An Interesting Comparison

Posted July 15th, 2016 | 44 Comments »

Let me see if I have this description right.

Big – yes.

Strong arm – yes.

Athletic – yes.

Loves to throw downfield – yes.

Is that Carson Wentz…or Ben Roethlisberger? Watch college highlights of the two and tell me how similar they look to you.

And now Carson

I think you will see more than a few similarities.

Go by the numbers.

Ben

6-5, 241
40 – 4.81
VJ – 30 inches
SS – 4.32
3C – 6.81

Carson

6-5, 237
40 – 4.77
VJ – 30.5
SS – 4.15
3C – 6.86

That’s almost kinda crazy, huh?

If Carson can have anything close to Big Ben’s career, the Eagles will have made a great investment. The Steelers played in one Super Bowl between 1980 and 2003, losing to Dallas in 1995. They drafted Ben in 2004 and have been to 3 Super Bowls, winning a pair of them. Pittsburgh was a very good franchise before Ben got there, but they couldn’t get over the hump.

People love to talk about winning titles based on defense. Sure the Ravens did it in 2000 and the Bucs in 2002. Denver somewhat did that last year, although their offense was middle of the pack, not bad. But those tend to be anomalies. Ask Steelers fans of the 1990’s about trying to win the big game by running the ball and playing good defense. They couldn’t do it. Once they got their QB, the world changed.

I know there are some concerns with Carson. Will the jump from a small school to the NFL be too much? Can he learn to read defenses quicker? Does he hold the ball too long? Those were all concerns with Ben and he overcame them, although he still holds the ball too long at times. That weakness also helps him to create some big plays.

There is no doubting the fact Carson has a lot of talent. His potential is through the roof.

Now it is up to Doug Pederson, Frank Reich and John DeFilippo to take that potential and turn it into good NFL results.

I can’t wait to see him play this summer.

