Series of articles about Wentz by Zach Hicks (Sports Illustrated)

[Dogg63]

Over the past month, Zach Hicks has been breaking down our new QB from various angles. He’s published a series of articles on Sports Illustrated’s website, and I’m impressed with his sources, research, and writing effort.

 

Misc Wentz Articles by Zach

 

He started out with breaking down film to uncover what Wentz’s issues were that contributed to him being sacked 50 times in Philly last season (his inability to pull the trigger/playing hero ball and poor pocket management). https://www.si.com/nfl/colts/film/wentz-concerns-2020-eagles-sack-total

 

Then he watched film to see how Wentz might be able to help our deep passing game this season (Wentz in 2017 compared to Luck in 2018 on deep passes). https://www.si.com/nfl/colts/film/carson-wentz-fix-colts-deep-passing-game

 

Next he summarized a report from Doug Farrar that rated Wentz as worst in the NFL last season on these 6 throws: zero/one-step drop, without pre-snap motion, with play-action, without being blitzed, without pressure, and in the pocket. https://www.si.com/nfl/colts/news/touchdown-wire-wentz-worst-qb-throws

 

Carson’s Throwing Mechanics

And now we get to the really good part. He’s written a series on Carson’s mechanics, breaking it down and analyzing it from a QB coach’s perspective. He interviewed top coaches, analyzed film, etc. I learned a lot about throwing. Very interesting!

 

First article was about Setting the Hallway. “Setting the hallway is a term that I learned from one of the best QB Coaches in the country in Dub Maddox” The term refers to how a QB needs to line up his back foot properly in order to throw more accurately. https://www.si.com/nfl/colts/film/mechanics-of-wentz-setting-the-hallway

Fixable issue

 

Next was QB Sequencing, which refers to moving energy through the legs to the hips to the shoulder and then out the arm. For this article, he sat down with QB Coach Tony Racioppi, who has worked with the Manning Passing Academy and has helped train many NFL quarterbacks individually. https://www.si.com/nfl/colts/film/mechanics-of-wentz-qb-sequencing

Fixable issue

 

Then he took a good look at Josh Allen’s progress. “With all this talk about Carson Wentz and his fixable mechanical issues, let's take a look at the best success story in the league when it comes to this department.” https://www.si.com/nfl/colts/film/mechanics-carson-wentz-studying-josh-allen

 

Zach then sat down with Tom House to discuss Wentz. House said. "I think with injury and whatever happened in Philadelphia, there was a crisis of confidence." https://www.si.com/nfl/colts/film/mechanics-of-carson-wentz-tom-house

Fixable issue

 

Then he published a look at how QBs need to be able to reset when they are off-platform. “One of the many downfalls of a hero ball quarterback is the tendency to throw off-platform too often.” For this piece, he sat down with QB Coach Steve Calhoun, a top quarterback trainer who is an instructor with the Manning Passing Academy and has helped train multiple NFL quarterbacks. https://www.si.com/nfl/colts/film/mechanics-of-carson-wentz-resetting-off-platform

Fixable issue

 

Yesterday he published his most recent in the series, which is from an interview with QB Guru Adam Dedeaux, who works for 3DQB. “I did ask Dedeaux about the progress Wentz has made and where he is mentally with their workouts. The answer was the best possible one to get for Colts' fans.” https://www.si.com/nfl/colts/film/mechanics-of-wentz-adam-dedeaux

 

The upshot from Zach's perspective is that the issues are all minor and all fixable (if not already fixed, like his confidence and not having to play hero ball). If he publishes additional articles in his Wentz series, I'll update this thread.

 

Enjoy!

[cdgacoltsfan]

TMI...

can't wait till the season starts.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

7 minutes ago, cdgacoltsfan said:

TMI...

can't wait till the season starts.

It is getting closer. Just 2.5 weeks until camp.

[PRnum1]

Good article where Doug Pederson discussed Wentz and what went wrong in 2020 

 

"And really as the season began, things just started to kind of I guess spiral out of control,” he said. “Injuries began to set in. We weren’t playing very well. Turnovers offensively, just a number of things, penalties, more injuries compounded problems, and it just became harder and harder as the year wore on."

