. Well, he catches the ball — it's a completion, but instead of six yards and a first down, it's five yards and a fourth down."
"That sometimes, when you talk about accuracy of the quarterback," he continued. "And you saw that with him, but you also saw there are definitely plays that this guy can make that others can't because of that arm. And with that arm, he can make sometimes those throws where you don't have to get your feet around because you've got the arm strength to get it there. That can sometimes lead to some bad throws, too, but it also leads to some throws that others just can't make. So yeah, he's got a track record. You're right, he might not be a top-10 guy but he's a legitimate starting quarterback in the NFL."
"Is he gonna be a different guy than he was in Indy or Philly? I don't know," Keim said. "I know factors in both places, are they going to be different here? Well, we'll find out as the season progresses, because when you hit that adversity in a season, that's when you find out where a guy's really at, so that's when we'll know more. But he does have a track record and you're right, this guy, he's a legitimate starting quarterback in the NFL. He is an upgrade over not just last year, but over the last several years, for sure."
Samuel caught two passes for 14 yards on two targets, but more importantly he was available after missing 12 games in his first season in Washington in 2021. One observation that jumped out about him to Keim is that the receiver was "constantly" in motion.
Asked how Samuel was lined up in relation to fellow receivers Terry McLaurin and rookie Jahan Dotson, Keim said, "Dotson more inside. There were a couple times that he was outside. Samuel was in motion constantly, constantly sending him in motion. And whether it's before the snap, afterwards."
"So he was constantly in motion," he said. "Sometimes it was take two steps and you realign him, right? But it was constantly in motion. Whether that's to provide a better tell for the quarterback, what the defense are in. I also think for him, because of his versatility, it gets you to think where's he going now? Because you know he can line up in multiple different spots, run routes in different spots, etcetera. So that was one thing that jumped out with him.
"And then what I like to see is when they're in practice, they align all three on one side. Because that's when you start to wonder what's it going to look like after the snap? And Samuel is usually more of an underneath guy, but it still gives you some options and it still allows you to use that speed on one side."
