Zack Wilson's 5th year....yay or nay?

For me, there's no way to make a coherent argument either way, at this point.
Of course, those that "know" Zach can't develop, will always imagine they "know" the truth.
And the rest of us that know how Zach's first two seasons played out, have no idea if he has it in him, or not.

To me, it was clear that Zach was given little chance to succeed, when Saleh refused to replace Greg Knapp after he was killed. They drafted a raw young, talented kid, for specific reasons. Then tried to change him, rather than develop him... to play a role he wasn't ready to play.
So, it's "Take 2" for Zach. Still 23, he's still young enough to develop, if it's in him, or if he hasn't been so damaged by how he was handled since being drafted.
He has some experienced coaches now, & his childhood idol willing to mentor him.

As bad as Zach often played, he has seen & experienced the NFL under fire.
It's now up to him, to use his experience, & the new environment he's in (coaching & mentorship), to change his future.
And, if a light turns on for Zach, those around him will know (the coaches & players who've been on the team), even if he doesn't play a regular season snap.
Whether or not that's enough to move the team to pickup his option, who knows, but I'd be happy just knowing those around him see growth.
.

 

I think a better question would be... what would it take for you to pick up Zach's 5th year?

 

Lmao, avalanche!!! A kings ransom for sure!

 

Is this you Zach?

 

I don’t think he has much of a chance to show us anything this year, unless AR gets injured, so I doubt we will pick up his option. However, sitting for a year or two is probably the best thing for him now so it’s a bit of a strange situation.

On a related note, why on earth was it decided that a team has to decide after the third year? It would make so much more sense to decide after the fourth.

 

Very simple, yet almost impossible to imagine.

1. Zach looks intensely interested in what's happening on the field while he watches.

2. When pressed into action, he remains poised, scans the middle of the field, and steps into his throws, most of which hit targets between the hashmarks.

3. He hits 9/10 screen passes like he's pressing a button.

4. He escapes the pocket only when -- and also a moment before -- the viewer at home screams "Run!"

If he's never pressed into action, forget it.

 

Sorry. I thought it had to be decided after the fourth year.

 

I don’t think that he has shown enough to warrant his option being picked up.

 

Well said.

 

Too soon to tell, and it doesn't have to be decided now. Yes, his first two years were a big disappointment, but he was completely mishandled by the Jets. To his credit, he kept his mouth shut, and tried to change his game to fit a system that didn't play to his strengths (which they should've known when they drafted him). Let's see what he does with and experienced and successful OC and a system that presumably will be more to his abilities, and after watching and learning from his idol Rodgers. If he still struggles then the decision will make itself.

 

"Zach was given little chance to succeed".

The latest excuse. If he needed that level of help he shouldn't have been a top 5 pick. Compared to what Sam had to face Zach was in paradise.

Now were talking about Zach, version 2. Even though nothing in version 1 indicated he will succeed.

 

I consider myself a pretty big Zach Wilson supporter, but it will be difficult for the Jets to pick up his 5th year option. Assuming all he does is sit behind Rodgers for 2 years, it will be tough to evaluate. Pre-season games will be important though. He struggled against the Eagles and then got injured. It would be nice to see him play better in 2023. If he continues to struggle, the Jets will have to look for a QB2 in 2023. Forget about his 2025 option. If he handles being a back-up well, and the team sees true improvement, maybe the option will be picked up.

Rodgers could also get injured, forcing Zach into action. How he plays would determine if picking up his option makes sense or not. It will literally play itself out.

 

There has been nothing to indicate that we should pick up his option…in fact, there’s more indication that he is a complete bust than there is that he can succeed.

I fully agree he could have been handled better, no doubt. He had a shit OL first year with no real talent at the skill positions, at least not consistent talent. The problem is, his supporting cast got much better year 2 and he showed absolutely no progress.

So much like the narrative that he improved his first year after the injury (which stats show was absolutely NOT the case other than cutting down on picks), this new narrative that most of the blame falls on the team and the coaching is just a fantasy story that we hear to give us a glimmer of hope that, no no, he really IS the guy…it’s just MLF that screwed him over.