 

"No one person is to blame for any of what happened last year. And it’s just unfortunate for me because I was hoping to really have an opportunity to fix the issues that we had and kind of get everything back on track — whether it be this year or the next year. And, obviously, that didn’t happen."

 

https://theeagleswire.usatoday.com/2021/07/07/eagles-doug-pederson-sirusxm-nfl-carson-wentz-jalen-hurts/

[EastStreet]

I read the first article when it came out and thought it was extremely lazy. Not a big fan of Hicks to begin with, and thought the article read like he started with a preconceived conclusion, and only supplied info/film/stats to support that conclusion. Was Wentz good last year, no.... lol. But Hicks only mentions briefly that things went on around him, and doesn't give much if any info about those issues. 

 

Perhaps I'll read the rest to see if anything changes, but I'd wager it's the same kinda stuff. It would be nice if he painted the total picture to go along with his opinion.

 

Here's what I'll say on the first article...... leaving out simple background info on the OL and pass catcher injury is extremely lazy. It was completely egregious. He's also pretty lazy when talking about time to throw, routes, and certain games.

 

I've been casually working on some Philly info the last month. Almost done, but was going to wait till right before camp to post. I think I'll drop it tonight or tomorrow just to paint a clearer picture of last year.

 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

34 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

I read the first article when it came out and thought it was extremely lazy. Not a big fan of Hicks to begin with, and thought the article read like he started with a preconceived conclusion, and only supplied info/film/stats to support that conclusion. Was Wentz good last year, no.... lol. But Hicks only mentions briefly that things went on around him, and doesn't give much if any info about those issues. 

 

Perhaps I'll read the rest to see if anything changes, but I'd wager it's the same kinda stuff. It would be nice if he painted the total picture to go along with his opinion.

 

Here's what I'll say on the first article...... leaving out simple background info on the OL and pass catcher injury is extremely lazy. It was completely egregious. He's also pretty lazy when talking about time to throw, routes, and certain games.

 

I've been casually working on some Philly info the last month. Almost done, but was going to wait till right before camp to post. I think I'll drop it tonight or tomorrow just to paint a clearer picture of last year.

 

I think you are right about Hicks. All you have to do is read his tweets and you know he doesn’t like Wentz and doesn’t feel he can turn it around. Not a fan of him either. 

[CR91]

I've said it time and time again. All Wentz has to do to be successful is play within the scheme and make five big throws a game. There is no need to play hero ball. The run game and defense will take care of the rest.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

28 minutes ago, CR91 said:

I've said it time and time again. All Wentz has to do to be successful is play within the scheme and make five big throws a game. There is no need to play hero ball. The run game and defense will take care of the rest.

There will be games when things aren’t going right and he will need to take over. There will be times the run game will be shut down. There are just to many good teams. But hopefully those times are few and far between.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 hour ago, Wentzszn said:

There will be games when things aren’t going right and he will need to take over. There will be times the run game will be shut down. There are just to many good teams. But hopefully those times are few and far between.

Peyton Manning spoiled us to the point where everyone stinks according to some. He was the closest to thing to perfection for a QB, he got us a ring and a ton of wins weekly. He was our Michael Jordan. Luck = very good, Rivers = good here, lets hope Wentz can be good at worse. If not, the forum will do this  

[EastStreet]

3 hours ago, Wentzszn said:

I think you are right about Hicks. All you have to do is read his tweets and you know he doesn’t like Wentz and doesn’t feel he can turn it around. Not a fan of him either. 

I did a little more digging on Philly stuff tonight just to provide detail, and there's some very obvious things all reporters should caveat when talking about Wentz last year. Not sure if Hicks doesn't like Wentz, was a fan of someone else, or what... But regardless of motivation, it's just lazy.

[CR91]

3 hours ago, Wentzszn said:

There will be games when things aren’t going right and he will need to take over. There will be times the run game will be shut down. There are just to many good teams. But hopefully those times are few and far between.

 

Not saying we need to baby Wentz, but there needs to be a focus that it's not all on his plate for this team to succeed.

