Carson Wentz And Dak Prescott Premature Debates Must End
The Philadelphia Eagles may have found themselves a gem in Carson Wentz, but he’s not the division’s only promising rookie quarterback.
In the NFL rookie quarterbacks are often compared to the greats on draft night. Everyone is trying to find their Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, or Cam Newton. Comparisons are unfair so early in a person’s career, but so far Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz has lived up to the hype.
The Eagles were supposed to have at best a mediocre season, but the Sam Bradford trade to the Minnesota Vikings vaulted the rookie quarterback into the starting role. Through four weeks, the Philadelphia Eagles sit at the top of the NFC East with a 3-0 record. Much of the credit goes to Carson Wentz, who’s 749 yards, 5 to 0 touchdown to interception ratio, and 64.7% completion percentage lifted the team past expectations. Wentz has also racked up a 103.8 passer rating and a 68.9 QBR.
Wentz went on to win the NFC Offensive Player of the Week in Week 3 and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month in September. His play not only made waves in Philadelphia, as the Eagles became one of the top stories in the NFL. Wentz’s great play has brought hope to what seemed like a bleak future post-Chip Kelly destruction.
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He’s not the only rookie quarterback leading a top NFC East team, however. Dak Prescott has become a revelation for the Dallas Cowboys after the fall of Tony Romo. Prescott’s 1,012 yards with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions with a 67.9% completion percentage have been the only rookie numbers to truly rival Carson Wentz. Add in Prescott’s higher QBR of 86.6 and you have the makings of an endless debate on which rookie is better.
When division rivals seemingly have a new franchise player leading the team at quarterback, it feels natural to compare them instantly. Through four NFL weeks, debates between who is the better quarterback have heated up to an illogical point. The Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys have possibly the most biased fanbases across all four major sports. So to try to figure out if Carson Wentz is better than Dak Prescott this early in their careers seems useless.
We are quick to compare to young players, instead of letting them be great in different ways. It’s a trend that has happened all throughout sports. We want to find out who’ll be the next greatest player before they become great. We want to label someone as superior to another, instead of labeling them each as great in a different way.
When you watch Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott, they portray accuracy and composure that is so rare to find in young quarterbacks. Both have the makings of stable quarterback options for their team. Wentz and Prescott’s stats are similar but their playmaking is different in ways that make them incomparable, but similarly great.
Carson Wentz is not clearly better than Dak Prescott. Dak Prescott is not clearly better than Carson Wentz. The two rookies will be tied together for their entire careers for better or for worse. But for right now, can’t we just enjoy watching two rookies outperform their expectations in their own way?
Stop debating, and start watching. Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott will be apart of a very long divisional rivalry, but this time the story will be revolved around them. Through the greats that have played in this half-century long rival, Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott will shine through in this era.
The debate can pick back up once these two are more established, but for now it’s silly to compare the rookies. These two will fiercely compete against each other for the next decade, so let them build a body of work before comparing them.