Carson Wentz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carson_Wentz

Carson Wentz (born December 30, 1992) is an American football quarterback who played for the North Dakota State Bison.

Early years

Wentz attended Bismarck Century High School in Bismarck, North Dakota. He played both quarterback and defensive back on the football team and also played baseball and basketball. He grew to be 6'5" as a senior after he started his freshman year at 5'8".

College career

2011

Wentz began attending North Dakota State University in 2011, redshirting his entire first season with the Bison. 2012

As a freshman the following season, he was relegated to backup quarterback duties behind the Bison starting quarterback, Brock Jensen. On September 22, 2012, Wentz played in his first collegiate game. He completed all 8 of his passes for 93-yards and threw his first touchdown pass after coming in to relieve Jensen during a 66-7 blowout victory over Prairie View A&M University. Wentz finished the season completing 12 of 16 pass attempts for 144 passing yards and two touchdowns.

2013

Although Wentz was still the second string quarterback in 2013, he appeared minimally in 11 games. He had his best game that season on October 13, 2013, against Delaware State University, finishing the game with 10/13 completions for 105 passing yards and a touchdown. Wentz ended the season completing 22 of 30 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown.

2014

Wentz became the Bison official starting quarterback during his junior year in 2014. On August 30, 2014, he had his first collegiate start against Iowa State and finished the game completing 18 of 28 pass attempts for 204 passing yards and a 34-14 victory. During a game against Western Illinois on October 10, Wentz caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from runningback John Crockett and lead the Bison to a 17-10 comeback victory. He had his best game against Missouri State, throwing for 247-yards and 5 touchdowns.

In his first season as a starting quarterback he lead North Dakota State to a 15-1 record. On January 10, 2015, Wentz started in his first National Championship game against Illinois State. He passed for 287 yards, a touchdown and rushed for 87 yards and scored a 5-yard rushing touchdown to give North Dakota State the lead with 37 seconds left. They went on to win the 2014 NCAA Division I Football Championship game, beating the Illinois State 29-27 to win their fourth straight national title. He started all 16 games in 2014, completing 228 of 358 passes for 3,111 yards with 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Wentz was also the second leading rusher for North Dakota State after finishing the season with 642 rushing yards and six touchdowns. 2015

After returning to North Dakota State as a fifth-year senior, he had one of the best games of his career on October 10, 2015, against UNI. He finished the game with a career-high 335 passing yards. The following week against South Dakota, Wentz suffered a broken wrist in the first half but managed to complete the game with 16 of 28 completions, 195 passing yards, and 2 touchdown passes 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, he missed the next 8 weeks of the season. After sitting out 8 games, he returned to practice in the beginning of December and was cleared to play in the National Championship. On January 9, 2016, Wentz led NDSU to its fifth straight FCS National Championship, 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.

Professional career

Pre-draft

In February 2016, most analysts had Wentz projected to be selected in the mid first round of the draft. Wentz began to be regarded as a Top 10 prospect after he had a great practice and showed sharpness, accuracy, and decisiveness leading up to the Senior Bowl. On January 30, 2016, he 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 athleticism, being top 3 among quarterbacks in the 40 yard dash, the broad jump and the Three-cone drill. In the Wonderlic test, Wentz scored well above average with 40 points, showing a high level of intelligence.