By Tucker Bagley, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
Measuring success for a rookie quarterback is an inexact science.
One look at the Carson Wentz's stats or the Eagles record from a season ago would indicate that the Eagles quarterback struggled for the majority of his rookie campaign and put up lackluster numbers. But it just isn't that simple.
Evaluating a rookie quarterback is more than reading numbers off a sheet. The Eagles weren't expecting Wentz to be an elite quarterback from his first day in the NFL. Hell, they weren't even planning on having him play before they shipped off Sam Bradford eight days before the beginning of the season. But Wentz performed admirably for a guy who had played just a few series of preseason football after competing at the FCS level during his college career.
There were some missed throws and poor decisions by Wentz during his rookie season, but he was also playing with a group of receivers who would struggle to get open against a pile of traffic cones. Sure, the blame remains on Wentz, but Dak Prescott is proof that a supporting cast is necessary to be successful. No one can argue Wentz had a better season than Prescott, who led the Dallas Cowboys to a 13-3 record and a division title. But being able to lean on his elite offensive line, running back and weapons on the outside made Prescott's transition to the NFL much easier than Wentz's.
None of this is meant to be an excuse for Wentz's rookie struggles or a prophecy that he will become a bonafide franchise quarterback for the next 15 years for the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite the overwhelming optimism by fans and analysts alike, we still don't know if Wentz can make that jump and won't know until it actually happens. The NFL is full of cautionary tales of highly touted young quarterbacks falling off the rails.
But still, to truly evaluate Wentz, you need to search for those fleeting moments of potential greatness. Just regurgitating numbers doesn't truly define success for a rookie quarterback. Instead, Wentz is a future commodity. Did he win some games in 2016? Sure he did, and he looked damn good at times, too. But the Eagles didn't trade up to the second overall selection in the draft to pick a guy to win a few games in 2016.
The Eagles need Wentz to develop into the guy who will win big games a year from now. Or a decade from now. Wentz is far from a finished product and to view him as anything else is simply foolish.
Wentz's workload as a rookie was certainly not ideal. Despite being a raw prospect, he broke the record for passes attempted by a rookie and seemed to wear down as the season wore on. As defenses adjusted to his tape, Wentz struggled because he simply didn't have any weapons he could rely on from a week-to-week basis until Zach Ertz re-emerged late in the season.
Wentz didn't play well for long stretches during his rookie season. But there were plenty of moments that gave fans hope he can turn things around in a more stable environment in 2017 and beyond.
