November 19, 2017
There's a lot to talk about heading into Sunday night's game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys.
The rivalry. Playoff implications. Injuries. Suspensions. An owner beefing with the commissioner. But, perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly, there's another storyline that's been dominating the coverage of this one: Carson Wentz vs. Dak Prescott.
And given what we've seen from these two sophomore quarterbacks through the first season and a half of their respective NFL careers, it's likely a part of this longstanding rivalry that isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Wentz and Prescott split their first two meetings in Year 1, but that comes with an asterisk – their second meeting, the one the Eagles won, came in Week 17 last season when the Cowboys were resting many of their starters, including Prescott for the entire second half.
Dallas made the playoffs, and Dak won Rookie of the Year honors. But this year, the script is flipped, and the Eagles are the team in better position to make a postseason run sitting at 8-1 following their bye.
There's been plenty of talk about which team is better, but there's been even more of a debate this week over which quarterback is better – and, more importantly, which one is going to have a better career going forward.
In today's edition of What They're Saying, we'll focus on this ongoing debate, starting with this report from former ESPN football reporter Ed Werder.
I polled 8 NFL GMs asking whether they preferred @dak or @cj_wentz Results: Seven took Wentz, each citing his superior skills as pocket passer. The other GM took Dak to prevent it from being unanimous.
— Ed Werder (@EdwerderRFA) November 19, 2017
That's a pretty strong endorsement of Wentz, especially since it would've been a clean sweep had Werder not told the polled GMs how the others responded. Some of that may be due to recency bias, since Prescott still has the better career numbers and Wentz is playing much better this season.
| CMP% | PASS YDS |
TD-INT | RTG | RUSH YDS-TD |
|
| Prescott | 66.0 | 5,661 | 39-8 | 101.6 | 519-11 |
| Wentz | 61.8 | 6,044 | 39-19 | 87.3 | 361-2 |
Then again, it's not all about the numbers. Let's take a look at what else they're saying about the newest incarnation of the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry.
Carter gave a thoroughly glowing review of Prescott, even saying that he'll be a "great quarterback." But he thinks Wentz is on a different level.
We're going to see this match up, but it all boils down to -- Carson Wentz, I believe, is super special. I believe Dak is going to be a great quarterback. I believe both them have the chance to win a Super Bowl. I've went on the record as saying Dak we'll win one with the Cowboys. But Carson Wentz, what he's doing with Doug Pederson in his second year, it's amazing.
So I would have to give the edge to Carson Wentz because of his overall measurables. And if I couldn't run the ball-- I couldn't run the ball and I had to throw the ball 45 times to win a game on a regular basis, I would go with Carson to do that because I believe he has the ability and is more suited to do that than Dak is over the long term. Carson Wentz, what's he doing now? Third down rating, passing rating, the best in the NFL. Red zone, 15 touchdowns, 0 interceptions. [foxsports.com]
Earlier this week, ESPN's Bill Barwell took an in-depth look at the two NFC East quarterbacks. Rightfully, he says that Wentz is the better QB in 2017 while Prescott had the better rookie season in 2017. But what about which one will be the better player moving forward? That gets a little tricky.
The tough question is asking whether you'd rather have Prescott or Wentz for the decade to come. Honestly, there's not a good answer. We don't have enough information on either player to really get a great sense of how they'll perform over the next decade. Dan Marino posted the best passer rating in league history for a true rookie coming out of the draft in his first 25 games (103.8), with Prescott second, but the top 10 includes guys such as Chad Pennington, Nick Foles, Daunte Culpepper and Robert Griffin III. Ken O'Brien posted a better passer rating in his first 25 games than Tom Brady put up in his.