 

[Dogg63]

12 hours ago, EastStreet said:

Here's what I'll say on the first article...... leaving out simple background info on the OL and pass catcher injury is extremely lazy. It was completely egregious. He's also pretty lazy when talking about time to throw, routes, and certain games.

I'll leave it to the rest of the forum members to decide what they think you are trying to do here. Dishonest? Troll? Drunk keyboard warrioring? Other?

 

Here is the lead paragraph of his first article:

"The 2020 Philadelphia Eagles were a complete mess. They had injuries across their offensive line, a terrible wide receiver core, and a scheme that did the offense no favors."

 

And here's the subhead of that same article:

"Carson Wentz was sacked a league-high 50 times in 2020. While the Eagles were not great, I dive into why Wentz deserves some blame for the issues."

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

7 hours ago, CR91 said:

 

Not saying we need to baby Wentz, but there needs to be a focus that it's not all on his plate for this team to succeed.

 

Yes all true. But he will need to take over in games where things are going right. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

8 hours ago, EastStreet said:

I did a little more digging on Philly stuff tonight just to provide detail, and there's some very obvious things all reporters should caveat when talking about Wentz last year. Not sure if Hicks doesn't like Wentz, was a fan of someone else, or what... But regardless of motivation, it's just lazy.

It’s also true that Wentz has some blame and shouldn’t of let it affect him like it did. I saw a YouTube video yesterday and they compared him to Stafford. Stafford has been in a bad organization his entire career and never let it effect his play. He manned up. I just think Hicks goes to far with the hate of Wentz and it shows.

[Dogg63]

12 hours ago, Wentzszn said:

I think you are right about Hicks. All you have to do is read his tweets and you know he doesn’t like Wentz and doesn’t feel he can turn it around. Not a fan of him either. 

Absolutely absurd.

 

The entire series of articles is about how Wentz CAN be fixed, and pretty EASILY. 

 

What goes on in your head? Nevermind...

[The Fish]

12 hours ago, CR91 said:

I've said it time and time again. All Wentz has to do to be successful is play within the scheme and make five big throws a game. There is no need to play hero ball. The run game and defense will take care of the rest.

This is more or less how I'm looking at it too. 

 

I don't think it'll be a big ask to get him on schedule and keep him there with the run game support and quality o line play. Say, he does that for some time, a season? If we see a big leap in confidence, then it's okay imo to let the expectations to grow, but for now, he's more Jacoby than Luck, in terms of what game plan serves the purpose best. 

[CR91]

2 hours ago, Wentzszn said:

Yes all true. But he will need to take over in games where things are going right. 

 

Which was my biggest issue with Rivers. I just never felt confident when the game is getting out of hand or the game was on the line and we needed him to come through. First game vs the Jags, Browns, Ravens, Steelers, bills. 

[AwesomeAustin]

27 minutes ago, CR91 said:

 

Which was my biggest issue with Rivers. I just never felt confident when the game is getting out of hand or the game was on the line and we needed him to come through. First game vs the Jags, Browns, Ravens, Steelers, bills. 

  Rivers had a good year and played well. He carried us a few games including the playoff game.  However, never did feel like he could be counted on to go make the play that won the game when it counted. Even on our last drive of the year, at no time did I feel like we would score a TD.  Probably a bit unfair but is what it is.   
 

Hopefully Wentz can elevate his play enough the offense becomes dominant.  He has the talent and had shown it before.  This is going to be a season of frustration and hope with a lot of ups and downs.  By the end of the year we will see exactly where our roster, coaching staff and front office stand. Don’t want to say make or break but it’s time everything starts to click and we move towards not only competing for the division but also winning playoff games. The roster must mature and the coaching staff must do better in games. 

[Thunderbolt]

Looking forward to the new season as well, hope everything turns out well like the hype everyone is talking about especially our QBs situation.  Hope we get to keep all three, it seems they all have something to offer in the form of their unique physical skill sets and the content of their character.

