Why North Dakota’s Carson Wentz Should’ve Been A Viking

Get our free mobile app

I've been waiving this flag all this NFL season.

First off, I couldn't understand why some NFL team wouldn't give North Dakota's Carson Wentz a shot as a backup quarterback (the Rams eventually did).

In an NFL season where there's been 50-plus different starting quarterbacks, it's never been more important to have a capable backup.  My Minnesota Vikings have used 4 quarterbacks alone this season.  More on that in a moment.

For some strange reason, we have a lot of Carson Wentz haters in his home state.

I don't get it.  Like any of them ever played football at a high level.  Carson Wentz had a near MVP-caliber season in 2017 for the Philadelphia Eagles.  If it weren't for a leg injury he likely would've been named the Most Valuable Player in the NFL and may have been the quarterback to lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl win too.

Nobody reading this article has those kinds of credentials.  PERIOD.  Armchair quarterbacks can be some of the most judgemental people around.  Yes, Carson Wentz has struggled since but at times has proved he could be more than a capable backup quarterback in the NFL.

If Carson Wentz would've ended up in Minnesota when Kurt Cousins went down with his season-ending injury the Vikings would be in a much better place right now. 

I'm very confident about this.  Instead, Minnesota goes out and signs a quarterback who was 1-7 as a starter for the Arizona Cardinals (Josh Dobbs).  Yes, he looked good for a game or two, but the real Josh Dobbs surfaced eventually, and he just wasn't good enough to lead the Vikings to the playoffs.

Since then, Minnesota has turned to another journeyman backup quarterback Nick Mullens.  Mullens has shown he has a little more talent throwing the football than Dobbs but also has the highest interception percentage of any active quarterback in the NFL (not a stat you want your name attached to).

Carson Wentz would've been a much better choice to replace Cousins.

Not sure how anybody could argue that.  The Los Angeles Rams were smart enough to sign Wentz to back up Matthew Stafford.  Now, the Rams have leapfrogged Minnesota in the playoff picture and I can't help but wonder how much of a better position the Vikings would be in right now if they would've beat the Rams to the punch.

Oh well, there's always next season right Minnesota Vikings fans?  That seems to be the story every year.