On Wentz & adjusting to the NFL

Eagles dealing with the Carson Wentz ‘wobble’ during minicamp

Phil Sheridan

http://espn.go.com/blog/philadelphia-eagles/post/_/id/17196/carson-wentz-battles-the-wobbles-during-minicamp

PHILADELPHIA — Carson Wentz can throw a tight spiral. The Philadelphia Eagles have seen him do it, both at the combine and on the tape of his college games.

Wentz knows he can throw one, too. He also knows that he has wobbled a few passes during his first practices as a professional.

“I’ve had a little bit of that over my collegiate career,” Wentz said Wednesday. “Sometimes it just doesn’t come out clean. I don’t know. I think with the more reps that I get, with being comfortable, continuing to work on my mechanics and everything, that will go away.”

Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said he also believes Wentz’s spirals will get tighter with time and experience.

“I would agree, there is a little bit of a wobble,” Pederson said. “But again, not a concern. A lot of those situations, a lot of those throws from a young quarterback, come from learning your system. Meaning, you’re a little late here, you’re a little late there, you’re trying to anticipate that throw, you’re a little off here. And so you’re processing all the information so fast, that the last thing that goes is the throw, the actual physical nature of the throw.”

With Wentz, it sometimes seems that his mechanics are just a little off. That, too, can lead to wobbly passes.

“When his feet are right — and it’s for any quarterback, Sam [Bradford] and Chase [Daniel] included — when their feet are right, the ball comes out of their hand nicely and we’ve seen that from Carson, as well,” Pederson said.

The Eagles are hoping Carson Wentz is able to hone his spirals with time and experience. AP Photo/Matt Rourke
The coaches have had to try to rein Wentz in a little bit. The quarterback likes to throw the ball deep. When it’s the right read, he has been effective. When it isn’t, there are problems, such as a ball Wentz heaved downfield Tuesday into the arms of safety Chris Maragos.

Pederson “didn’t have to say much” about that throw, Wentz said.

“I think there’s a fine line,” he said. “There’s a time to be aggressive. I like to push the ball down the field when it’s there. There’s also times you just take the underneath one. That also comes with learning.

“That’s one of those fine-detail things as far as when you should attack and when you shouldn’t. Even in college, I had conversations with coaches sometimes. ‘Just take the underneath throw instead of forcing it down the field.'”

Despite those flaws, Wentz has been impressive so far. He is assertive in making his reads and making the throw he feels is appropriate. As he gets more sure about the offense and feels more confident, he should be able to throw tighter spirals.

“Timing and accuracy is really what matters at the end of the day,” Wentz said. “As a quarterback, yeah, it looks pretty sometimes. But that isn’t always the end-all, be-all. I think it will come with reps.”