Unless one of the two NFC East signal-callers struggles badly with injuries or really drops off from his currently established level of play, there won't be a meaningful and significant difference between the two quarterbacks. The question of who represents the best will be more about who has had the most support around him over the previous few games. If Wentz loses Johnson, Prescott probably will look better. If Dak loses Tyron Smith or Bryant for a meaningful stretch of time, Wentz will look like the pick of the litter. When Wentz (unsustainably) performs like the greatest third-down quarterback of the past 40 years, he's going to look like a one-man show, but when Prescott is leading all quarterbacks in rushing touchdowns over a two-year span, it's just hard to pick against him. [espn.com]
As part of their duel-coverage of the game, ESPN Eagles writer Tim McManus and Cowboys writer Todd Archer broke down Wentz and Prescott through their first 25 career games. Since no player is perfect, here's a look at what they think each player's biggest weakness is:
Prescott: If there is one thing Prescott has to improve on, it is his deep-ball accuracy. So far he and receiver Dez Bryant have not been able to connect as well as Romo and Bryant did for six seasons. Bryant is tied for the Cowboys' lead with 42 catches this season, but his 11.4 yards per catch is the lowest of his career. Romo could put the ball in a spot where only Bryant could get it, like on back-shoulder opportunities, while Prescott is still trying to get comfortable on those downfield throws.
Wentz: If there's an area of concern, it surrounds the number of hits Wentz absorbs. He is sixth in QB contacts with 63. Part of his game is extending plays and looking for opportunities downfield, and he is not afraid to stand in the pocket and deliver a pass amid pressure. While effective, it leads to an above-average amount of punishment. Wentz is still searching for the perfect balance of aggressiveness versus self-preservation. [espn.com]
No matter which one is better – at this point we're splitting hairs – having two potentially great quarterbacks in the same division is good for everyone. Here's a look at what each of these two team's head coaches had to say about the rivalry, specifically how it relates to their young QBs:
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett: “We’re all fans first. That’s why we do what we do. Whether we play or we coach, we all love football. If you don’t love everything about it you’re probably not doing what we do. So we have a great appreciation for what Dak Prescott has done for our team in such a short period of time, how he stepped into this leadership role and has played as well as he has and really goes about everything the right way. He’s a guy you certainly pull for. I’ve gotten to know Carson Wentz a little bit for our time together at the Senior Bowl and he has a lot of the same attributes, a lot of the same qualities and he’s certainly doing a great job for their organization. It’s a marquee position, there is no question about that. When you have a chance in an organization for a guy you feel good about for now and into the future it’s really good for your team, for your organization and for the league.”
Eagles coach Doug Pederson: “It doesn’t matter who’s coaching the Eagles or who’s coaching the Cowboys, those two guys are going to be around for a long time. It makes for not only a great rivalry, but it makes for a great division in the NFC East with these guys. These guys can play and stay in this division for a long time.” [star-telegram.com]
Then again, it's not like the players involved in this NFC East rivalry needed any more motivation:
“We’re playing the Cowboys,” Wentz said. “That’s plenty significant enough. Dak’s a great player. It’s exciting for this [division], this rivalry, this league. A lot of respect for him and what he’s done, but at the end of the day, we have enough with it just being the rivalry week that it already is.”
The Eagles-Cowboys rivalry didn’t need any more fuel, but the Wentz-Prescott dynamic adds a new element. Both quarterbacks are in their second NFL seasons. Prescott had the better rookie season. He won rookie of the year and he didn’t even need to play past the second quarter in the Week 17 Eagles-Cowboys game because the Cowboys had already clinched the division.
Wentz might be in that position this year because he’s having the superior second season. [philly.com]
Over at ESPN, they took a look at the best players under 25. And Wentz ranks at the top.
Wentz was at the very bottom of last year’s list but vaulted to the top of ESPN’s 2017 rankings. ESPN senior writer Mike Sando says he made the list by combining rankings made by four NFL talent evaluators. He then spoke with a few others to aid in the process of finalizing the rankings.
The Eagles second-year quarterback was ranked ahead of other young quarterbacks Dak Prescott (No. 9), Deshaun Watson (No. 19) and Jared Goff (No. 20). [theeaggleswire.usatoday.com]
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