44 Comments on “An Interesting Comparison”

1 An Interesting Comparison - said at 8:20 AM on July 15th, 2016:
[…] Tommy Lawlor Let me see if I have this description right. Big – yes. Strong arm – yes. Athletic – yes. […]
2 Anders said at 8:27 AM on July 15th, 2016:
If Carson can be Big Ben with slightly fewer injuries, he will be a great pick.
The question will now be if we can draft WRs just as well as the Steelers (and its fair to wonder how much they are a product of Big Ben, consider how even Brown has crap numbers with the backups)
3 Chiptomylou said at 9:45 AM on July 15th, 2016:
If Carson can be what Big Ben has been and is now this team will finally win a Super Bowl and maybe multiple Super Bowls if the defense pans out like we think it will.
4 Ark87 said at 8:30 PM on July 15th, 2016:
I always considered Ben to be pretty durable, given that my expectation for any QB that plays like he does, shrugging off hits and extending plays, to be shattered to pieces by this point in their career. I think it’s very unlikely that Wentz holds up for the long-haul if he emulates Big Ben.
5 Tumtum said at 10:05 AM on July 15th, 2016:
Big Ben 241? What are these high school numbers??
Glad to hear Ags didn’t actually commit a terrible crime and I can actually continue to root for him, if not for questioning his naivety.
6 bsuperfi said at 10:48 AM on July 15th, 2016:
I’ve always loved watching Big Ben play ball–he’s probably been my favorite QB to watch in the league over the past decade (though that 7 sack game of him was glorious). That said, I’m no fan of him as a person, and my wife slams into me every time I get into watching him play (along with every other time I watch football because I’m supporting the NFL, which is run by terrible human beings, etc).
Having a QB who’s both a respectable person and plays a big physical game with serious passing skills and an understanding of the game would be incredible for my marriage.
7 MattE said at 11:34 AM on July 15th, 2016:
i guarantee something she loves is also run by turrible human beings… marth stewart? Designer fashion (child labor)? reality TV? Current country music?
this is why i am not married, i try to fight back lol
8 daveH said at 6:09 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Off that ledge Matt
9 bsuperfi said at 6:10 PM on July 15th, 2016:
I just had a similar conversation with my buddy who just got engaged. He’s all “sometimes she’s just wrong and I’m not just going to act like she’s right.” My other friend and I just looked at each other and started laughing. We’ve both been married about ten years.
10 meteorologist said at 5:31 PM on July 16th, 2016:
Beautiful
11 daveH said at 11:16 AM on July 15th, 2016:
Not as deep as AR in his Rams uni
12 unhinged said at 12:13 PM on July 15th, 2016:
More than Pederson and Reich and DeFilippo, if you believe Mike Mayock, it may be HR who can do the most to develop Wentz successfully. http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2016/07/mike_mayock_eagles_carson_wentz_has_to_play_this_y.html#incart_river_index
13 Media Mike said at 12:59 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Tom Brady just tapped out. Enjoy the 4 games off meat.
But the Pats probably go 3-1 in those games anyway.
14 bushisamoron said at 1:10 PM on July 15th, 2016:
I think he has all the talent in the world but not necessarily the best fit for the west coast offense. In fact Goff (at least on paper) is probably a better fit for the offense the Birds run and Wentz might be a better fit for the offense the Rams run.
15 Media Mike said at 1:20 PM on July 15th, 2016:
I’d think with the coaching staff in place they can craft the passing game concepts to work for Wentz.
16 Jernst said at 6:54 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Exactly! McNabb and Alex Smith aren’t really the ideal QBs for a west coast offense and Andy/Pederson seemed to do just fine playing to their guys’ strength.
17 Sean Stott said at 1:50 PM on July 15th, 2016:
I know it’s trite and I don’t care – hopefully the similarities end when it comes to forcing themselves on young women. Fuck Roethlisberger. If the rapiness isn’t enough, google a bit to find real world encounters people have had with him. Biggest asshole on this planet. Probably other planets, too.
18 GermanEagle said at 3:59 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Not sure if he beats Donald T.
19 Media Mike said at 4:27 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Hillary will have that covered for November.
20 Tumtum said at 6:56 PM on July 15th, 2016:
2 greatest candidates the world has seen. There will be a loser but America is the true winner here!
21 Media Mike said at 6:19 AM on July 16th, 2016:
I happen to really like my party’s candidate, but I know she’s not everybody’s favorite.
22 Media Mike said at 4:27 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Big Ben is pure scum away from the field; don’t feel bad to point that out.
23 Mary Woods said at 1:56 AM on July 18th, 2016:
<<o. ✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤:::::::!be297p:….,…
24 GermanEagle said at 4:03 PM on July 15th, 2016:
This just in. #OurFuture https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1b695a80f1f0e544061e2592372aa2fb51384a0d9147e10f03ade78fd0779ee3.jpg
25 daveH said at 6:06 PM on July 15th, 2016:
