In his second year in the NFL, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz continues to grow and mature to the point that his head coach is drawing comparisons to him with some pretty big-time quarterbacks.
His development from a strong rookie season through two games this year certainly backs up his team moving up in the NFL Draft a year ago to take him second overall.
And now, his head coach is grouping his name in there with some of the best names in the NFL. He also included Eli Manning in that list.
Zing, zing.
All kidding aside (and for the record, Manning is a great quarterback and a future Hall of Famer), Eagles coach Doug Pederson said on Wednesday in a conference call with members of the New York media that he is pleased with how Wentz continues to mature. In particular, he talked about his young quarterback’s intrinsic, in particular, his leadership ability.
In doing so Pederson likened Wentz to greats such as New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and the Pittsburgh Steelers Ben Roethlisberger.
“I’ll tell you the fact that the leadership quality that he has now embraced, now that he has obviously been a starter for a full season. You see him, the dialogue on and off the field with me even during games, conversations that he is having with players,” Pederson said on Wednesday. “You’re just seeing what you see in like an Eli Manning or a Brady or a Roethlisberger, where he is talking to his guys even during the game and making necessary adjustments and talking to myself or Frank Reich. And then just the way that he handles his business during the week. He prepares, he studies, he’s in here early with the quarterbacks and just an outstanding character and for a young guy to have that maturity, it’s pretty special in Carson.”
The Eagles are 1-1 after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2, and Wentz has had a strong individual start to the year. He’s topped 300 yards in each game and is on pace for over 5,000 passing yards this year and 32 touchdowns.