[2006Coltsbestever]

Regarding Rivers, I felt the opposite as most. I knew and I can say I knew we would be good when we got him because I predicted on here that we would make the playoffs with him. With Wentz, I am not sure. It isn't Wentz bashing but we really don't know what we are getting here? I like a QB that is a true leader, that has it mentally, durable - plays every game, and able to change plays at the line of scrimmage that help the team win. I will take that over a QB that has a big arm or can run better. That is just me. Peyton was the latter, he never had a cannon for an arm and he was as slow as a turtle but is a top 3 QB ever. I wouldn't be surprised if Wentz is good but I also wouldn't be surprised if he is just average or gets injured.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

1 hour ago, AwesomeAustin said:

  Rivers had a good year and played well. He carried us a few games including the playoff game.  However, never did feel like he could be counted on to go make the play that won the game when it counted. Even on our last drive of the year, at no time did I feel like we would score a TD.  Probably a bit unfair but is what it is.   
 

Hopefully Wentz can elevate his play enough the offense becomes dominant.  He has the talent and had shown it before.  This is going to be a season of frustration and hope with a lot of ups and downs.  By the end of the year we will see exactly where our roster, coaching staff and front office stand. Don’t want to say make or break but it’s time everything starts to click and we move towards not only competing for the division but also winning playoff games. The roster must mature and the coaching staff must do better in games. 

This is true. Even the GB game it was forced turnovers that won us the game.  

[2006Coltsbestever]

As far as the games we lost last year, I can only think of 1 that I put on Rivers for the team losing. As funny as this sounds it was the opener at Jax  . The other 4 losses were pretty much on the D or WR's not executing. I could put a lot of blame on Rivers for the Ravens loss as well (he had an off game) but what turn that game around was the JT fumble. We should've been up 14-0 in that game, instead that fumble made it 7-7. The loss to Pitt, our offense gave us a 24-7 lead, you can't hold that, than that is on the defense. When the Titans beat us all units stunk, Buck was out as well.

[AwesomeAustin]

1 hour ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Regarding Rivers, I felt the opposite as most. I knew and I can say I knew we would be good when we got him because I predicted on here that we would make the playoffs with him. With Wentz, I am not sure. It isn't Wentz bashing but we really don't know what we are getting here? I like a QB that is a true leader, that has it mentally, durable - plays every game, and able to change plays at the line of scrimmage that help the team win. I will take that over a QB that has a big arm or can run better. That is just me. Peyton was the latter, he never had a cannon for an arm and he was as slow as a turtle but is a top 3 QB ever. I wouldn't be surprised if Wentz is good but I also wouldn't be surprised if he is just average or gets injured.

Fair assessment. I’ve been saying this for years now.  This colts team is a fringe playoff team.  A lot rides on players having good years. We have several we just don’t know what we will get game to game. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Wentz plays average or gets hurt and we miss the playoffs. Wouldn’t surprise me if we get the 2 or 3 seed.  With Man ing we knew we were getting a first round bye every year.  Crazy how things change so quickly. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

30 minutes ago, AwesomeAustin said:

Fair assessment. I’ve been saying this for years now.  This colts team is a fringe playoff team.  A lot rides on players having good years. We have several we just don’t know what we will get game to game. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Wentz plays average or gets hurt and we miss the playoffs. Wouldn’t surprise me if we get the 2 or 3 seed.  With Man ing we knew we were getting a first round bye every year.  Crazy how things change so quickly. 

I am leaning toward Wentz being on the good level (better than average but not great) but will he be better than Rivers? That is a difficult question to answer. He has the better arm but football is also mental and staying healthy. We will see. Rivers was tough as nails and mentally he was so smart.

[AwesomeAustin]

2 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I am leaning toward Wentz being on the good level (better than average but not great) but will he be better than Rivers? That is a difficult question to answer. He has the better arm but football is also mental and staying healthy. We will see. Rivers was tough as nails and mentally he was so smart.

That’s where I’m leaning as well.  Wentz playing slightly above average would be a great first year with the Colts. The team can evaluate what they believe he is capable of and what direction to take the roster. Wentz has bc IOU’s lt needs a team around him so I think his ceiling is just below elite. A championship can be won with a Ab * that.  I do think Rivers was smart as can be but I put him in the same category. Not bad for an old man vs a former #2 pick in his physical prime. Rivera did surprise me bc he played very good considering circumstances.  I thought he was going to flop.  

