There's been some speculation, most recently in an ESPN article, that the Raiders could kick the tires on Carson Wentz if Jimmy Garoppolo's bum foot prevents him from being available to start the season for Las Vegas. If Garoppolo isn't healthy, it would currently be 37-year-old Brian Hoyer or fourth-rounder Aidan O'Connell, and no one wants that.
Hoyer, the next in line, has made a total of three starts his last five seasons. His employment in Vegas is most likely due to knowing Josh McDaniels' offense from his years in New England, not anything good he could do on the field. Davante Adams has worked with some lesser quarterbacks and still produced at times, but Hoyer would put that history to a stern test.
But there's not a lot to recommend Wentz these days either. His days of being a No. 2 overall draft pick and an MVP candidate the year the Eagles won a Super Bowl (with Nick Foles filling in during the playoffs) seem like a long time ago. The more recent history has three different teams giving up on him the last three seasons.
In those three seasons, during which he's played in 37 games, Wentz has been best known for being involved in a lot of sacks, interceptions and fumbles. On a per-game basis, more than any other quarterback (who's started at least half the time those seasons) than Justin Fields.
Collectively, Wentz in those games has averaged a total of 4.4 sacks, interceptions and fumbles per contest, trailing only Fields (up at 5.2 per game, while appearing in just 27 games). What's humorous from the table is that the quarterback who's been best in this regard is Jacoby Brissett. He's the guy who preceded, or followed, Wentz at his last two professional stops, the Colts and Commanders.
| QB SACKS, INTERCEPTIONS AND FUMBLES/GAME, 2020-2022 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | Int | Fmb | Sk | Int/G | Fum/G | Sk/G | Tot/G |
| Justin Fields | 27 | 21 | 28 | 91 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 5.2 |
| Carson Wentz | 37 | 31 | 24 | 108 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 4.4 |
| Sam Darnold | 30 | 27 | 19 | 80 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 4.2 |
| Joe Burrow | 42 | 31 | 20 | 124 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 4.2 |
| Matt Ryan | 45 | 36 | 32 | 119 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 4.2 |
| Russell Wilson | 45 | 30 | 19 | 135 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 4.1 |
| Daniel Jones | 41 | 22 | 23 | 111 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 3.8 |
| Baker Mayfield | 42 | 29 | 23 | 105 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 3.7 |
| Lamar Jackson | 39 | 29 | 21 | 93 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 3.7 |
| Taylor Heinicke | 26 | 21 | 14 | 58 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| Davis Mills | 28 | 25 | 13 | 62 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| Kirk Cousins | 49 | 34 | 28 | 113 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 3.6 |
| Kyler Murray | 41 | 29 | 30 | 83 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 3.5 |
| Matthew Stafford | 42 | 35 | 12 | 97 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 3.4 |
| Dak Prescott | 33 | 29 | 21 | 60 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 3.3 |
| Ryan Tannehill | 45 | 27 | 19 | 104 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 3.3 |
| Derek Carr | 48 | 37 | 28 | 93 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 3.3 |
| Mac Jones | 31 | 24 | 12 | 62 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 3.2 |
| Josh Allen | 49 | 39 | 30 | 85 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 3.1 |
| Justin Herbert | 49 | 35 | 17 | 101 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 3.1 |
| Trevor Lawrence | 34 | 25 | 21 | 59 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 3.1 |
| Jimmy Garoppolo | 32 | 21 | 13 | 58 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 2.9 |
| Jared Goff | 46 | 28 | 23 | 81 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 2.9 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | 31 | 20 | 16 | 51 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.8 |
| Tua Tagovailoa | 36 | 23 | 16 | 61 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.8 |
| Jalen Hurts | 45 | 19 | 27 | 77 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 2.7 |
| Patrick Mahomes | 49 | 31 | 19 | 76 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 2.6 |
| Aaron Rodgers | 49 | 21 | 15 | 82 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 2.4 |
| Tom Brady | 50 | 33 | 13 | 65 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 2.2 |
| Jacoby Brissett | 38 | 10 | 12 | 45 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.8 |
Glancing at the table, another guy who shows up high on the unfavorable end of things is Sam Darnold. He's the guy we're supposed to believe Kyle Shanahan can maybe mold into a solid starting quarterback, should Brock Purdy not be ready for the start of the season.
Among the quarterbacks grading out worst on this table, only Joe Burrow looks distinctly out of place. He looks a little better if you go inside the numbers and see that his placement is almost entirely due to being one of the three worst in terms of taking sacks, which a lot goes into (including the offensive line). Strictly in terms of combined interceptions and fumbles, Burrow is middle-of-the-pack among these quarterbacks. Wentz shows up among the five worst, with Fields, Darnold, Matt Ryan and Dak Prescott.
Maybe Josh McDaniels can work some magic to get Wentz into a less mistake-prone place, but three other franchises have tried the last three years. I don't think he's going to be an asset, NFL or fantasy-wise, this season.
--Andy Richardson