Reviewing all of Carson Wentz's fumbles in 2016

If you saw my last article, you will know that I decided to break down all of Carson Wentz' interceptions and fumbles from this past season to see if there is anything to be concerned about. Also, because every time I see someone criticize Carson Wentz online they always say, 'he's a turnover machine, he only had 14 touchdowns but he had 14 interceptions, and 14 fumbles'. Rather than take the time to respond why the stats don't reflect how he played, I can just link them to this article from now on to prove why saying he had 14 fumbles last year is pretty meaningless.

So let's look back over all of Wentz' fumbles from this past season and why they happened and if anything stands out that should concern us going forwards.

Fumbles

Week 1 vs Browns: Wentz had 2 fumbles this game. That made me instantly think that these couldn't have been on Wentz because I thought at the time he played a pretty much perfect game. I was right. Wentz' first fumble was a bad handoff with Darren Sproles. I'm not going to pretend to be an expert in QB/RB handoffs, but it looked pretty clear that Sproles just dropped it.

Fumble number 2 was another disaster by Wentz. Just kidding, it was a terrible snap by Kelce that went straight to the left of Wentz. Wentz was able to recover it quickly and get a throw off.

Week 3 vs Steelers: Wentz had 1 fumble this game and it was another terrible snap by Kelce that landed at Wentz' feet. Wentz still picked it up and completed the pass though.

Week 7 vs Vikings: Wentz had 3 fumbles this game. The first one was another problem between Sproles and Wentz on the handoff, this one once again looked like a pretty straight drop by Sproles. Maybe the two of them weren't on the same page early on. Remember every bad handoff gets blamed on the quarterback on the stat sheet.

Fumble number 2 was another bad snap by Kelce. He threw it way too wide, but Wentz picked it up, scrambled around and found Darren Sproles out the backfield for a 20 yard gain.

Fumble 3 was yet another bad snap by Kelce. This one was very low and around Wentz' knees, he possibly could have caught this one but it still wasn't great snap. He picked it straight up and handed it off to Sproles though.

Week 8 vs Cowboys: 2 fumbles this game for Wentz. Fumble number 1 was another handoff problem, this time with Wendall Smallwood. This one was 100% on Smallwood though. Smallwood had the ball in his hand for about a second before he got hit in the backfield and fumbled the ball. There's no way this should count as a fumble by Wentz.

The 2nd fumble was yet another low snap be Kelce. Wentz picked the ball up instantly though and he completed a short throw. So far none of these of fumbles have been Wentz' fault and he's almost always recovered.

Week 10 vs Falcons: It's week 10, and there's finally a fumble by Wentz that I think is sort of his fault! Wentz is in the pocket and Vic Beasley absolutely kills Big V, Wentz steps up in the pocket and keeps 2 hands on the ball (Jon Gruden would be proud) but Beasley somehow manages to swat the ball out of Wentz' hands perfectly. Wentz then falls right on the ball and somehow can't recover it and the Falcons recover. This was a great play by Beasley but Wentz should have recovered the fumble and probably shouldn't have allowed the ball to be knocked out so easily.

Week 11 vs Seahawks: This fumble is also on Wentz. Wentz doesn't see Avril coming on a stunt and the Eagles offensive line also completely misses him. Rather than take the sack on 3rd down, Wentz tries to still make a throw but Avril forces the fumble. Luckily, Big V recovered the fumble but Wentz should have just taken the sack.

Week 14 vs Redskins: 2 fumbles this game. The first one was probably on Wentz. The Redskins send a blitz and Ryan Mathews can't hold up in pass protection, meaning Breeland has a free shot at Wentz. Wentz tries to hold on to the ball until the last second to make a throw, but he gets him from both directions and ends up fumbling. Wentz once again should have just taken the sack here.

Watching the 2nd fumble back still hurts me, it was the one that lost the Eagles the game. Wentz fumbles in the pocket again but this can't be seen as his fault. Kerrigan absolutely destroys Matt Tobin at right tackle and hits Wentz who can't see him coming. Wentz had only just hit the back of his drop so he couldn't really do a lot, this wasn't a case of him holding on to the ball or anything.

Week 15 vs Ravens: Wentz' final 2 fumbles both came in this game. The first one was Wentz' fault for sure. This was the only fumble Wentz had outside the pocket all season. Wentz was scrambling to his outside and rather than just throw the ball away he tried to make a throw at the last second. Dumervil caught him up and knocked the ball out but luckily it went out of bounds.

The second fumble was Wentz' fault too, he just dropped the snap. It happens sometimes, it was straight to him he just dropped it. He picked it up straight away though.

Random Thoughts

- Wentz was incredibly unlucky to have 14 fumbles this past year. By my count, only 5 fumbles were his own fault and even a few of them are questionable.

- There is nothing to be concerned about based on this year. A lot of people worried about Wentz holding on to the ball a bit too long but this issue only caused 2 fumbles. He only lost 3 fumbles all season too.

- Kelce needs to improve his snaps. To be fair, after week 6 there were no fumbles on bad snaps but 4 bad snaps in the first 6 weeks isn't great.

- For someone who makes plays outside of the structure, it was great to see that only 1 fumble all year came outside the pocket (the Ravens game). Quarterbacks who leave the pocket and scramble are at risk of fumbling, but Wentz always made sure he kept hold of the ball.

- Wentz was great after a fumble occurred. He routinely picked the ball up after a bad snap by Kelce and then made a play. It shows how calm he is in the pocket.

Conclusion

You don't need to worry about Wentz' 14 fumbles this year. If somone tweets you saying 'Wentz sucks he had 14 interceptions and 14 fumbles', just tweet them this article. Or just completely ignore them, because it's clear they haven't actually watched his turnovers. There were no worrying trends from Wentz' fumbles that I noticed when going back and watching them all. I think he is a playmaker so he will always try to complete a throw under pressure rather than go down and take the sack which could cause a few fumbles in the future. However, this only caused 2 fumbles this past year and I'm glad that he is willing to stand up and throw while taking a shot because to be a great quarterback you have to do this at times.