NFL's Best Deep Passers: Where Does Commanders Wentz Rank?
Remember when all we got to do was talk about how Carson Wentz would perform with the Washington Commanders based on what he did with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Indianapolis Colts?
How we've grown and learned so much since then.
Seeing him in person, it's undeniable how much better the arm talent is in 2022 compared to last season. Which is why Washington swapped second-round picks in this year's NFL Draft while promising a future third or second in next year's, depending on how things go.
We're a long way from determining just how successful Wentz will really be. But as we witness the potential building within the Commanders' offense early in the installation and preparation phase, there are some promising indicators from past performances to look at as well.
Specifically, NFL.com's Next Gen Stats (NGS) that measure - among other things - an NFL quarterback's Passing Score, which was introduced in January of this year.
"The NGS Passing Score seeks to assess a quarterback's execution on every pass attempt and transform that evaluation into a digestible score with a range between 50 and 99," says NFL.com. "The score can be aggregated on any sample of pass attempts while still maintaining validity in rank order"
When diving into deep passing scores for quarterbacks from the previous season, NFL.com found something that'll interest Washington fans.
They found that Carson Wentz is a top 10 deep-ball passer.
In fact, according to this metric, he's the seventh-best in this category. Ahead of notable players like Aaron Rodgers, Derek Carr, and new Denver Broncos quarterback, Russell Wilson.
Writes NFL.com of its study:
"Wentz ranked near the top of the league in the following deep passing metrics: yards, touchdowns, passer rating, completion percentage and completion percentage over expected. His play-action passer rating on deep throws was the seventh-highest in the NFL, and he posted the highest EPA and second-highest completion percentage and CPOE on these throws."
In fact, Wentz's deep-ball passer score tied him with Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs.
If the Commanders' new starting quarterback can maintain this level of deep-ball domination then things certainly bode well for the team this year.
But they won't bode well if you have the Indianapolis Colts or Washington's defense on your fantasy roster when the two teams meet, as quarterback Matt Ryan came in second on this list, setting up some big plays and lots of fireworks potentially going off in Week 8.
