BYU’s Zach Wilson is flying up draft boards. Should the New York Jets snag him with the second-overall pick?
New York Jets fans are looking for the team’s next quarterback after the win over the Los Angeles Rams. The Jets were in line to take Trevor Lawrence, a generational prospect, but now things have changed. If the Jaguars lose out and hold onto the No. 1 overall pick, the Jets will be faced with a major decision — Justin Fields or Zach Wilson?
Fields is a fantastic prospect and he deserves plenty of consideration from the Jets, but Wilson’s upside is tough to pass up. Let’s take a deeper dive into Wilson and try to figure out which quarterback is the right pick for Gang Green.
Zach Wilson, QB, BYU
Strengths
Athletic
He’s not going to wow anyone with his athleticism, but it makes him a threat on the ground and his escapability in the pocket is phenomenal.
Elite Arm Strength
I’ve seen this kid throw 40 yards in the air off one foot on the run. I’ve also seen him throw the ball 65 yards in the air with ease. Both of these were in-game action. Not only can he make any throw, but he’s going to make a lot of throws on people could dream about.
Flexibility
Wilson is flexible in his motion. He’s not married to one kind of throwing style. He’ll throw overhand, sidearm, pitch it underhand. He can do whatever that specific set of circumstances calls for and he can do it all accurately.
Deep Ball Accuracy
Wilson throws an incredibly pretty deep ball. The strength and touch he gets on these passes are obscene. It helps that his receivers adjust so well to the balls he throws, but so will his NFL receivers.
Accuracy outside the numbers
Wilson is accurate and throws with zip outside the numbers. He’ll often beat cornerbacks in tight coverage on curls and comebacks while perfectly placing the ball.
Quick Release
Wilson gets the ball out quickly. Even when he doesn’t have his first read he’s quick to find his second read and get the ball out of there.
Doesn’t Fear Pressure
One thing that immediately comes to light watching Wilson is he doesn’t fear a pass rush. He often welcomes it as he thinks it’ll give him the opportunity for a bigger play. He’s going to need that fearlessness to take on an NFL pass rush, especially with the New York Jets offensive line.
He has IT at the end of games
Some QBs just have that rare ability to bring out their absolute best when the game is on the line. Each and every time the clock starts to wind down you know this kind of QB is going to be trouble. Wilson has that.
The two best examples are the end of the Houston game and the last drive of the Coastal Carolina game. He’s never going to give up on winning a game and he has the ability to make the impossible possible when the time comes.
Weaknesses
Concentration
Short Pass Accuracy
Accuracy over the middle
Decision Making
YAC
Hero Ball
Injuries
Conclusion
Zach Wilson is a gamble on a single year. He had been a fine quarterback battling through injuries during his first two years at BYU, but nothing special. Maybe he would have gotten a look as a day three pick. Now that he’s finally healthy he put together a monster junior season.
Still, for every eye-popping tool, there’s a matching red flag. On top of it all, there are injury questions. So what is there to be made about Wilson?
Well if he can stay healthy it looks like he’ll be a starting quarterback on day one, but he’ll need time to develop. It wouldn’t be a shock to see Wilson match Justin Herbert’s rookie season. It also wouldn’t be a shock to see Wilson’s accuracy concerns on short passes and over the middle haunt him early in his NFL career.
Like Fields, Wilson would need help from the New York Jets offensive scheme in his rookie year. He fits best in a vertical offense that will allow him to throw the ball down the field with regularity.
Wilson would fail in a west coast style offense. His ability to hit passes over the middle and short are just not there yet. He needs to be put in a system similar to the one Andy Reid runs in Kansas City, Kliff Kingsbury runs in Arizona, or Matt LaFleur runs in Green Bay. A modern NFL style spread offense.
What should the New York Jets do?
This isn’t the answer that fans want to hear, but it’s impossible to say what the New York Jets should do right now. Justin Fields still has to play in the playoffs against Lawrence’s Clemson. A strong performance in that game could erase all the poor performances he’s had this season. A bad performance and Zach Wilson may be locked in at No. 2.
What will really decide things though is who they hire as their head coach and offensive coordinator. If the Jets go with an old-school coach like Jim Caldwell or Marvin Lewis then the better choice may be Wilson. If they go with a new school coach like Greg Roman or Brian Daboll the better choice will likely be Fields.
These two quarterbacks are fits for very different offensive schemes. Who the New York Jets hire as their next head coach is going to play a massive role in which quarterback they should draft.
That said, Justin Fields currently has a higher grade than Zach Wilson. His athleticism and accuracy are a rare combination that make Fields a unicorn. That’s enough to push his grade higher than Wilson as things stand.
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