Nick Piccone
Carson Wentz has lit a fire under Philly sports and we’ve all been feeling it since Sunday. And it’s not just how much he’s impressed locally, but how much he’s impressed nationally, as well.
According to Pro Football Focus, Carson Wentz had the best passing performance for a rookie quarterback since Cam Newton five years ago. They’ll rank the Top 10 Rookie of the Year candidates in the NFL each week, and there’s no place better than to start after Week 1 as our savior leads the pack.
There are obviously still some issues with his performance, yet Carson Wentz’s grade against the Browns is the highest passing grade we’ve assigned to a rookie quarterback in Week 1 since Cam Newton in 2011. The former North Dakota State standout recorded an adjusted completion percentage of 81.3 (fourth-best among QBs) and gained 68.7 percent of his yards through the air in what couldn’t have been a more encouraging start to an NFL career.
I don’t look at PFF as the be-all end-all of all football statistics, but they’re very reputable and, hell, it’s what I like to hear. Wentz played well under defensive pressure, as you can read here, and passed the eye test as well as the stats test. Yes, it’s important to temper expectations moving forward. But we also haven’t seen something like this in a long, long time. Get excited, Philadelphia.