SI Sucks .. the jinx is real so i wish theyd stfd.
The mag sucks at sports. . Wud be dead eithout the porn issue.
They suck at sports and theysuck at porn.
..
German, htf did the french beat germany??? That World Cup Championship team is literally the best team ever played on turf…
26 GermanEagle said at 6:23 PM on July 15th, 2016:
The better team not always wins, my friend. This is especially true in soccer.
I still don’t want to believe that a team that drew the first four games actually the tournament.
27 Media Mike said at 6:25 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Bad hand ball call on Schweinsteiger. Home cooking officiating decisions save France yet again. 98 was officiated like crap as well.
28 GermanEagle said at 7:30 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Yes. Sad but true.
29 daveH said at 8:36 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Unlucky call indeed, but cant blame the refs what?. The refs ..hmmm
That German team couldve beat Brazil 8-0 if they had to ..
30 Tumtum said at 6:53 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Duh, otherwise we would win the Superbowl every year
31 daveH said at 8:33 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Well unlucky for France that i started rooting for them.. and singlehandedly my philly jinx got em
32 Media Mike said at 4:41 PM on July 15th, 2016:
The Chiefs and Eric Berry didn’t get a deal done. I blame the Vikings giving Harrison Smith a contract with an AAV over Earl Thomas.
If Smith got a deal with a $10.25 AAV, you’d have to look at at least $11 AAV if you’re Berry.
The tag $, due to some quirky salaries at safety, for Berry this year was $10.8 mil. The tag for Berry next year will cost the Chiefs damn near $13 mil. If I’m Berry, why am I taking a deal that isn’t at least $11 mil a year?
Here are the safety salaries for the curious.
http://overthecap.com/position/safety/
33 Jernst said at 6:52 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Makes the contracts we handed out to Jenkins and McLeod (AAV = $8.75M and $7M, respectively) seem like a steal of all steals.
34 Media Mike said at 6:57 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Very well structured deals.
35 Cafone said at 5:01 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Wow, they look like the same guy. I am struggling to find differences in their play style to point out.
36 Ark87 said at 8:43 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Only difference in the clips up there, imo, Wentz showed a lot more of what he can do with his feet (seems like he saw a fair amount of designed runs), while you really got to see Big Ben’s, now well established, ability to take a broken play and improvise his best moments out of them. I don’t really know if that’s a Wentz thing.
37 Jernst said at 6:48 PM on July 15th, 2016:
I’ll take a more athletic, less rapey Roethlisberger any day!
38 Media Mike said at 6:56 PM on July 15th, 2016:
People do need to cool it with the rapes
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/81/240672810_72cb829cb4.jpg
39 daveH said at 9:04 PM on July 15th, 2016:
Heres this fwiw. . Older
https://youtu.be/bigZ1fmwD-Q
40 Rambler said at 12:32 AM on July 16th, 2016:
OK, so I am definitely feeling good after watching those highlights. Do have a new concern though… Is it just me, or do his deep touch passes seem to hang in the air too much? I feel like those types of passes are easy pickings for NFL safeties. I think he will need to put those more on a flatter trajectory in the NFL. But I have confidence he will adjust OK.
41 Media Mike said at 6:18 AM on July 16th, 2016:
That is absolutely the kind of think he’ll be working on during his 2 year apprenticeship.
42 Eagles News: Fletcher Cox is the best athlete in Philadelphia - NFL Feeds To The Fans said at 6:42 AM on July 16th, 2016:
[…] An Interesting Comparison – Iggles BlitzLet me see if I have this description right. Big – yes. Strong arm – yes. Athletic – yes. Loves to throw downfield – yes. Is that Carson Wentz…or Ben Roethlisberger? Watch college highlights of the two and tell me how similar they look to you. […]
43 More on Ben & Wentz said at 9:18 AM on July 16th, 2016:
[…] wrote a piece comparing Carson Wentz and Ben Roethlisberger on Friday. The two of them are quite alike. There is one huge difference and that is character. Wentz has a squeaky clean reputation. […]
44 shah8 said at 3:49 PM on July 24th, 2016:
Thanks for the highlight reel for Roethlisberger…
I don’t see them as that similar in play…
Some key differences
1) Ben is apparently really freakin’ good at keeping a level head in the pocket, and much better at it than Wentz.
2) Ben is really freakin’ strong for his size, and much harder to take down straight. Wentz tend to rely on wiggle and evade hard hits.
3) Ben is apparently a master at being a strong arm with great touch. I mean, yes, see this in the pros all the time, but you really see this in that highlight clip. Lots of fast, lofted balls that are easy to catch.
Jameis (as a freshman) is a lot closer to Ben (in college) than Wentz, in that he plays the bounce people offa me, lofted deep throws that don’t take much time to get there, keeps cool in cluttered pockets and throws, etc. Too undersized to play that role in the NFL, and of course, has a major mechanics clean up job ahead of him.