Carson Wentz has hired a quarterbacks coach to improve his lapsed mechanics.
The Philadelphia Eagles' second-year signal-caller will work with 3DQB's Adam Dedeaux this offseason, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Wednesday.
This is a positive -- and fully expected -- sign for Wentz's future. After roaring out to a 3-0 start with a 5:0 TD-to-INT ratio and 103.8 passer rating in September, the draft's No. 2 overall pick was one of the league's least effective passers over the final three months of the season.
With his offensive line in flux and his running game vanishing for stretches, Wentz fell into bad habits, flashing a long-armed looping windup in which the ball often dropped to his waist level.
"Strictly mechanics," coach Doug Pederson said of Wentz's struggles in early December. "... Young quarterback, missed quite a bit of time in the preseason, but now we have to keep cleaning this thing up."
It's important that Wentz is diligent about his throwing motion, learning from Blake Bortles' precipitous 2016 decline.
Dedeaux, the grandson of legendary USC baseball coach Rod Dedeaux, worked with and for sports biomechanics guru Tom House for 10 years. Those two have trained many veteran quarterbacks, including Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Andy Dalton and Tim Tebow.
Dedeaux and House point to Bortles, though, as the quarterback who improved the most -- from a clueless 2014 rookie to the 2015 breakout quarterback who shattered several franchise records.
It's no coincidence that Bortles regressed in 2016 after neglecting his mechanics in the offseason.
Dedeaux and House often fly into NFL cities to provide tune-ups during the season. House believes quarterbacks typically lose 1 percent of their mechanical efficiency in every game, per The MMQB's Albert Breer. When they fall into bad habits -- as Bortles and Wentz did last season -- that number rises.
Fixing flawed mechanics is an incremental process heavy on deliberate repetition. That's why the legwork must be accomplished during the long offseason, with occasional upkeep and tinkering to remain fundamentally sound once the season starts.
Wentz has all of the physical tools and mental makeup to succeed in the NFL. Once he irons out his mechanics, he'll begin to emerge as a franchise-caliber quarterback.
