Context is important. (Unless it doesn't fit your narrative). He did not play great, but the numbers in the first half speak more than just about Zach. First three an out not on him (Dropped pass) second three and out not him. Third drive had a couple of first downs I believe and they were down 17-0 at that point. He then threw a terrible pick but got bailed out by a fumble then proceeded to have a nice drive at the end of half.
Keep telling yourself that. He had 40 yards at half time man. There's no context that justifies that as being acceptable. We ran 8 plays for 16 yards and an interception on the first three possessions.
This is something that didn't bother me during the offseason as much as it does now. To be clear, I still like JD and think he's a good GM and it's possible that Saleh and LaFleur didn't clearly tell him how much usage the TE's will get in their scheme but if they did, this is a big blunder on JD's part. I get that TE isn't a premium position so I wouldn't have been a big fan of giving Jonnu Smith or Hunter Henry 10-15M/year but we could've drafted a TE in the later rounds to give Zach a capable pass catching option for cheap.
Trash take for several reasons: 1) They won the Titans game and it’s the game he finally showed his immense upside. 2) Lawrence is on the Herbert track!? With 6 TD and 8 INT - yeah looks like he’s right on pace to match Herberts best rookie season for a QB ever. 3) Comparing him to game manager types like Alex Smith and Baker Mayfield - literally complete opposite QB to what he is. If you think he’ll be bad at least compare him to a poor mans Jay Cutler lol 4) Still just crazy to make any evaluation about the guy as it’s too early. Mahomes wasn’t even playing at this point in his career.
The INT, absolutely on Wilson. Awful throw. But why in god's name, with the Falcons playing two high safeties right out of the gate, are we not throwing underneath? Especially when you have a guy like Crowder and obviously Elijah Moore... who the OC can't figure out how to use. LaFleur has absolutely no idea how to take what the defense is giving him and that's a bad combo when the QB playing his 5th career game also has no clue how to take what the defense is giving him. The kid needs coaching help and he's not getting it. Sound familiar?
Chris Collinsworth made an interesting point about Josh Allen in the wee hours of last night's KC/Bills game. He mentioned how Allen has matured as a quarterback, his first two years in the league were forgettable, he was trying to win games on the strength of his arm with long passes. But, Bills coach Sean McDermott set him straight on the importance of spreading the ball around to his wide receivers, that you didn't have to be the hero every game. In the last two years Josh Allen has become a force in the AFC and will likely take his team to the Superbowl. I couldn't help but, be reminded of our pal Zach. These early stumbles seem to be the mirror image of Josh Allen's early days in the NFL. While it has been frustrating watching Wilson seemingly regress over the course of two weeks, my hopes are rejuvenated that Zach Wilson will soon understand his position at Quarterback. He is the director of the film. He is a child, a smart one, he will learn. In a couple of years he'll turn this box office flop of a team into a blockbuster. See you at the Superbowl.
Zach was awful yesterday, no question about it, but that's how I expect a rookie QB to look with no run game. We had 5 rushing yards on our first 2 drives, 3 of which came from Zach. Zach's got his fair share of the blame for yesterday but so does everyone on both sides of the ball.
LaFleur gave him some easy throws (screens) and he screwed them up. You can't blame those on LaFleur.
When? I'll reiterate from my post above... Falcons opened with two high safeties probably because they studied film and they know Wilson can beat you deep. So what did LaFleur do to combat that? Nothing. At least not at the beginning of the game when you should be trying to build confidence for your young QB and force the Falcons out of a look that takes away your best plays.
I don't remember every play, but I remember a 3rd down in the 1st drive where Wilson threw a short pass to the sideline that was not quite on target, but was catchable and was dropped. There was a penalty on the Jets anyway on that play, but it wasn't a very good pass from Wilson. There were also a couple of screens later in the game (easy throws) that Wilson missed on badly.
That first drive drop was Crowder I believe. Absolutely a catchable ball even if it wasn't the prettiest throw. When I watch other games I see WRs wide open and QBs making quick decisions. When I watch the Jets I see WRs running with defenders attached to their hip and the QB left with little to no space to throw the ball. At what point does that stop? Is it WRs not getting separation, QB being off with timing, bad play design? We've seen multiple times already this year a bunch of WRs all running to the same spot on the field. That's Gase shit. I was promised we were going to stop doing that.
mahomes didn't even play as a rookie. he sat all year behind alex smith. luck was a decade ago. only QBs that blew it up as a rookie in the past decade are herbert and jackson
Yes, there are other problems with the offense, but Zach hasn't played well for the most part. I'm far from giving up on him. He's a rookie who is making a big leap from BYU to the NFL and I think he can be a top 5 QB. Right now he looks like a young rookie who is trying to make a big leap from BYU to the NFL. Time will tell if he can make the adjustment.
Yeah and as someone who wanted to draft Josh Allen #5 that year I was pretty sensitive to that. The most amazing to me was that on two distinct occasions he absolutely single handedly destroyed the Jets right in front of our eyes and everyone just still threw up posts about how terrible he is, how inaccurate, never amount to anything etc. Takes awhile to recalibrate opinions sometimes I guess. Similarly to how Kyle Pitts just put on a show of strength yesterday. Thats what star-level talent looks like. Thats what the Jets desperately need to start acquiring and that is what it cost the Jets to draft Wilson. And while that is destroying us on the field in real life we instead got what looks like the kid you'd hire from down the street to mow your lawn in the summer and it still isn't, and never was apparent to me that he's going to be all that much better than the guy we already had on the payroll. I haven't given up hope yet by any stretch of the imagination, and we've still got a few draft picks to hopefully GET some star level playmakers, but it is slightly concerning at this point.
Not for nothing, literally EVERYTHING around Josh Allen fell into place perfectly. They got the right coaching staff that installed the right offense. They had a GM who put a premium on offensive firepower via sign/trade, but also put together a solid OL with seemingly spare parts while also finding parts in the draft... oh... and also drafting multiple high level starters on defense at the same time. Zach has literally none of those things. At least not yet. There are VERY few situations around the league where Josh Allen could have thrived like this. Buffalo figured it out. Christ even CLEVELAND figured it out. But here we are.
I think that's bullshit. I have made it a point to follow Lawrence and see how his season progresses. He makes the same dumb mistakes Wilson does. In fact, I distinctly remember him throwing a flea flicker off his back foot directly to the defender against Arizona. Resulted in a pick 6. An absolutely idiotic throw. The idea that one is better than the other right now, is ridiculous. Both have been equally as bad and both have made equally horrible throws. The only difference is, the Jacksonville offensive coordinator has called many more draw plays resulting in him using his legs more. While stats don't paint a full picture, they do give a general idea on how the QB is performing. Both have turned the ball over at a high rate. Both have had interceptions that were not a result of their doing. But both have made equally horrible throws. Jacksonville has yet to win a game. At least Wilson showed a glimpse of greatness and was a LARGE reason we won that game against Tennessee. Yeah, he made mistakes in the first half, but there were quite a few throws that kept us in the game and won it in overtime. Specifically the huge 3rd down throw to Elijah Moore on the sideline that kept the drive alive in overtime and resulted in the winning field goal.
I am defending LaFleur to some extent. Some play calls were easy throws. That's all I'm saying. LaFleur wasn't perfect, no doubt, but it's not all on him. We know for sure that Wilson did not play well.
