The Eagles, Super Bowl winners of the 2017 season, have a pressing question. Who should really be their starting QB – Carson Wentz or Nick Foles? The Eagles already announced that when Carson Wentz returns he will be the starting QB but should Nick Foles start over Carson Wentz? In the 2017 season Carson Wentz had a great start but on week 14 vs the Rams he suffered an ACL injury which ended his season.
Fortunately, Nick Foles took over as the starting QB and ended the season with their very first ever Super Bowl win. He put up great stats and had filled the role of Carson Wentz perfectly. The question is should he start for the next season and if he does, will he be able to live up to the expectations? To be a starting QB you need to have good accuracy, decision making, be able to score, fit the playstyle, and make improvements.
In the game of football accuracy is one of the most important things for a QB to have. You need to not only be able to hit your target but you need to be able to be efficient. Nick Foles had completed 57 out of 101 passes in 3 games, that’s a 56.4% accuracy, in the postseason he had a 72.6% accuracy. Carson Wentz had a 60.2% accuracy. Nick Foles has the better accuracy in the playoffs but in the regular season it wasn’t so good. Touchdowns are also great since they are big factor in winning games. In the regular season Foles had a total of five touchdowns, while Carson Wentz had a total of 33 touchdowns. That’s almost three touchdowns a game. That’s about 18 points per game just off passes. Add in a decent running back and you can be an amazing team.
Interceptions are like turnovers, you never want to throw one. You need to have great decision making to lower your interceptions. Decision making is a little bit more important than accuracy. You need to make the right decision to gain the right amount of yards and scores. Foles threw two interceptions in the regular season. That’s almost one interception for every game he started. In the post-season, he threw only one interception. Carson Wentz threw seven interceptions, but overall Carson Wentz’s decision making is better than Nick Foles.
The 2017 season stats are pretty lopsided when comparing both players, mainly due to the Eagles changing their style of play when Foles took over for the rest of the season. Foles wasn’t throwing as much as Carson Wentz was. Foles threw 14.4 times per game and got 76.4 yards per game and he averaged 5.3 yards per run. Carson Wentz threw 33.8 times per game, so you see that the Eagles practically limited Foles. They focused their game around running instead of allowing Foles to try and do the exact same
things Carson Wentz did. The Eagles did this because they didn’t think that Foles could do everything that Wentz could. Carson Wentz was amazing coming out of college and already proved himself. Nick Foles on the other hand had a rough string of seasons, so the Eagles weren’t trying to put him in a failing situation. The last time he had so much responsibility during the regular season was in 2015 with the Rams. Nick Foles had a 56.4% accuracy, but to be a starting QB especially it should be at 60%. He threw 10 interceptions, so his decision making was horrible.
Improvement is key to be a starting QB. Who improved more? Carson Wentz rookie year was great – he played all 16 games he had a 62.4% accuracy. Wentz threw about 37.2 times a game and gained about 6.2 yards per throw. He had 3,782 yards and averaged 236.4 yards per game. He only had 16 touchdowns that’s one touchdown per game. That’s not a lot, to be a star you need to score, facilitate for your team, and be a leader. Scoring touchdowns is one way of showing star talent. Wentz threw 14 interceptions, so his decision making was not good. That year the Eagles didn’t make the playoffs and went 7-9. Overall though Wentz had a decent rookie season. He improved from that year to 2017 year so much. His scoring went up twice as much and his interceptions thrown went down. If he keeps up this rate of improvement he could be the best QB in the league, or maybe history. Nick Foles in his rookie year of 2007 was also put in a star role but it didn’t go that good. Foles had a 60.8% passing accuracy and he gained 1,699 yards. Foles threw 37.9 times per games, averaged 6.4 yards per pass and 272.4 yards per game. He only scored six touchdowns, and he threw five interceptions. Overall though Carson Wentz’s improvement was better than Nick Foles’.
Who should be the starting QB for the Eagles? The Eagles made the right decision, making Carson Wentz starting QB when he returns. He’s great for future purposes being so young (25) while Nick Foles is 29. He also improved drastically in only one year. He’s also great for present purposes, clearly being the better QB with the best stats. Carson Wentz can be used in so many ways. He is also a great rusher. He rushed 64 times and 4.9 times per game. He gained 299 yards and gained 4.7 yards per run. He’s not just a great passer but a great rusher – that’s a whole QB package. No disrespect to Foles, what he did in the finals was incredible and he will go down as an all-time Eagle, but Carson Wentz should be and will be the starting QB for the Eagles. Even though it’s unclear when Wentz will return to the Eagles, they weren’t shy about letting the press know that he’s their franchise player. “As the leader of the team, the face of the franchise he was drafted to be our guy long term. Listen, I still believe this is Carson’s team. I don’t think differently about that. But yea he’s chomping he’s ready to get back out there.” The Eagles are set on Carson Wentz.
