Is Carson Wentz going to be the next David Carr?
After being touted as the second coming of Jesus Christ after three stellar games, rookie quarterback Carson Wentz has officially fallen back to Earth after two extremely mediocre games in a row.
Philadelphia, who started 3-0, now sit at 3-2 after two consecutive losses, suffering defeats at the hands of the Detroit Lions and the Washington Redskins.
With a depleted offensive line after the team’s star Right Tackle, Lane Johnson, officially got suspended for ten games, should fans be wondering if Wentz will be the next David Carr?
You all know his brother; Derrick Carr has established himself as the franchise QB on a rapidly rising Oakland Raiders team, but David Carr’s career trajectory went quite opposite from how his younger brother’s is going.
After being the first draft pick in Houston Texans history, Carr spent most of his time in Texas on his back as the team’s offensive line was basically nonexistent. Compare that to the way the Eagles’ offensive line played against Washington, who have an exceptionally average pass rush, and there is cause for concern.
Halapoulivaati Vaitai, the rookie replacement for former fourth overall draft pick Lane Johnson, was pretty awful. He allowed two and a half of the five sacks the Eagles gave up, and head coach Doug Pederson has no intention of taking him out anytime soon.
Pederson tried to keep Vaitai off an island by sending help to the right side most of the time, but when he was isolated, Vaitai’s counterpart Ryan Kerrigan had no resistance from the fifth round pick out of TCU.
When the two are healthy, Jason Peters and Lane Johnson make up one of the best offensive tackle partnerships in the league.
Without Johnson for ten games and teams with pass rushes stronger than Washington’s up on the schedule in the coming weeks, there is cause for concern in Philadelphia.
Due to the fact that Seattle’s Michael Bennett, Atlanta’s Vic Beasley, and Cincinatti’s Carlos Dunlap are all coming up against Vaitai soon, the Eagles may want to consider using Brent Celek or Trey Burton next to the rookie right tackle in order to protect the franchise’s best asset, Carson Wentz.
Fans all knew that Wentz would come back down to Earth eventually, but the front office and the fans do not want him on the ground all season, so changes must be made if Philly wants to thrive now and in the future with Wentz under center.