On Monday, the Zach Wilson era officially ended in New York as the Jets traded the quarterback to the Denver Broncos in exchange for a 2024 late-round pick swap.
It’s quite the fall for the No. 2 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft who was hailed as the heir apparent for the Jets in their quest to find stability at the quarterback position.
Wilson was supposed to be a backup to Aaron Rodgers last season. However, Rodgers’ season-ending injury in the first game of the season thrust the BYU product back into the starting spot. He failed to deliver on the hype that came with him and was eventually benched.
Wilson’s tenure in New York will be remembered as a huge disappointment, but as ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky puts it, that’s entirely on the Jets organization.
"This is the Jets fault. They failed Zach Wilson." 👀
—@danorlovsky7 pic.twitter.com/zuzG2q2cDV
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) April 22, 2024
“This is the Jets’ fault. They failed Zach Wilson,” said Orlovsky on NFL Live. ” There has to be so much to be learned by other teams. Specific to the Jets, Zach Wilson had flaws coming out of college. They immediately put him on the field. When you take players that have specifically mechanical flaws and you put them on the field, you set them up for failure.
“And Zach didn’t do himself any favors. The two things that were Zach’s issues coming out of school were, he was, in his lower half, a problem. And mechanically not consistent. That’s never been fixed. Partly because of having to play right away and then he panicked with the football, and that has never been fixed, partly because he had to play right away.
“So, there is some onus on the player but in many ways, this is a Jets failure.”
It was clear that Wilson’s time with the Jets was over at some point soon. Hopefully, for him, he’s able to put the pieces together in Denver or wherever he ends up playing next season.
[NFL Live]
