When Carson Wentz takes the field in 2022, it will be for his third different team in three years. Troy Aikman believes it will also be the last chance he gets to prove he's a franchise quarterback in the NFL.
On a media conference call this week, Aikman, the newest color commentator for ESPN's "Monday Night Football," was asked whether he believes Wentz will be return to being the quarterback many expected him to be when he was drafted Philadelphia six years ago. The Colts traded Wentz to the Commanders this offseason, a year after acquiring him from the Eagles.
"I think that right now, Carson had an opportunity; it didn't end well in Philadelphia, of course. He then got traded to Indianapolis. Didn't go great for him there. They decided to make another change at that position, and now he's landed in Washington," Aikman said, according to ESPN. "This is probably his last opportunity, just being blunt about it, to prove that he can be a franchise quarterback in the NFL."
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Aikman added that he hopes Wentz makes the most of his renewed chance in Washington, and said he is looking forward to calling the Week 10 "Monday Night Football" matchup in Philadelphia when Wentz returns to his former team.
"This is kind of a defining season, I think, for Carson Wentz and what his future is going to look like," Aikman said.
Coming out of North Dakota State in 2015, Wentz was selected second overall in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Eagles just after the Rams took Jared Goff from Cal with the top pick. Wentz's first season with the Eagles wasn't particularly memorable as he completed 62.4 percent of his passes with 16 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and 3,782 passing yards.
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The big season Eagles fans were expecting came in 2017. Though he completed only 60.2 percent of his passes, Wentz had 33 touchdown passes to seven interceptions with 3,296 passing yards. Philadelphia went 11-2 in his starts. But in Week 14, Wentz suffered a torn ACL, ending his season early and ushering in Nick Foles to be the team's starting quarterback. Foles and the Eagles went on to win the Super Bowl.
Wentz spent three more years in Philadelphia, but couldn't replicate the success of 2017. Over those seasons, the team went 17-21-1 as he completed 63.5 percent of his passes for 9,733 yards, 64 touchdowns and 29 interceptions. Following the end of the 2020 season, Wentz was traded to the Colts for a 2021 third-round pick and 2022 first-round pick.
Wentz's numbers in Indianapolis were an improvement over his final year in Philadelphia — when he had 16 touchdowns and 15 interceptions — but the season remained a disappointing one. Wentz threw for 3,563 yards, 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions with a 62.4 completion percentage, but the Colts, who were in the driver's seat for a wild card spot, lost to the Raiders in Week 17 and to the Jaguars in Week 18 to fall out of the playoff picture.
During those losses, Wentz completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes and failed to reach 200 passing yards in either game as Indianapolis lost 23-20 to the Raiders and 26-11 to the Jaguars. Had Indianapolis won against Jacksonville, which finished the season with the worst record in the NFL, it would have reached the playoffs.
Now in Washington, Wentz will again be hitting the reset button. The Commanders could offer him a strong chance to rebound as they have one of the best receivers in the league in Terry McLaurin and they spent their 16th overall pick on Penn State receiver Jahan Dotson to add another weapon for Wentz in his first year in Washington.