Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz are linked as NFC East rivals — but who’s better?
For a long time, the NFC East has been one of the toughest divisions in the NFL. The Washington Redskins, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys all have been competitive teams over the years. Recently, however, it’s been the Cowboys and Eagles, currently led by quarterbacks Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz, respectively, that have dominated the division.
Since 2002, after the Cardinals left the division, the Eagles have won eight NFC East titles with the Cowboys capturing five. Perhaps just as importantly, the two franchises have endured only four losing seasons in that same span.
Before Prescott and Wentz arrived, both teams enjoyed stellar quarterback play. The Eagles saw the Donovan McNabb turn Philly into a powerhouse team with his stellar arm and athleticism. While the Eagles were taking over the NFC East, the Cowboys lost Troy Aikman to retirement and were in search of their next franchise quarterback, which they found in Tony Romo in 2003.
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The Romo signing revitalized the Cowboys franchise and saw them competing for the NFC East for many years. Romo and McNabb battled for NFC East titles many times. But as both signal-callers aged, it was clear that a new crop of quarterbacks would have to take over the divisional rivalry for the two teams to maintain their hold on the NFC East.
After McNabb left the Eagles for Washington in 2009, the Eagles needed to find their new quarterback of the future. That search sorted through the likes of Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick and Sam Bradford, who all started for Philadelphia. No one could firmly hold onto the job, however, until they drafted Carson Wentz in 2016 second overall.
Carson Wentz
Wentz started all 16 games of his rookie season and played well. But his sophomore season is where he gained his notoriety. In that season, he finished with his best touchdown percentage, his highest yards per attempt, his highest season QBR and his highest net yards per average. Unfortunately, Wentz did not end up finishing the season as he suffered a knee injury late in the season.
Since taking over the Eagles offense, Wentz has shown he has the raw arm talent and athleticism to be a quality NFL quarterback. The flaws are just as present, though.
He will often leave the ball in a place were his target has no shot of catching the ball. Perhaps more importantly, despite being one of the bigger quarterbacks by size, he still is a bit injury prone. According to sportsinjurypredictor.com, Wentz has suffered five significant injuries: two knee injuries, a rib cage injury, a wrist injury and, his most recent one, a back injury.
Wentz has been fortunate with his tight end weapons as Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert are elite talents. However, his offensive weapons have not brought him good luck outside of that duo. Philadelphia made multiple moves to get more weapons last offseason, drafting JJ Arcega-Whiteside and bringing DeSean Jackson back but both failed to boost the offense.
The Eagles quarterback presents an interesting case as a franchise quarterback. On one side, Wentz has the tools that few quarterbacks in the NFL possess in addition to an upper-echelon performance in his second season. At the same time, he’s inconsistent, injury-prone and can struggle with his accuracy.
Overall, Wentz is a player an NFL franchise can win with who also can take over any game. The question is if his propensity for putting himself in harm’s way and the resulting injury issues, along with his inconsistent accuracy, outweigh that or not.
Dak Prescott
Selected in the fourth round of the same 2016 draft that Wentz went No. 2 in, Prescott was buried on the depth chart in Dallas out of the gate as Romo was the starter. However, Romo injured his back in the preseason and, amidst other injuries, that led to Prescott being ushered in quickly as the starter. He performed terrifically as a rookie starter and never gave up that spot.
In that rookie season, Prescott threw for 23 touchdowns with only four interceptions while averaging 11.8 yards per completion with a passer rating of 104.9. While the Cowboys lost in the Divisional Round to the Green Bay, Dak’s debut season was incredible nonetheless.
Comparing him to Wentz, Prescott doesn’t have the traditional quarterback toolbox as his division rival. But he has the ability to win in other aspects of the game. The Cowboys quarterback has incredible vision and goes through his progressions extremely well. He’s also able to beat defenses with his accuracy.
While he showcased those abilities as a rookie, Dak came down to Earth in year two. Defenses zeroed in on him and a lack of talented weapons in Dallas. His lack of overall arm strength and aggressiveness in that situation caused him to regress slightly.
When the Cowboys traded for Amari Cooper midseason in 2018, things changed for Prescott. The wide receiver’s presence brought a noticeable shift to the quarterback’s game. He became more aggressive, evidenced by his yards per attempt jumping by 0.6 from the previous year. Despite Dallas going just 8-8 in 2019, Prescott continued to progress and put up big numbers with Cooper and young Michael Gallup.
Head-to-head, is it Dak Prescott or Carson Wentz?
Between Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott, it is fair to say that Prescott has had the better offensive weapons of the two. Prescott has had the chance to play with the likes of Cooper, an improving Gallup and will now get rookie CeeDee Lam as well, along with running back Ezekiel Elliott.
Moreover, it’s undeniable that both Prescott and Wentz, though connected by their NFC East rivalry and coming out of the 2016 draft, are among the better quarterbacks in the NFL.
There is no definitive answer for who is better — it’s more a preference of style. If you prefer the big-bodied, big-armed player who will make mistakes, Wentz is your guy. If you prefer a player who sits in the pocket and can pick apart a defense, your allegiance lies with Prescott. At the end of the day, though, both players can win the Cowboys and Eagles a lot of games and take over any contest as well.