This season has been a mess with Zach Wilson, the locker room, and the fan base. So I wanted to see if I was missing anything and I was. As is Zach. When you watch the first 3 games with Joe Flacco, it is obvious that he is done and needs to retire. He has 0 mobility. When he was succeeding (like at the end of the Browns game) he was getting the ball out quick and accurate to the Jets WR's. He is not always accurate though either. Speaking of which: Garrett Wilson is really good. Like the REAL DEAL. Like our WR1 for the next decade. Lost in all this QB mess might be how great he truly is. Always open, and when he isn't, he makes plays. Now to Zach. When Zach Wilson is great, he is really great. He makes some really impressive throws. When you watch the film, it shows that is way too rare though. We focused a lot on him missing routine throws, which is true, but he also misses wide open WR's constantly. He is late on throws. He is widely inaccurate on throws. Watching the film made me realize there likely are no locker room or character issues with Zach. The WR's truly are frustrated because he is missing easy plays all the time. What about Mike White? He is the opposite. He hits the right spots. He releases the ball quickly and on time to his WR's. He also lacks mobility like Flacco, but he makes better decisions. He also is not afraid to take a hit to make a completion (thus broken ribs), where many times it does look like Zach tries to avoid hits. The film makes it easy to see why the players like Mike White. He usually sets them up for success. He still makes mistakes, but way less than Wilson or Flacco. Back to Zach: It does seem like he knows the right thing to do, because he does it several times each game. That is the truly confusing part about him. It might just be all mental, which I am not sure if you can fix. When your QB is playing like that, you can easily lose trust in him if you are the WR's or O-line. It explains why they seem to play better even with a guy like Chris Streveler at QB. Even in the games I thought Zach was good in, he missed many chances for even bigger plays or more points to make it easier wins for the Jets. I personally would give Zach another year to try to fix this, because the talent is there, but he truly cannot be counted on as the Jets QB1 for 2023. The jury is still out on Mike White. These final 2 games will be really important for him in many ways. Joe Flacco, congratulations on your Super Bowl title a decade ago. Peace out! Chris Streveler, thanks for the pre-season and Thursday night! As for Mike LaFleur, it is hard to tell if he is a good Offensive Coordinator or not. I like him. His playcalling is not perfect, but the play designs are pretty good.
Appreciate the deep dive DK. If you can figure out how to fix Zach the Jets will be sending over the papers to hire you shortly. You'll have to go to the facility in person to decide which office you think will work best for you.
I don’t understand how you can watch film of Zach and come away saying it looks like he knows what to do. If ever there’s an example of a QB who has no clue about the concepts of offense and defense at the NFL level it’s Zach.
Yeah, the film really shows Zach is even more lost than I realized. It was unfortunate to see. However, he still does make good plays and right reads, which makes me wonder why he can't do it more consistently. I noticed sometimes he looks at the right WR or TE but then decides not to throw that way. Those plays are really eye-opening. Not sure what is going on in his mind.
I'm convinced Zach doesn't study or understand the playbook. All we hear about is his amazing work ethic, yet he always stinks in practice. Everything about him feels pretentious.
I personally believe Zach Wilson is not a smart player. Very low football IQ. For whatever reason, you can form your own conclusions, the media stops short of calling him dumb like they did frequently with Geno Smith and even Mark Sanchez.
Seems like the things that they touted about him are actually weaknesses. Penchant for off-platform throws that cause bad footwork and bad passes. Processing speed! Remember how many times we heard about his processing speed? I have old calculators in my attic with better processing speed. Mobility! Is great unless you have non-contact injuries while scrambling.
Fear... over-thinking, lack of confidence. I think Zach was onto something, after his 3-week sit-down, when he said he's trying to have fun again. An athlete like Zach, things come easy. He plays because it's fun... he's playing. Once the fun stops, he doesn't want to play anymore. Just like a child. I think that he might grow with a guy like Daboll, who seems to be a fun guy. MLF may've been the worst possible OC for Zach. He seems to be a more cerebral type... fun to him is trying to outsmart everyone. If anyone unlocks Zach, it'll be someone who makes it fun for him again. Now, on the field, Zach looks like a child being forced to eat broccoli cake for dessert.
