Carson Wentz wants to be the best.
He doesn't want to be average, or good or great. It doesn't matter if it's football or his schoolwork or even getting his money's worth at a buffet, Wentz wants to be the best at everything, and that competitive spirit is what has taken him from being a guy who played quarterback for just one year in high school to being one of the top football prospects in the country.
But when he was still a junior in high school, he wasn't some "can't miss," blue-chip prospect. Hell, he wasn't even a quarterback. After suffering an arm injury playing baseball, Wentz was forced to play defensive back and wide receiver before leading the Century High School Patriots to the North Dakota Class A State Title Game his senior season.
According to his high school coach this small sample size directly affected his college recruiting.
"His first full year of varsity football was really his senior year. The only school from the division above [1-AA] that called about him was Central Michigan," Ron Wingenbach explained earlier this week. "He did receive a lot of attention from the Missouri Valley Conference, from schools such as Southern Illinios, South Dakota State University, he also received interested from the University of North Dakota."
After redshirting and being the backup QB, Wentz only started one full season for the Bison of North Dakota State. He led them to two-straight national championships, but the low level of competition still has fans and draft experts worried about his ability to transition to the NFL. However, Wingenbach believes that Wentz did enough during the pre-draft process to quell some of those concerns.
"He reported to the Senior Bowl and he did everything the Dallas Cowboys' coaching staff asked him to do. He went up against some of the best defenders, obviously the receiving corps was a notch above what he was used to, as well. He had his Pro Day at NDSU and he threw every type of pass that the scouts wanted to see and he passed that with flying colors. His interviews, the Wonderlic test, everything has been passed with flying colors. You know, I don't know what else he could do, if people are questioning if he's ready."
Despite his confidence in his former protege, Wingenbach said he never envisioned this level of success for Wentz. But he isn't shocked, because he knows Wentz has been the first guy in the film room every morning and the last guy to leave every night at NDSU. The coach also believes that Wentz sitting, and learning, for his first three years as a member of the Bison was integral to his development as a quarterback.
When asked for a story or memory regarding Wentz, Wingenbach's memory doesn't lead him to the football field. No, instead, he recalls Wentz risking his perfect high school GPA by taking calculus his senior year. But like most tasks set in front of him, Wentz attacked the course, got an A, preserved his perfect GPA and finished his high school career as valedictorian of his high school.
As Wentz makes his journey from North Dakota to Philadelphia, he has an entire state behind him, encouraging him, excited for the rest of the world to discover what they already know.
Carson Wentz has the skill, and the drive, to be the best.
Tucker Bagley is a columnist for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @tbagley515.
