Colts roll dice that Carson Wentz, Frank Reich will turn back the clock

It’s been a wild few years for Colts fans. With the plug unexpectedly pulled on Andrew Luck’s career after only seven NFL seasons, Indy has careened from Jacoby Brissett to Philip Rivers and now to Carson Wentz at quarterback.

Carson Wentz. If you’d told the average Colts fan a year ago that the team would have Wentz in 2021, the average Colts fan would have become extremely excited. Given that the Colts paid Rivers $25 million in 2020 and will pay Wentz $25.4 million in 2021, that would have been regarded as a steal.

The challenge now becomes making it a steal. Can coach Frank Reich, who had helped turn Wentz into an MVP candidate in 2017, get Wentz back to where he was? Can Wentz, now free from whatever it was that dragged him down in Philly last year, show that his performance in 2020 was an aberration?

It’s a worthwhile bet for the Colts. With no other obvious options available for a plug-and-play starter, and given the pre-existing relationship between Wentz and Reich, it’s worth the financial investment, and it’s worth the draft picks.

And if it all falls tougher just right, the Colts could win with Wentz as many championships as they won with Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck, combined.