How Carson Wentz went from almost becoming the MVP to a backup quarterback

Carson Wentz started his journey in Raleigh, North Carolina, playing ice hockey and basketball before taking on football from his redshirt freshman year. He transitioned from being a backup to leading the North Dakota Bisons as the starting quarterback to two championships in 2014 and 2015.

In the NFL Draft of 2016, Carson Wentz was selected second overall by the Philadelphia Eagles. The selection made Wentz the highest drafted FCS player in history, overtaking the record by Steve McNair, who went third overall in 1995 for the Houston Oilers. Wentz, the first FCS quarterback selected in the first round since Joe Flacco in 2008, was also the first time the Eagles selected a quarterback in the first round since Donovan McNabb in 1999.

Carson Wentz’s entry in the game itself was one of the most celebrated ones with acclaim from multiple perspectives. Although initially he was meant to be a backup and learn from Sam Bradford, the stars quickly aligned and Wentz started the 2016 season against the Cleveland Browns.

The dreamy start, winning the first two games, quickly brought many eyes on Wentz. At the time, he was the first rookie quarterback since 1970 to win his first two starts without throwing any interceptions. In his rookie season, Carson Wentz started all 16 games, leading the Eagles to a 7–9 record.

He set an NFL rookie record with 379 completions, surpassing Sam Bradford’s previous mark, and also broke Eagles single-season records for completions (379) and pass attempts (607). His attempts were the second-most ever by a rookie, behind only Andrew Luck’s 627 in 2012.

Carson Wentz almost became the NFL MVP in a career-high season in 2017

In 2017, Carson Wentz emerged as a leading NFL MVP candidate with a stellar start. In the first five games, he threw for 1,362 yards, 10 touchdowns, and just three interceptions. His standout performances included a career-high four touchdown passes against both the Cardinals (Week 5) and the Redskins (Week 7), earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

By Week 14, Wentz had totaled 3,296 passing yards, 33 touchdowns, and a 101.9 quarterback rating—placing him among the league’s elite.

However, during Week 14 against the Rams, Wentz suffered a torn ACL after throwing four touchdowns in the game that clinched the NFC East title for the Eagles. The injury ended his season and his MVP hopes.

Ultimately, Nick Foles led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl title, while Wentz watched from the sidelines—his incredible season cut short just as it reached its peak.

In an interview back in February 2025, Carson Wentz was asked whether he would want to trade places with anyone.

“I would love to trade places with Nick Foles and win that Super Bowl back in the day,” Wentz answered.

Heartbreaking: #Eagles great Carson Wentz talks about how his life changed after he suffered a devastating torn ACL injury ending his historic 2017 season.

Wentz was on pace to win the MVP and would have won the Super Bowl with Philly.

Awful for Carson🥹pic.twitter.com/4TuhRyTCwV

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) April 14, 2025

The downfall and decline in performance after yet another injury

Coming back in 2018, Carson Wentz was still considered as a top player. However, there was a Nick Foles lobby within the Philadelphia Eagles. There were quite a lot of anti-Wentz comments from the inside suggesting that there was a rift between the players. The insider information also maintained that Wentz was attempting to do a lot and targeting certain people only, translating to a selfish nature.

The Eagles exercised the fifth-year option on Wentz and he donned the green cleats in 2020 as well. However, the dip in performance affected him severely before being benched after Week 11. At the time of benching, Wentz led the league in interceptions (15), turnovers (19), and sacks taken (50). Remarkably, he still finished the season leading the NFL in all three categories, despite playing only 12 games.

In 2021, Wentz was traded to the Indianapolis Colts, where he played his last full season. Wentz helped the Colts to make a winning record of 9-8 but lost out on a playoff spot due to a Week 18 loss. In the successive years, he played one season with the Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Rams, and recently Kansas City Chiefs.

He started for nine games in total and played 13. In those small frames, Wentz never returned to his old glory. His performances declined over and over and as it stands, his last game saw him throwing no touchdowns for 98 yards in a Week 18 38-0 shutout by the Denver Broncos for the Chiefs.

The 32-year-old is still considered a trusted backup, but the Kansas City Chiefs have given up on him as they signed Gardner Minshew II to fill the backup role. It is yet to be seen what happens to him.