Yeah, and that is the reason why I made this thread. I know we have have all talked about Zach Wilson and the other QB's a lot, but I was missing something. I saw the positives of Zach. I saw the good plays. The 5 wins this season. I saw his struggles, but I did not think it was as big of a deal as others. When his teammates seemed to turn on him, especially Wilson and Moore, I was trying to figure out why. When I watched the film, it was as clear as day. Zach misses them wide open all the time. That is what frustrates them. Has nothing to do with his personality or anything off the field. It makes sense too. That is why I wrote that it is not complicated. Mike White is getting them the ball when they are open. It is that simple.
That is because in his predraft analysis one of the critisms of him was he would pass (pun intended) on the easy makeable plays for a hard play down field.... think Hero ball and then think about his comment about playing within the system and how boring it is....
Definitely agree about LaFleur. His plays seem successful when executed by anyone not name Zach Wilson.
I appreciate the thought, time, and effort you put into your post @The Dark Knight, but here's my analysis: Zach Wilson sucks.
He can’t read it in real time. Even when he’s looking right at the correct receiver it’s taking him too long to process and he ends up late with the ball. The mistake they made with Zach was overvaluing and overestimating his athleticism. A guy like Josh Allen of Lamar Jackson can learn on the fly because they’re ferocious athletes. I don’t care what the measurables say, Zach is diminutive in pads and frankly a liability when he runs with the ball because he gets injured very easily.
That is a good way of saying it. Nice post, @burf! Yeah, that is crazy though. Especially since he is struggling. You would think he would want to just make the easy play, but he somehow refuses a lot of the time. That part is complicated for sure. Who should be on the field is not. Definitely Mike White. Why the players like him and don't like Zach is not complicated either. I thought maybe it was, but I was wrong. Good points! It is unfortunate. I think he is a good athlete, but he doesn't use his ability enough. He doesn't trust it. Or anything at all right now, it seems.
Spot on! The receivers will be open - but Wilson still won't pull the trigger. It's frustrating when you watch the replays. And then you watch Mike White and it's the complete opposite so MLF is not to blame. MLF can't tell the QB in real-time to throw the ball. For what it is worth, Zach did it in college, but he played lesser competition with his elite arm so it made up for the late deliveries.
You're right, Zach is capable - and has shown - he can make the right reads and make plays. The problem is that he doesn't do this nearly often enough. The question is why? If I had the answer I'd apply for the OC job for the Jets. Many here will say simply that he sucks and always will. I've seen lots of QBs over the years I disagree that he sucks at this point. He still has potential, but that may not be unlocked with the Jets. What IS clear is that right now he's in need of a major reset, along the lines of sitting for at least a season and seeing how a good QB operates. He was thrown into the starting role much too soon and became overwhelmed, and has been struggling to get his feet under him - both figuratively and literally - ever since. I'd prefer if the Jets keep him and try and unlock that potential, but frankly I don't think they have the ability to do that - they've never been able to do that at least in this century. But if they can get something decent for him, it might be best for the Jets and him to part ways. In any case he's not going to be starting, short of a disaster, at least for the next year.
This is going to sound truly bizarre, but I just can't stand to look at Zach Wilson anymore. I've already made up my mind on him, and it's mostly for non-football reasons - mainly his attitude and demeanor. At this point nothing is going to change that for me personally. I don't think I've ever felt this way about another Jet, or even another professional player. I just don't want to see him on the field again in a Jet uniform. I could be totally off base, but I believe there are quite a few fans that feel the same way. I wish him well.
It was a fun game to watch but that Tennessee game where he chucked balls up just for fun and had some lucky grabs may have been bad for his career.