[2006Coltsbestever]

9 minutes ago, AwesomeAustin said:

That’s where I’m leaning as well.  Wentz playing slightly above average would be a great first year with the Colts. The team can evaluate what they believe he is capable of and what direction to take the roster. Wentz has bc IOU’s lt needs a team around him so I think his ceiling is just below elite. A championship can be won with a Ab * that.  I do think Rivers was smart as can be but I put him in the same category. Not bad for an old man vs a former #2 pick in his physical prime. Rivera did surprise me bc he played very good considering circumstances.  I thought he was going to flop.  

One reason why I am leaning toward Wentz being good is the team he has around him. That is why felt Rivers would be good, with that O.Line I was 99% certain that Rivers would have all day to throw. It just wasn't that though, I figured our run game would be good and I think it will be great this season. I am hoping TY finds the fountain of youth for 1 last season.

[AwesomeAustin]

14 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

One reason why I am leaning toward Wentz being good is the team he has around him. That is why felt Rivers would be good, with that O.Line I was 99% certain that Rivers would have all day to throw. It just wasn't that though, I figured our run game would be good and I think it will be great this season. I am hoping TY finds the fountain of youth for 1 last season.

Our OL is great but we can’t expect the same play this year with a new LT and I believe they stayed relatively healthy up until the end.  Wentz and the running game will have to make plays themselves but I think they are capable. 
 

I think we will see flashes from TY with a few shining moments a couple big games. He is definitely not someone I’m counting on to be a stats leader but that’s ok.  I don’t believe he was ever a big TD guy but he doesn’t need to be that guy.  If he can play his role while drawing the occasional double coverage I consider that well done. Other receivers need to make the next step.  

[2006Coltsbestever]

17 minutes ago, AwesomeAustin said:

Our OL is great but we can’t expect the same play this year with a new LT and I believe they stayed relatively healthy up until the end.  Wentz and the running game will have to make plays themselves but I think they are capable. 
 

I think we will see flashes from TY with a few shining moments a couple big games. He is definitely not someone I’m counting on to be a stats leader but that’s ok.  I don’t believe he was ever a big TD guy but he doesn’t need to be that guy.  If he can play his role while drawing the occasional double coverage I consider that well done. Other receivers need to make the next step.  

Yeah I expect Pittman to improve in year 2, he should if he is any good. I think he will. That will help. 

[PRnum1]

On 7/11/2021 at 8:52 AM, Dogg63 said:

I'll leave it to the rest of the forum members to decide what they think you are trying to do here. Dishonest? Troll? Drunk keyboard warrioring? Other?

 

Here is the lead paragraph of his first article:

"The 2020 Philadelphia Eagles were a complete mess. They had injuries across their offensive line, a terrible wide receiver core, and a scheme that did the offense no favors."

 

And here's the subhead of that same article:

"Carson Wentz was sacked a league-high 50 times in 2020. While the Eagles were not great, I dive into why Wentz deserves some blame for the issues."

I've only read the first article but Hicks says he only blames Wentz for 12 of the 50 sacks or 24% (in only 11.5 games).  This is close to what PFF said as well.  PFF blamed Wentz for 11 of the 50 sacks.

 

Some things I took away from the first article:

 

We were a bit spoiled with Philip Rivers in 2020, as he was a top six passer in the NFL in completion percentage, passer rating, and yards per attempt while under pressure. Rivers was masterful with diagnosing pressure pre-snap and understanding how to attack defenses with anticipation throws underneath. @2006Coltsbestever

 

Wentz struggles mightily with this and it is a reason why he had a passer rating of 48.3 while under pressure in 2020. He doesn't throw the checkdown and underneath pass, and opts to play hero ball more often than not.

 

While the downfield hero ball is great for highlights, sometimes the simply play is all that is needed. 

 

 

 

But perhaps the most troubling part of the article is where Hicks says Wentz has trouble throwing the drag route.

 

For those that don't know, the drag route is where the receiver runs 5 yards down the field, turns 90 degrees and runs parallel to the line of scrimmage over the middle of the field.

