ZW did not have a sparkling game against Green Bay. And this may be as good as he gets. But I think not. I’m old and grew up in an era with far fewer teams and drafted QB’s got to sit behind starters for a few years. He has just about completed 1 year of NFL games with limited training time with the team. He is 3-0 this year. Very limited turnovers. Now many comment on lack of passing yards/TD’s. Well, he has done what he had to do, when he had to do it. Look at the last game. Not a lot of offense in the first half. Limited yards passing. Tied game in the 3rd quarter. He passed for 85 yards in the quarter, leading to 2 scores. He did what he had to do, when he had to do it. Same with the other 2 games. He is able to complete 15 yard downfield passes. To me that is a very telling sign. Many QB’s complete short passes and then the YAC adds to the total. They struggle with zipping the longer passes into tight windows. ZW can do it. He also adds mobility. As he gains experience and playing time with the team, I expect great things. Will he be an all time great, who knows. Will he be a top 10 against his competition, I think so. But most importantly, will he be able to keep his team competitive through various situations? I look forward to seeing the answer.
I honestly think he will be just fine once we have a stable Oline. He is prob in his head a lot since he is always getting pressured and running for his life. He is doing well working without a bunch of starters in front of him
2 games in a row where he wasn’t asked to do much and that’s OK. When the running game is working like it currently is, I’m fine with continuing to pound the rock. He’s made plays when he’s had to. Another tough pass D in the broncos next week on deck Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I was talking to someone before about not being worried about Zach, but remembering that we need to know if he's our FQB or not, and us still not really having an answer. They hit me back with yeah, who could have foreseen that this team might be too good to let us effectively evaluate him? Sent from my IN2015 using Tapatalk
I don’t really care what his numbers are. Make the throws when your number is called. That’s it we have a very similar formula that SF has. Do you think they cared what Jimmys numbers are if all they see is the number in the W column go up?
I don't think he needs to be defended. He didn't have to do a lot yesterday. When he does, he needs to step up. The 4th quarter in Pittsburgh was an encouraging sign.
He's learning how to manage the game that's in front of him. MLF is also being smarter with the play calls too. We have a running game now and can play smashmouth effectively. No complaints as his learning curve is starting to flatten out a bit.
When he has a clean pocket, he's a gamer. He's not killing the team when he's under pressure, which is a step in the right direction.
All good points. The people who are disappointed in Zach have unrealistic expectations for what is basically a rookie QB IMO. In my estimation he's actually ahead of schedule, even if he doesn't have flashy numbers. He's winning games, playing clutch under pressure, not making any horrendous mistakes, and improving each week. He's far from having his his ceiling. The Jets are finally being smart about developing a young QB, not asking him to do too much, and reigning him in when he takes it on himself to do more than he should. As he gets more and experience we'll start seeing the BYU version of Zach and then people will "Why did I ever doubt him?" I'm very hopeful that he'll be an elite QB capable of directing a high powered offense once the "training wheels" come off. In the meantime, I'm happy to see him learn how to be a game manager because no matter how good you get there will be times when you have to do that too.
ZW was amazing the back-end of the Steelers game . Love the balance they've shown and much better that he's not forcing things that aren't there and putting the team in bad situations - I hope our patience will pay off and somewhere in the not too distant future and he can be a consistent reason the Jet's are winning games. The tools are all there, no question about it...
I don't think we are anywhere close to needing a thread to defend ZW. The kid has shown he Is very capable of having the next Josh Allen type of ascension In the NFL. I've LOVED some of these drives he's had this year, especially In the 4th. He still needs time to remove some bad tendencies from his game, I think he will get there. I think they just need to simplify some things for him right now and I can kind of see that happening the last 3 games. Which has been good for the team overall but also for him to process things a little faster. My main knock on ZW Is the internal clock.. He has to speed up his process on a lot of these drop backs. However, that's just gaining experience In the NFL. I think we are setup nicely, everywhere really. I love this team right now.
For me, Zach showed me the toughness, & calmness under pressure, in the Pittsburgh game that I've been waiting to see. He still makes some bonehead plays, like that desperation pass into the endzone yesterday. But, I really don't care much about numbers, other than accuracy (ball-placement), which still concerns me. I think MLF still doesn't get that Zach is a "rhythm" passer. He's at his best when the pace is faster, when he drops back, sets, & passes. One way to help, would be periodically going no-huddle, especially in the first Q, to get him (and the team) into a rhythm. For whatever reason, MLF starts every game with slower developing plays. Then we see, as the game progresses, the pace picks up, especially after the half. I'm looking forward to see what BB throws at Zach, in 2 weeks, & how he (& MLF) handle it. But all-in-all, he does seem to be learning, & making progress, which is all I want at this stage of his career.
Yes, Zach is a "rhythm passer", but he needs to learn how to operate when his rhythm is disrupted, which is why they're developing him the way they are. You mentioned Belichick and what he'll do - or try to do - to Zach, and you can be certain he will try to disrupt is rhythm. It's for games like this that Zach needs to have another way of operating. He's not going to "unlearn" his natural ability, so this is just part of expanding his ability to deal with adversity. So far, based upon the 3 games he's played this season I'd say this approach is working.
The next few opponents will stack the box and try to stop the run game. Zack will have to step up. QB is the toughest position. Be patient and let the defense hold while he learns.
He still makes some bonehead plays, like that desperation pass into the endzone yesterday. Each of us entitled to their own opinion. I am in favor of ZW trying these kind of passes. I believe that is one of the reasons the Jets drafted him...the ability to make that kind of play. I don't think it was boneheaded at all. Could have been intercepted, could have been a TD. His natural tendency is to go for it when he has the opportunity. I don't want to see that stifled. I hope the coaches don't want to turn him into an Alex Smith clone. But again, we each have our opinions.
True, he has to learn how to deal with his rhythm being disrupted, but what's the point of not playing to a players' strength? That makes no sense. Leave it to the opposition to try to disrupt his rhythm, but to handicap the team, just because he has to learn to overcome adversity? It's the adversity that will teach him, not holding him back. As for BB trying to stop his rhythm, that's another opportunity to play to Zach's strength, by going no-huddle at the outset. To me, what the CS has done well with Zach, is to drum into him that he doesn't have to try to do everything himself, & to let the playmakers do their stuff.
I agree with you, to a point... there's a time for it, but not in a tight game, in desperation... as he's stepping out of bounds.
If you're correct about MLF starting games with slower-developing plays, then the pace picking up as the game progresses, then imo MLF is doing things totally backwards. To open games, there should be some quick easy throws to get Zach and the offense in a rhythm, then as their success and confidence builds during games, then they can start doing some longer developing plays once they've tired the opposing D out. I'm not so sure that I agree with you about Zach being a "rhythm" passer. I think he did some of that at BYU, but he also frequently extended plays, then took shots downfield.