I call bullshit. He was…wait for it…BOTTOM OF THE LEAGUE bad. Not just below average. He was literally the worst. We were winning in spite of him, not because of him. It was the classic “the team carried him” to those 5 wins…I don’t think he broke 225 yards in any of those games, did he? And I don’t think he broke 60% completion rate in half of them either, and probably more than that…I just haven’t checked lately.

So to put it in perspective, his stat line holds up pretty closely to those of players like Sanchez, Jamarcus Russell, Josh Rosen, etc. I guess Sanchez was the best of that bunch, and another classic case of the team carrying the QB…and that’s what we saw first half of last year with Zach…and as soon as the team got hurt and we lost Hall and half the OL, he tanked hard.

Does the kid have physical skills? Sure…strong arm. But dude can’t see the field and has absolutely no touch on the ball…everything is 100mph, and if the receiver is only 5 yards away, well damn it who cares.

He’s a very good “thrower of the football”, but he’s been a shit QB.

I hope, as the best outcome would be that the light comes on for him, that maybe sitting behind his idol and a new OC maybe he can develop. We’ll see.

So while I would love to see it happen, he’s shown us nothing that indicates it’s probable…

 

The only way we should pick up Zach's option is if Rodgers gets hurt, Zach steps in, and he plays at a high level for several games and leads us to the playoffs. Otherwise forget it.

 

I do not see how this could happen now and it is premature? However, as others have stated, IF he gets in games because AR is hurt, and show he has improved (you know - no dirt balls, not High and wide, stepping up in the pocket rather then run backwards, etc.) then he has a shot at getting the option picked up. BUT, I do not see how they can aquately evaluate him now or even in preseason because of the qiuality of opponents.

Personally, I would pull him aside and say exactly what HC said about becton's LT comments,i.e., earn the r=trust back and start or...

 

You’re timing is off; the option would need to be picked up before ARs second season.

The question of “what would they need to see” would need to be seen this season.

NYG didn’t pick up Danny Dimes’ 5tu year option but managed to keep him on the team, same with Love.

Your last sentence is interesting, where do you see ZW moving on to? What team is going to temp him away? Do you see a strong market for a guy who wasn’t good his 1st 2 years and not play his 2nd 2? Will there be a bidding war?

 

This is way premature, but I guess its the offseason so we need stuff to talk about. Right now, I'd have to say (as many others have) that it seems highly unlikely that they'll exercise their 5th year option on Zack. Zack was a really maddening player to watch because (i) you'd see easy garden variety passes regularly missed (bad mechanics), (ii) you'd see him routinely pass on open underneath guys, and (iii) you'd see him hold the ball way too long. On the other hand, he doesn't really look like most NFL QB busts we've seen. He doesn't throw tons of interceptions and he could go a number of games without one, but he seemed to be a little slow to read the defense. I also think that they didn't really set him up for success - he had a poor Oline both years (last year mostly due to injury) and a young OC without experience with young QBs. I don't think the book is yet written on Zack and he could turn into a good QB.

Answering the big question - he'd have to show some serious progress for them to even consider exercising the option. Highly questionnable that they could see that without Zack having some real playing time (likely an AR injury). That being said, even if they don't exercise the option, Zack might buy into being ARs backup for a few years with the hope that he could start after AR retires. He seems genuinely excited to have AR on the team (or at least his mother was). So, I could see him agreeing to a deal after his 4th year, even if AR stays. Remember that the Jets are so stacked right now with young talent that becoming QB of the jets after AR retires might be a pretty good gig.

 

If he takes a massive paycut? He is definitely not a $20M QB right now. Nobody in this league will view him as that either.

 

If everything goes according to plan Zach never sees the light of day as the Jets starting QB in the next couple years. As someone or a few posters have mentioned already Zach should see a lot of playing time in pre season and hopefully some garbage time in blow out games. So will see how he progresses. I don't think Zach's 5th year option gets picked up IMO.
'