Zach Wilson: Year End Grade

When I look at the bills qb do I get to look at his supporting cast too? Buffalo played 8-9 in the box all day because why would you respect the cast of mims,black,Smith and Cole?

 

He improved as the season went. That's more than most of our rookie QB's have done recently.

 

Yeah, that pass rush was coming right up the gut.

 

Oliver almost broke up a hand off. A fucking handoff,

 

Missing your top 4 receivers and 3 starting OL is a reason, not an excuse.

We all know Zach played like shit most of this year. Comparing yesterday's game to Herbert's is meaningless though.

 

right. but why does he runs backwards like an idiot?

cause he cant see the recievers

 

The average height of an NFL QB is 6'3. Wilson is 6'2. We really going to act like that one inch is some kind of debilitating achilles heel? Come on lol. This is quite the hill to die on.

Rodgers has had a fine career at the exact same height. The issue isn't the height, Wilson needs to get better at moving within the pocket instead of running backwards.

 

I'm watching the game right now... halfway thru the 2nd. quarter.

I've yet to see one snap where Zach has a pocket to work.

I just watched him get tackled on a friggin' hand-off...

 

It was, but this is something he needs to work on. The idea is to move up and to your right or left depending on where the guards and center are.

Wilson isn’t too short as there are plenty of other quarterbacks his height, but they do have to learn to navigate the pocket differently than guys who are 6’5” and such. That’s why guard play becomes so important in opening up throwing lanes.

 

The modern day NFL QB drifts backwards in the pocket, especially the athletic ones. It's an easy way for players with good arm talent and the ability to throw from weird angles to extend the play and find an open receiver. Problem is when the receivers are covered like white on rice or look like they're on a different planet (Looking at you Mims).

 

Idunno that I agree with this though. Rodgers and Mahomes do it because their arm talent is absolutely ridiculous. I don’t think Wilson has the arm talent (although plenty of arm for the NFL contrary to what I thought) to be drifting backwards. Darnold has a rocket and got into this habit and it’s a habit that has baited him into throwing a ton of picks.

 

D. He showed promise in very isolated spots throughout the season. However, his overall performance was poor. His backup, who never started an NFL game, came in and ended up in the HOF for Crissakes.

 

Earlier in the year Fields played on a Sunday night and had a few draft backwards sacks for big losses. Most of TGG said he wasn't ready to be an NFL QB. Yet when Zach does it, its forgiven.

 

Whether or not Wilson can do it/should do it is another debate. The drifting in the pocket is something becoming more common though, especially when younger QBs see Herbert/Mahomes/Rodgers doing it.

I'd like to see Wilson continue to show progress with staying in the pocket and "playing tall"; he just had no chance yesterday.

No. It's stupid as fuck to drift back 15 yards and run around in circles trying to juke defenders and make a play. I wouldn't even call that drifting at that point. There were a couple times yesterday he tried to reverse field like Barry Sanders and it was annoying; just throw the ball away in those situations.

Drifting back 3-4 yards to extend a play and get the ball out quickly isn't a problem in my eyes.

 

Those receivers were open though, I don’t care what their names are.

 

I don’t think that’s right. Most QBs stand in the pocket, set their feet, step up in the pocket and deliver precise passes. I don’t see too many of them running backwards 15 yards and chucking it up successfully

 

On that that 4th & 5 td pass to Cole... Zach had a nice pocket... stayed in it and drilled a laser to Cole... who was double covered btw.

I realize that's the game highlight... but it shows that Zach can get it done with some protection from his line. He got the ball off in 2.46 seconds... and the pocket was collapsing at that point.

Every other snap I just watched in the first half was clown show material.

I'm giving Zach a C-.... bordering on a D.
A number 2 pick has to perform better than what he's shown all season.

I think he'll continue to improve... but if he has to deal with shitty O-line play and crummy back-up receivers it's gonna be tough.

 

Yeah the OL was an absolute trainwreck yesterday. The worst it's been all season perhaps.

 

HUH??? Can you provide any proof of this claim?

Or maybe a QB running backwards is actually a "tell tale sign" that his OL blocks for shit.