The 2020 NFL season was one that a number of teams across the league would love to forget, with the Philadelphia Eagles being no exception. Philadelphia finished the season with a 4-11-1 record, leaving them in last place in the worst division in the NFL last season, the NFC East. For the first time since 2014, not a single team finished with a record of .500 or better. They are going to have to hope for a fast rebuild of the roster, as the division appears to be wide open right now to make themselves a threat. This might not be the best time for the Eagles to make a move though, as they have to wait for some of their young players to develop and some of the stars to return from injuries or down years. 

One player that will hope to return to his previous level of play is quarterback Carson Wentz, who is no longer with the Eagles after a trade over the offseason with the Indianapolis Colts. Wentz, now 28 years old, looks to bring back some of the great numbers that he put up with Philly from 2017-2019. If it wasn’t for a season ending injury in 2017, he most likely would have taken home the NFL MVP award, going 11-2 in 13 games before the aforementioned injury. It looked like the former second overall pick was going to be a franchise cornerstone for the Eagles, but then came the 2020 season. Wentz had a horrific season, appearing in 12 games and throwing for only 2620 yards, along with 15 interceptions, tied for the most of any quarterback while playing in less games. 

This may not have all been on Wentz however, as Philadelphia was very poorly coached and had one of the league’s worst receiving corps last year. He had no real dependable weapons to target, and despite at one point being the strength of the team, the offensive line endured injuries to many of the starters and they were just outmatched by opposing teams. Almost all of the starters on the line played in less than ten games, which did not give Wentz the proper time to scan the field and make a good throw. He did not have a good season by any stretch of the imagination, but putting all of the blame on him for the Eagles offensive woes last season is unfair to him.

Wentz will most certainly be a candidate for a great bounce back season since the Eagles decided to trade him to Indianapolis. He will be going from a team where he had no time to throw the ball to a team that possesses one of, if not the best offensive line in the league. This group, headlined by three time All-Pro left guard, Quenton Nelson, will certainly fix a problem that Wentz had to face last year. They will return four of the five starters on the line last year, with long-time left tackle Anthony Castonzo retiring over the offseason. In addition to a massive improvement in front of him, Wentz will also have a stronger supporting cast around him. In the backfield, he will have one of the better running back tandems in the league with rookie sensation, Jonathan Taylor, and a receiving threat in Nyheim Hines. The receiving corps for the most part is unproven, with Michael Pittman Jr. looking to improve on a solid rookie season, and Parris Campbell, who hopes to finally stay healthy for a full season. Along with Pittman and Campbell, he will have team veteran T.Y. Hilton, who has been a mainstay in the Colts offense since 2012. 

The offense that he is going to be asked to run comes from his former offensive coordinator with the Eagles to now his head coach, Frank Reich. Reich has not had the easiest job during his tenure with the Colts, as Wentz will be the fourth quarterback in four years for Indianapolis. Maybe this will be the quarterback that the team has been looking for since Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement before the 2019 season. Indianapolis gave up a third round pick in this year’s draft and a conditional pick that will become a first rounder if Wentz appears in 75 percent or more of the team’s offensive snaps. If Wentz can pick up where he once left off in his better years, this will be a clear win for the Colts. This is going to be a year for Wentz to prove himself, and if he is unable to deliver what the team what they think he is capable of, then it could be the beginning of the end of what looked like a great and long lasting career for Carson Wentz.