Saying you aren't anti-Wilson is one thing. Declaring that no one that reads this forum wants him to fail is something that can't be said with certainty.
To be honest I haven't seen people who preferred Fields being unfair to Wilson so far. As perhaps the #1 Wilson homer pre-draft I'd love to take a victory lap but it's nowhere near warranted yet. He's looked good so far and I'm optimistic though. I do think it's pretty much consensus that he has a strong arm at this point, I think that's fair to say given how many different people we've seen comment on it. He definitely doesn't have an Allen arm where the ball just looks different in the air but Allen has the strongest arm in the league, he throws absolute missiles. Wilson probably has one of the better arms though, at the very least it's more than good enough. The biggest thing with Wilson to me is he just looks smooth and in control. The game doesn't look too fast for him at all. That may change against starters but everyone in the NFL is significantly faster than college players, even 2nd and 3rd string guys. Maybe his poise has been especially striking to us given how franticly and sloppily Darnold played.
He definitely doesn't look like he was just woken up by a five-alarm fire like Darnold and a lot of young quarterbacks do. He's only faced pressure a couple of times but it didn't induce panic when it's happened. His arm looks good and is more than enough for the NFL. I take exception when his arm is propped up as the best in the league and such. It's just not. But it doesn't have to be. You need a good enough arm to be a good quarterback and his arm strength is even a step above that based on preseason.
I was among the earliest and most vocal Wilson supporters, and have said from the beginning that I thought he would be a great QB, and better than Lawrence and Fields and the rest, and while I included arm strength in his plus column, I also pointed out almost every time that it wasn't as strong as Allen's or Mahomes, but that it was certainly strong enough to make every throw. And his release is as quick as any I can remember. But what makes all the difference for a QB IMO is his ability to anticipate the opening and gauge the speed of his intended receiver. The first part of that equation is rooted in instinct and not really coachable, and has to do with hand-eye coordination and the ability to visualize what isn't yet there. Some have more of this than others - if it could be measured, Zach would be in the highest percentiles (Sam would be on the lower end). The second part of that equation has to do with experience, and getting to know how your receivers play, how fast they are, etc. - Zach has surprised me with how quickly he's picking this up. Combining this with his well-above-average arm and release, will make him one of the best QBs the Jets have ever had IMO.
Not much better. I've watched each of his games and yet to see him look past his primary WR. Its what was the knock on him at OSU. He looks to one WR and if its there he throws, if not he runs for the hills. And playing against 3rd stringers he can impress running. Not sure how many of those running lanes are going to be as open against starting D's
Fields has shown to be a good runner but his running ability was never in question as a prospect. He's a phenomenal runner as a QB. The problem is that so far he's also shown some of the same issues as a passer that led to him falling in the draft. He's either quick to abandon the pass and run or spends forever trying to find an open receiver which leads to bad sacks. He's got a bit of the Darnold in him where he hates giving up on plays and always wants to make something happen. The modern NFL is about surrounding your QB with playmakers and getting those playmakers the ball in space so they can do damage after the catch. With that in mind, it's paramount that a QB take what's given to him and limit mistakes. It's not about hitting a home run every drive, it's about avoiding turnovers at all cost, being accurate, and making good decisions.
This is partly true. When he is in the pocket he doesn't go through is progressions enough. But when he is forced to scramble he does improvise and sometimes make plays.
The main knock on his game and every QB who's played in that Meyer system at OSU is that its a one read system. Doesnt say he cant go beyond that just that hes never had to before. Guys like Haskell, Cardell Jones, Barrett were never able to adapt their games which is why some feared drafting Fields. I never said he didnt sometimes make plays. He does because hes such a gifted athlete. My question is when hes playing against 1st team defenses, good defenses, defenses that are going to game plan to contain, defenses with the speed he hasnt seen yet, is he going to make gains when he runs? Is he going to be a QB or a Vick?
Except he didn't really play under Urban Meyer's traditional Florida one-read system. He played in Ryan Day's system who only coached one year under Meyer as a graduate assistant in his first year at Florida prior to being hired by Meyer in 2018. The system is drastically different than what Meyer and friends developed all the shitty quarterbacks under (Jones, Smith, Barrett etc.). Not many universities have multiple good pro quarterbacks come from it's ranks. One from Clemson, how many from Alabama since Joe Willie? USC has run a "pro" style system for two+ decades and have Carson Palmer and a bunch of dogshit outside of him. Context is important.
Fields was a very raw prospect compared to more experienced prospects like Wilson and Jones. While Fields faced an almost identical number of QB pressures last year as did Wilson and Jones he handled those pressures very differently. Fields took sacks at twice the rate of Wilson and Jones and ran from the pocket at more than twice the rate throwing less than 60 percent of the time he was pressured almost one third less than Wilson and Jones. Fields hopefully will develop into a good NFL QB. He certainly has the physical tools but he has so much more to work on than the other QBs. Such as mechanics and shortening his throwing motion, anticipation, learning how to make adjustments with his WRs, learning locket presence and to stay in the pocket. Add in his velocity problems on short and medium throws and he needs a complete rebuild. His running threat ability is dangerous and will help him buy time like it did with Josh Allen but will he able to completely remake himself and fix his flaws like Allen did? The odds are certainly against that happening. He could end up the best QB in the draft but he also could end up injured as he is such a high injury risk as he takes so many more hits than the other QBs.
That's the thing. I haven't seen anyone really raise red flags either and that includes the guys that didn't want to draft him. I see that as a good thing even though they haven't acknowledged he hasn't looked bad or tripped on his dick
Oh ok. So if you want to ignore everything I've said and just reiterate your silly blanket statement that's cool with me. When were Justin Fields and Urban Meyer at Ohio State at the same time?
That's one way of looking at it. I am not really judging him by the system he was in. I'm going to judge him by what I see. For the record I loved what I saw in the Clemson game. He's a tough SOB with a great arm. My biggest concern was always his ability to go through progressions and read a defense. I was told that his system in college was basically one read and he had no hot reads for a blitz. I was also told he would learn these things as he's always have in the past. I watched the Buffalo game and it would concern me as a Bears fan. I'm much happier we selected Wilson even though I was spit between the two prior to the draft.
What I bolded is what Zach is displaying right now - he looks like a veteran in the pocket already. But this is because he's played in system that allowed him to develop all these things. Can Fields? Maybe. It's a LOT to learn and then to make second nature, especially because his current second nature is to take off and run if his first read isn't there as he's been successful doing that his whole career. I'm not saying he won't have success because he's a great athlete, with a great arm, and a real competitor, and I'd be shocked if he isn't successful to some degree, but he's got his work cut out for him. Do the Bears - and their fans - have the patience to let him have the growing pains to change how he plays the position? Or can they design an offense that minimizes that, and takes advantage of what he already does best? I'm glad we got Zach.
The first bad practice Wilson had in early August up until the Giants game they all came out screaming at what a mistake it was to draft Wilson then stating how great the other QBs were doing.
I saw some passive aggressive bullshit but nothing that could be pinned on someone if he turns out to be the real deal. But I hear you. Don't underestimate a person's ego overpowering their love for a team. It's all about being right and some have more than double downed about Wilson being a bust. Time will tell.
