Carson Wentz

Carson James Wentz (born December 30, 1992) is an American professional football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Dakota State Bison, winning two consecutive NCAA FCS national championships as the starter. Wentz was selected second overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2016 NFL draft, making him the highest drafted FCS player.

Wentz’s most successful season came in 2017, when he led the Eagles to the NFC’s top seed before a season-ending injury. The team went on to win Super Bowl LII with Nick Foles at quarterback. Wentz earned Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors. Wentz helped Philadelphia return to the playoffs during the following two seasons, however further injuries limited his participation. After losing his starting position due to a production decline, Wentz spent his next four seasons as a starter and backup with the Indianapolis Colts, Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Rams, and Kansas City Chiefs. In August 2025, he signed with the Minnesota Vikings.

Early life

Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, Wentz moved to North Dakota with his family at the age of three. He played quarterback and defensive back for the football team at Century High School in Bismarck, and also played basketball and baseball at the school. Inspired by his older brother, he had played ice hockey up until high school, before deciding to join the basketball team. As a freshman, Wentz was 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) in height, grew to 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) as a senior, and graduated in 2011 as valedictorian of his class.

College career

Wentz attended North Dakota State, redshirting his first season with the Bison as they won their first Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) title under ninth-year head coach Craig Bohl.

As a redshirt freshman in 2012, Wentz was the backup quarterback to Brock Jensen and played in his first collegiate game on September 22. He completed all eight of his passes for 93 yards and threw his first touchdown in relief of Jensen in a 66–7 blowout victory over the Prairie View A&M Panthers. Wentz finished the season completing 12-of-16 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

Wentz was again the second-string quarterback in 2013 and appeared in 11 games. He had his best game that season on October 13, against Delaware State, completing 10-of-13 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. Wentz finished his redshirt sophomore season completing 22-of-30 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown.

Wentz became the Bison starting quarterback during his junior year in 2014. In his first start in the opener against the Iowa State Cyclones of the Big 12 Conference, Wentz completed 18-of-28 pass attempts for 204 yards in a 34–14 victory on August 30. During the game against the Western Illinois Leathernecks on October 10, he caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from running back John Crockett and helped lead the Bison to a 17–10 comeback victory. Statistically, Wentz's best game that season was against the Missouri State Bears, where he threw for 247 yards and five touchdowns.

Wentz led NDSU to a 15–1 record. On January 10, 2015, he started in his first national championship game against the Illinois State Redbirds and passed for 287 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 87 yards and scored a touchdown on a five-yard run to give the Bison the lead with 37 seconds left. NDSU won their fourth consecutive NCAA Division I Football Championship game, 29–27. Wentz started all 16 games in 2014, completing 228 of 358 passes for 3,111 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He was also the team's second leading rusher, rushing for 642 yards and six touchdowns.

As a fifth-year senior in 2015, Wentz had one of the best games of his career on October 10 against the Northern Iowa Panthers, when he passed for a career-high 335 yards. The following week against the South Dakota Coyotes, Wentz suffered a broken wrist in the first half but managed to complete the game with 16-of-28 completions for 195 yards and two touchdowns as the Bison lost 24–21. After starting the first six games of the season and completing 63.7 percent of his passes for a total of 1,454 yards and 16 touchdowns, Wentz missed the next eight weeks of the season after undergoing surgery to his broken throwing wrist. He returned to practice in the beginning of December and was cleared to play in the national championship. On January 9, 2016, Wentz led the Bison to its fifth straight FCS title, running for two touchdowns and throwing for a third. He was named the NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game Most Outstanding Player for the second straight year.

Wentz graduated with a degree in health and physical education, finishing with a 4.0 grade point average and twice earning recognition as an Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America, first for Division I football and later for all Division I sports.

College statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

In February 2016, most analysts had Wentz projected to be selected in the mid-first round of the draft. However, Wentz began to be regarded as a Top 10 prospect after his pro day. On January 30, 2016, Wentz played in the 2016 Reese's Senior Bowl and finished the game completing 6 of 10 pass attempts for 50 yards. At the NFL Scouting Combine, Wentz showcased his athleticism as he was in the top three in the 40-yard dash, the broad jump, and the three-cone drill among all quarterbacks. Wentz also reportedly scored a 40/50 on his Wonderlic test.

Philadelphia Eagles

2016 season

On April 28, 2016, the Philadelphia Eagles selected Wentz in the first round with the second overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft. He was the first quarterback the Eagles selected in the first round of an NFL draft since Donovan McNabb in 1999, who was also taken second overall. Wentz was also the highest-selected FCS quarterback taken in draft history and the first FCS quarterback taken in the first round since Joe Flacco in 2008. The Eagles traded three top 100 picks in 2016, a first round pick in 2017, and a second round pick in 2018 in order to move up in the draft order and get him. On May 12, Wentz signed a four-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $26.67 million .

Wentz suffered a rib injury in the team's first preseason game of 2016, but was fully healthy for the beginning of the 2016 regular season. Originally intending to have Wentz sit and learn for the 2016 season, those plans changed when the Eagles traded quarterback Sam Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings in September. That same day, it was also reported that the team planned to start Wentz for the 2016 season when he became healthy. On September 5, Wentz was named the starter for the season-opener against the Cleveland Browns. In that game, he threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns during the 29–10 victory. Wentz was named the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week for Week 1. In the next game against the Chicago Bears, he threw for 190 yards and a touchdown during the 29–14 road victory. He became the first rookie quarterback since 1970 to win his first two games of the season and not throw an interception. The following week against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Wentz had 301 passing yards and two touchdowns as the Eagles won 34–3. He was named the National Football Conference (NFC) Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Steelers. During a Week 9 28–23 road loss to the New York Giants, he was 27-of-47 for a season-high 364 yards and two interceptions.

In his rookie season, Wentz started all 16 games for the Eagles as they finished the season with a 7–9 record. Wentz threw for a league-record 379 completions by a rookie, breaking the record of 354 held by Bradford, who was with the St. Louis Rams at the time. His 379 completions also set a single season franchise record, breaking the record of 346 also held by Bradford from the previous season. Wentz also set a single season franchise record with 607 pass attempts, the second highest attempts by a rookie in league history only trailing Andrew Luck, who had 627 in the 2012 season.

2017 season

In Week 1 against the Washington Redskins, Wentz finished with 307 passing yards, two touchdowns, and an interception from a pass tipped at the line of scrimmage as the Eagles won by a score of 30–17. In the next game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Wentz threw for 333 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. In addition, he rushed for 55 yards in the 27–20 road loss. In a Week 5 34–7 rout over the Arizona Cardinals, Wentz finished the game with 304 yards and a career-high four passing touchdowns. In the first five games of 2017, he passed for 1,362 yards, 10 touchdowns, and three interceptions. After this start, NFL insiders and reports ranked Wentz as a possible NFL MVP. He was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 7 after passing for 268 yards and a career-high tying four touchdowns in a 34–24 victory over the Redskins. Two weeks later against the Denver Broncos, Wentz finished with 199 passing yards and four touchdowns as the Eagles won 51–23.