2016 NFL Draft: Carson Wentz Wins Combine, Compared to Andrew Luck

The 2016 NFL Draft is approaching quickly, and Carson Wentz is one of the more intriguing names in the class. He has been rising up draft boards extremely quickly, and was one of the biggest question marks heading into the NFL Draft Combine. Wentz was able to go into the combine and put up great production, and is being viewed as the winner of the entire combine.

According to a report from Peter Schrager of Fox Sports, Wentz won the weekend and the Andrew Luck comparisons that he has been receiving are not far off.

1. Carson Wentz won the week. Aced his interviews. Aced his workouts. Multiple teams told me the Andrew Luck comparisons not that far off.

— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) February 29, 2016

There are still a lot of question marks surrounding Wentz. Whether he can handle the pressure at the NFL level or not is still yet to be determined. He played his college football at North Dakota State, which didn’t give teams much of a chance to see him against good competition in big games.

Throughout the 2015 college football season with North Dakota State, Wentz put up big all-around numbers. He completed 62.5 percent of his pass attempts for 1,651 yards, 17 touchdowns and just four interceptions. Wentz put those numbers up in just seven games throughout the year.

Wentz has shown the ability to take care of the football, and there is absolutely nothing to suggest that he can’t do so at the next level. Even though he hasn’t played against huge competition in his college career, there have been many players in recent history who have broken out of smaller schools to leap into stardom at the NFL level.

Standing in at 6-foot-6 and weighing 235 pounds, Wentz is a physically gifted quarterback. There are very few quarterbacks who are as physically intimidating coming out of college as Wentz will be.

Wentz talked about his game and what he will bring to the field at the next level. He also talked about all the questions that he felt about his ability to handle pressure and how he feels he has proven that he can handle those situations.

“I think for me it was kind of what I expected, going in to show what I’m capable of. But I think to a lot of people it showed I can handle that game speed. Obviously there’s still going to be a big jump going forward, but that was probably the big question everyone wants to know. Can he adjust? He was playing FCS ball. All these guys are FBS guys. I think I went in there and proved that I could handle it.”

Jared Goff is the other quarterback that the media is talking about as the top quarterback in the draft class. He comes out of California, but has the smallest hands of any quarterback in the draft. That fact alone has dropped him down the board a bit, and could help make Wentz the top quarterback taken.

The Cleveland Browns are one team that is interested in Wentz and could decide to take him with the No. 2 overall pick.

Leadership is one thing that every college quarterback needs to have making the jump into the NFL. Wentz definitely has those leadership skills, which will make him more successful early in his career.

Wentz seems to be trending upwards at the right time in the draft process. There aren’t many scouts and analysts who don’t view him as the quarterback most likely to be the first off the board at his position.

Looking at the draft, Wentz should end up being selected by a team that plans to plug him into the starting lineup immediately. Cleveland would start him in 2016, as would a team like the St. Louis Rams. He would also be an intriguing fit as the backup to Tony Romo for the Dallas Cowboys for the next couple of years and their next long-term starter following that tenure.

Do you think the Luck comparisons are accurate for Carson Wentz? What were your thoughts of his 2016 NFL Draft combine results? Will he be a superstar franchise quarterback at the next level?

[Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images]