Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz has made sure to spread the ball around evenly to all of his weapons at training camp so far.
Last year, something was off with Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Carson Wentz. While he didn’t majorly regress on the stat sheets for the games he played, he definitely didn’t look as good as he did during his 2017 MVP effort. Obviously, injuries and an unwanted knee brace played a critical part in his regression, but he didn’t seem too confident in spreading the ball around either.
Dating back to early November of last year, Wentz had some anonymous complaints from his teammates within the locker room. While the national media went crazy over tight end Zach Ertz’s road to breaking a seasonal reception record, Eagles wideouts were growing frustrated due to the lack of targets coming from Wentz.
At times, it was obvious that Ertz was a blanket for Wentz as he struggled to get back to his old ways. Sometimes, Wentz forced the ball to the covered tight end, neglecting an open receiver elsewhere on the field. Wentz heard the criticism through a hit piece that came out about him after the season concluded, and now it seems evident he’s been listening.
So far at Eagles training camp, Wentz has been a man on a mission. As he’s dealt with tons of criticism after missing the playoffs two years in a row and still getting a massive contract, Wentz is ready to prove the doubters wrong.
Not only is he focused on remaining healthy by switching up his diet, but he’s also focusing on making sure he spreads the ball around more to keep everybody happy. While all of the noise at training camp has surrounded Wentz and DeSean Jackson’s connection, the four-year quarterback has actually been spreading the ball around evenly.
A look at the target numbers:
Carson Wentz already doing a good job spreading the ball around:
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) July 31, 2019
Targets so far in #Eagles training camp:
Jeffery: 11
Jackson: 10
Agholor: 10
Ertz, Goedert: 10
According to WIP’s Eliot Shorr-Parks, Wentz has utilized his weapons accordingly. Before Wednesday’s practice, the official numbers came out from Wentz’s production thus far. Surprisingly, DeSean Jackson has not actually been his most utilized target; rather it’s been Alshon Jeffery. Many speculated that Jeffery might’ve been one of the frustrated wideouts, who had an issue with Wentz’s inability to spread the ball around but so far that doesn’t seem like an issue.
As for the rest of the starters, they all got ten targets each. Up until Tuesday, Jackson has garnered the most hype amongst all Eagles wideouts for apparent reasons. He’s the big playmaker after all. Nelson Agholor, on the other hand, has just been consistently producing. As he gets back to playing solely in the slot again, Agholor could be primed for another breakout year in 2019.