 

The drag route is a main staple of the West coast offense.  It is predominant in both Pederson and Franks offense.

 

"There is a jarring stat from last year that Wentz only threw eight drag routes on the entire season. For perspective, Michael Pittman Jr caught more drag routes last year than Wentz even threw. The issue with this is they were a heavy part of the Eagles' playbook. Wentz just didn't throw them, even when they were open."

 

 

What this all means, I'm not exactly sure but thanks for sharing the article. @Dogg63

 

[Myles]

20 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Yeah I expect Pittman to improve in year 2, he should if he is any good. I think he will. That will help. 

I expect Campbell to be a force in the offense as well.  With a good running game, there may not be enough balls to go around.

[Dogg63]

 

 

I'll post the next 3 installments as they are published.

[Dogg63]

Next installment posted today:

 

"While most of the talk in this series has been around Wentz and his mechanics, today I look into why the quality of the supporting cast is a big part of the equation."

 

https://www.si.com/nfl/colts/film/mechanics-of-wentz-supporting-cast

[Coltsfan98]

23 hours ago, Dogg63 said:

Next installment posted today:

 

"While most of the talk in this series has been around Wentz and his mechanics, today I look into why the quality of the supporting cast is a big part of the equation."

 

https://www.si.com/nfl/colts/film/mechanics-of-wentz-supporting-cast

Wow the eagles were a really bad team last season. Those drops are fricking inexcusable, the ball hit them right in the hands lol. Also watching those sacks it's a miracle he didn't get injured again, he was getting crushed as soon as he hit his drop on most of them. I expect him to be way better then last year here in Indy!

[gspdx]

Interesting series of articles.

 

It does seem like Wentz needs to clean up some fundamentals.  But this also does give me belief that he can improve and get back to form with the right coaching.  And I can understand if he lost control of those fundamentals a bit and tried to play hero ball.  You get desperate and try to do too much.  Guys who want to help their team and win will do that.

 

Anyway - I am excited to see the evolution and growth of Carson.

 

 

[EastStreet]

On 7/11/2021 at 9:23 AM, Wentzszn said:

It’s also true that Wentz has some blame and shouldn’t of let it affect him like it did. I saw a YouTube video yesterday and they compared him to Stafford. Stafford has been in a bad organization his entire career and never let it effect his play. He manned up. I just think Hicks goes to far with the hate of Wentz and it shows.

I don't know if Stafford ever had a year of where his OL and WR were both just totally decimated like Philly's was.

I agree though, Wentz crashed hard, and maybe just gave up (only he can answer that). But there was a ton of stuff going against him. I think at some point, he just got so fed up (surrounding team, coaching, fans), that he just said the heck with us, I'm getting out of here... And I can't really blame him. 

[EastStreet]

On 7/11/2021 at 8:52 AM, Dogg63 said:

I'll leave it to the rest of the forum members to decide what they think you are trying to do here. Dishonest? Troll? Drunk keyboard warrioring? Other?

 

Here is the lead paragraph of his first article:

"The 2020 Philadelphia Eagles were a complete mess. They had injuries across their offensive line, a terrible wide receiver core, and a scheme that did the offense no favors."

 

And here's the subhead of that same article:

"Carson Wentz was sacked a league-high 50 times in 2020. While the Eagles were not great, I dive into why Wentz deserves some blame for the issues."

Definitely wasn't trolling, and definitely wasn't drunk... I've had a long history of questioning some of Hick's articles and comments on Wentz. 

 

And yes, I think it was lazy. He could have easily provided detail around the OL, WR, TE, or the other impacting aspects. Purely my opinion, but I think it's simply imbalanced, and I think he's just not a fan of Wentz.

 

You seem to be taking things personally these days.... are you keyboard warrior'ing lol... 

 

Like I said, I've got data/info on Philly's "mess" that I've been too busy to post. I'll make sure I get it before the weekend is over.

[Dogg63]

Here's his next article on Wentz:

 

https://www.si.com/nfl/colts/film/mechanics-of-wentz-maintaining-mechanics