Almost all QBs in the NFL, even the great ones, need things around them to be operating like a well-oiled machine for them to play at their best. If you take away certain weapons, if you take away an offensive coach they have a rapport with, their performance can regress in a hurry. This is normal. This is the way things work in the NFL. However, every so often a QB will come along who is so special, that he can perform at an elite level despite any condition around him. Take Aaron Rodgers. The guy has been amazing no matter who he has to throw the ball to. Take away Davante Adams, Randall Cobb, Mike McCarthy, Joe Philbin; have him play with hardly any running game to speak of for the majority of his career and he will still look incredible every single time you tune in to watch.
However, 99% of QBs who play in the NFL, even the good ones or elite ones are not Aaron Rodgers. If you take give them inadequate coaching or weapons, they will not always look elite. Take a look at Matt Ryan before and after he played under Kyle Shanahan. The difference is significant. Before Shanahan got there, Matt Ryan was a good QB and sometimes even bordering on elite, but he never took that jump into the top 5 where many expected him to be when he came out of Boston College. Bring in Kyle Shanahan and in 2016 he has an incredible season winning the MVP with a 38-7 TD-INT ratio, throwing for almost 5,000 yards with 117.1 passer rating and coming within a hair's length of winning a Super Bowl. Granted, in 2018 without Shanahan, he had an excellent statistical season as well, but the Falcons were poor that season with a horrendous defense, and Atlanta was having to play from behind for much of the season, inflating Ryan's numbers. Regardless, Matt Ryan was the best he has ever been under his career, playing under one of the league's brightest offensive minds, and playing with a plethora of elite weapons like Julio Jones, one of the greatest WRs the NFL has ever seen. Once Kyle Shanahan left, the Falcons struggled mightily to get Julio the ball in the end zone, a feat considered unfathomable by any football fan with a brain.
Nick Foles, a guy we know very well in this city, posted a 27-2 TD-INT ratio under Chip Kelly, and led the Eagles to the playoffs with elite gamebreaking weapons like DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy. Once he got traded to the Rams, he regressed so badly under Jeff Fisher and Mike Groh that he contemplated retirement. He made his way to Kansas City under Andy Reid, and eventually back to the Eagles under the trio of Doug Pederson, Frank Reich, and John DeFilippo, and the rest is history.
Rayne Prescott struggled mightily with the Cowboys last season, until Dallas made a bold trade for WR Amari Cooper, and since then he has rebounded nicely and found himself a nice little niche actually occasionally looking like an NFL QB every once in a while, when league sources told me prior to that, the Cowboys were considering moving him to RB to back up Ezekiel Elliott, and drafting another QB in the 2019 draft.
Most QBs are not Aaron Rodgers. They can't always thrive under not-so-premium conditions. And that's okay. Carson Wentz is one of those QBs. He may not be one of the most talented QBs who has ever lived, but he is still pretty special. And simply because he can't carry a team on his back with arguably the least talented and productive group of WRs in the NFL, and a clueless coaching staff which includes Mike Groh--a man who, in part, almost forced Nick Foles into retirement, doesn't mean he can't be great when the problems are fixed around him, and you can't win Super Bowls with him. As we saw with Nick Foles, he was exactly the same way, and the city of Philadelphia won our first and only Super Bowl with him playing under optimal conditions, with the perfect blend of coaching, weapons, and elite offensive line giving him time to throw.
Does Carson have his flaws? Sure. Does he have the athleticism and physical ability to be elite if you surround him with quality coaching and pass-catching weapons? Absolutely. The Eagles can start next offseason by bringing in some fresh eyes from outside the organization, to help innovate and getting Carson to once again play to his strengths. Much like he did in 2017 with Reich and DeFilippo. And Howie Roseman needs to do his job, much like he did in 2017(coming off an oddly similar season in 2016 with horrible WRs) and get him some receivers who can get open and make plays. Wentz is still a hell of a talent. He's not an Aaron Rodgers type of a talent, but he doesn't need to be. And that's okay.
