How the Rams altered Carson Wentz’s career forever

In the 2016 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles were nowhere near the number one and number two picks when the previous season ended, but months later the world would be debating if they should pick Jared Goff or Carson Wentz. As it turned out, the Rams traded up in one of the most unexpected and exciting moves of all-time, selecting Goff with the first pick and leaving Wentz to the Eagles at second overall. Now over seven years later, Wentz has made his way to L.A. after signing a contract with the Rams on Tuesday.

The Rams could have put Wentz in L.A. and Goff in Philadelphia, if they had wanted to do that in 2016. Now Goff is on the Detroit Lions and Wentz is on the Rams. What a wild course of events it took to get here.

Please forgive the sensationalism.

There is a lot to talk about when it comes to Wentz and his history with the Rams. In the 2017 season the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl over the New England Patriots and Nick Foles, as many remember, was Philly’s starting QB. Say what you want about Foles: What Foles can’t do, he held the Eagles back, he was terrible when he was with the Rams, even though he wasn’t. St. Nick answered every call and earned the Super Bowl MVP title with the Eagles that same year that he took over for Wentz because of a torn ACL.

Before the rise of Foles, Wentz was leading the Eagles with MVP like numbers and performances. Wentz only played 13 games, didn’t finish the regular season (thus Philly’s need for Foles), and still received MVP votes. THAT is how good Carson Wentz used to be.

L.A. had Jared Goff.

Drafted ahead of Wentz by the Rams, Goff was looking solid under newly hired head coach Sean McVay. The Eagles beat L.A. during the 2017 season and both clubs were feeling great about their fairly new franchise quarterbacks.

However, the cost of the Eagles victory on that day was the loss of their up and coming star quarterback. YouTube tries and you can see the a different angle here, but sometimes we need other sources too.

Again forgive the sensationalism. It was a brutal injury. Wentz is aware. Whatever can be said about him, you can’t say he’s not tough. Wentz takes the hit that ends up altering his career and he still stays in that series to throw a touchdown. It was an unfortunate injury in what was a thrilling game for both teams. At the time it delivered on the expectation as both teams were playing well.

Carson Wentz knee crushed by Rams’ Mark Barron (247sports)

“Wentz is believed to have a torn ACL, which would end his season. He ends the year with a single-season record 33 touchdown passes.”

Now Goff has the Lions leading the NFC North, while Wentz has bounced around the league and finds himself with his fourth team in four years. The same team that he beat in 2017, but took a beating against in the process. What happens next is anyone’s guess. LA most likely brought in Wentz as an emergency option to Matthew Stafford and the hope is that Stafford plays again this season.

The reality is the Rams don’t want to see Brett Ryien start for them again any time soon.

McVay and Les Snead to their credit can admit when something isn’t working. Will the signing of Wentz work out in any way for the Rams? It doesn’t matter during the bye week. What matters right now is this is an exciting move with potential. The history between the player and franchise only adds to this full circle moment. Heavily considered by Snead and Jeff Fisher all those years ago. Signed by Snead and McVay now. If nothing else it gives everyone something to talk about. Will it be as good as last season when Baker Mayfield came and bailed the Rams on that Thursday night game against the Las Vegas Raiders?

Rams fans sometimes just want a win, not the world. Carson Wentz, say what you want, has won big games. We’ll see what he can do for the Rams.