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Greg Cosell's Look Ahead: The issues that Carson Wentz and the Eagles need to fix

Carson Wentz threw three interceptions in a loss to the Bengals last week. (AP)
Carson Wentz threw three interceptions in a loss to the Bengals last week. (AP)

Carson Wentz should not be dropping back to pass more than 60 times in a game. As a rookie, he should never drop back more than 35 times in a game.

But there he was last week, attempting 60 passes in the Philadelphia Eagles’ loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Wentz’s rookie season has seen some ups and downs, which is normal for a rookie. Don’t forget, until about a week before the regular season started, Sam Bradford was supposed to start for the Eagles while Wentz sat and learned. Because Wentz has been asked to do so much for the offense, his issues – again, many of which are normal for a rookie – are magnified.

People want to compare Wentz to Dallas Cowboys rookie quarterback Dak Prescott, but that’s not even worth the conversation. The situations are not comparable. The foundation of the offenses are different. The supporting casts are far different. The offensive approach is different too.

Prescott has been very efficient in his role. Unlike Wentz, he has a productive running back to hand it to in Ezekiel Elliott, a great offensive line in front of him, a true No. 1 receiver in Dez Bryant and an offense that doesn’t center around him. Wentz is on an Eagles team that is built around him as a rookie, with no weapons on the perimeter, no consistent week-to-week run game, and an offensive line that has had to shuffle some pieces as well. On top of all that, the Eagles’ defense is getting worse as the season progresses, and that’s putting the Eagles in a situation where they feel like they have to throw more often. Add it all up, and the Eagles have put Wentz in an untenable position.

[Charles Robinson: The flaw NFL evaluators have found in Carson Wentz’s game]

That’s not to say the mistakes and issues Wentz is dealing with aren’t real. They are real, and he’ll need to address them. They’re also not unusual for a young player. They aren’t the type of things you can fix when you’re game-planning to play the Washington Redskins this week. The Eagles will need to work with him on a lot of things in depth next offseason.

Here’s an example of how Wentz’s mechanics have affected his play. On third-and-12 last week, Wentz over-strided and his arm was a beat late through the throw, which caused the ball to sail over an open Dorial Green-Beckham on a deep out route. Wentz has a tendency at times for his lower body and arm to be just off in terms of coordination. They’re not synced.

You can see in these screen shots of the play (first from the all-22 film, then on the TV footage) how his arm is late through the throw due to the over-striding. When he does this, his throws go high. It’s a function of Wentz getting lazy with his mechanics, a common rookie problem.

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Another part of Wentz’s mechanical issues is the way he drops the ball in his throwing motion. He turns the ball out when he throws.

What he and the Eagles need to do is make his motion quicker. I do not believe he will ever change the fundamental way he throws the ball, with it turned out, but his overall motion can be sped up to compensate. Wentz’s throwing motion is not a fatal flaw, in my opinion. Other quarterbacks throw it this way. But it’s something he’ll need to work on. If he’s going to throw it that way he needs the motion to be faster. That’s an offseason project.

We see other rookie mistakes in Wentz’s game, and again, they’re magnified because the offense is built around him. On a third-quarter interception, Nelson Agholor was wide open and that’s where Wentz was going with the ball. But he was a couple beats late with the throw, allowing edge rusher Carlos Dunlap to become a factor. Dunlap hit Wentz’s arm and the ball floated to Vontaze Burfict for an interception. He needed to make a timing and anticipation throw here.

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Wentz’s second interception wasn’t a bad decision, it was just an inaccurate throw. Zach Ertz ran a vertical seam route against “Cover 2” zone, and that’s where he should go with the ball because against “Cover 2” with split safeties the middle is open. But it’s also telling that Ertz couldn’t get over the top of Burfict like he should. Burfict ran right with him.

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That’s a theme for the Eagles. There’s not a lot of weapons in the passing game. In today’s NFL, you have to be able to line up in a 3×1 set (three receivers to one side, one to the other) and have your “X iso” receiver (the lone receiver on one side) win. He can win with contested catches, or getting separation, but he has to win. The Eagles don’t have that kind of receiver. It’s difficult for them against man coverage. And make no mistake, the Eagles have had success in the passing game this season, especially considering they have a rookie quarterback. But they’ll need to add some pieces starting next offseason.

Here’s another sign that Wentz is still a rookie. Back in Week 9, early in the game we can see him leave the pocket with no sign of pressure. The movement to his right actually brought him into pressure, then he made a rushed, errant throw that was picked off by Landon Collins.

You can see pretty easily that when he decided to escape the pocket he was under no pressure to do so.

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You’ll see young quarterbacks perceive pressure when it’s not there, or not see things clearly or isolate quickly enough. Sometimes you’ll see rookies throw with poor accuracy because their mechanics lag. Any quarterback can struggle when he tries to do too much to make up for other deficiencies around him. All of that is happening with Wentz right now.

None of this is the least bit unexpected. What is happening now shouldn’t a barometer for what Wentz will be three years from now. He’ll have time to work on these issues and improve, starting this offseason. But there are issues to work on.

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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.