Wednesday Film Review: Zach Wilson

I've avoided doing a review of Zach Wilson for several reasons, but today is the day I focus on the Jets QB.

Good morning Jets fans. Happy Wednesday and welcome to another edition of TJW. Christmas is just around the corner, so hopefully, you’ve all finished your shopping and you’re currently doing a botch job on the wrapping. I’ve wrapped presents so badly and so consistently for so long, I’m no longer allowed near the wrapping paper…which means my plan worked to perfection, it only took around a decade.

Anyway, let’s get into the Wednesday film review on Zach Wilson.

Before I start this I feel I need to put a disclaimer that if there are critiques of Wilson (spoiler there are), this is based on what he’s showing right now and not what he could potentially show in the future. You can only analyze the game that’s in front of you, I don’t know if Zach Wilson is going to be a bust, a star, or somewhere in between. Nobody does.

There is a lot of sensitivity around Zach, and that’s understandable considering what’s at stake. If people use examples from one game or even a season to predict his failure, they’re foolish. If people use examples from one game or even a season to predict his success, they’re foolish.

I like Zach, I still believe in Zach, but I won’t blindly applaud and be a cheerleader, it’s just not in my nature. So hopefully people take this in the way it’s intended, not to jump on Zach and say he’s a bust because he’s not seeing things in his rookie year, more what he needs to do to take that step to the next level, and I firmly believe he will take that step to the next level. It’s not a surprise a rookie is struggling, especially with so many offensive players out, that’s normal.

Should we get into this and have a look at what happened.

General observations from coaching film

• Zach’s short accuracy was noticeably better. He looked more comfortable, footwork was more refined and he was just letting it go rather than thinking about it.

• Wilson was also playing within the system really well in the first half, MLF schemed people open and he was hitting the right person at the right time. May seem small but it was an improvement on what we’ve seen.

• On at least 50% of the sacks, he could do absolutely nothing with the ball, there were some breakdowns in communication which allowed near-instant pressure. Looked as though the pressure got into his head a little, footwork got sloppy after a couple of hits.

• Contrary to what people were saying on Sunday, his receivers did get separation and Zach just missed them. It wasn’t on every snap, but you’re not always going to get that against a good defense, but they weren’t to blame for the issues.

• Zach’s confidence dwindled as the game went on. Miami made adjustments at the half to take his first-read away and that made him uncomfortable. The Jets didn’t adjust back and the play-calling in the 2nd half wasn’t able to scheme people open.

• There aren’t enough hot reads in place for Zach. When you have dodgy protection, which you’re going to have with your 3rd string LT, you have to put more hot reads into the game flow, help your QB out. On multiple occasions, Miami got a free rusher and nobody was available.

Those are my quick-hitting thoughts after watching the tape. But let’s get into some examples of what I was talking about above.

First, let’s just focus on a few of the good players that Zach put on tape on Sunday. Some of these plays were landing in the dirt over the last few weeks, so seeing these land in the hands of receivers is good progress. It’s well schemed and Zach delivers the ball to the right person and on time, allowing them to pick up valuable YAC.

A very similar play to the Braxton Berrios one last week which ended in the dirt. This looks more natural for Zach and he delivers the ball with plenty of juice which allows MC the second he needs to find the gap to squirt through. Again, at this point, you’re looking for stepping stones, and these are stepping stones.

This is a really good throw from Zach, he delivers this into Cole’s hands and on time. Cole does have a defender on him, but if you expect Zach to make certain plays, you absolutely expect NFL receivers to make plays like this. This is 100% a drop on the receiver but a really nice job from Wilson getting the ball out and on time before the pressure got home.

Here’s a situation where Zach can’t do anything about the sack. the player coming off the edge gets to him so quickly he can’t even get the ball out to his first read. This will stick in the mind of a rookie QB and it’s just poor all around . The Jets weren’t expecting that blitz off the edge so there was nobody in to block it, it’s coming from Zach’s blindside so he doesn’t stand much of a chance. This happened a couple of times, Zach genuinely didn’t stand a chance with at least 3 of the sacks.

If the drop above is a play that Cole could like back, this is a play that Zach would want back. The Dolphins give the Jets a great opportunity to break a big one here, there are 3 Jets receivers wide open, two streaking down the middle and if he hits them it’s a touchdown, worst-case scenario get this one to Braxton who comes open underneath. Instead, Zach bails on the pocket way too early, I’ve frozen the play below at a point where the ball has to be coming out of the hands.

This is a play where in year two, you expect and hope that’s a touchdown. When those plays start landing, those stats start climbing. This is an example of where Zach can improve, this isn’t bagging on Zach this is just pointing out where he can improve to take that next step, which is what every Jets fan wants.

This is another play that I think gets completed next year, he’s under some duress from the right side, but Mims comes free across the middle, this is NFL open. He does well to move up in the pocket, that awareness you love to see, but there is an opportunity here to get the ball into Mims hands with some grass in front of him.

I didn’t think the ball placement was a huge issue with Zach on Sunday in comparison to what we’ve seen recently. But there were still a couple where he got away with it, this ball is well behind the receiver, it’s so far behind the receiver it’s actually too far behind the trailing defender, so at least that’s something and it didn’t end in an interception.

A couple of weeks ago Zach came out and said he wasn’t trusting his eyes. Here’s one where he has Crowder sit down in the zone, that’s a simple read and throw but for some reason he hitches and is forced to escape the pressure. I’m actually putting this one here not as a criticism, I’m putting it here because I feel as though these are the steps we’ll see next year, I’m confident we’ll see him complete that pass in year two, because those are the kind of throws rookies tend to delay on but make after seeing repetition.

Here’s another good example of Zach’s short accuracy improving, but also his play fake is improving as well, he gets the defensive end to bite down on this one which opens up the lane for him to roll and complete to Kroft. Earlier in the season, he wasn’t getting close enough to the RB to sell the fake, this is an area of improvement which has opened up these play-action bootleg plays. Earlier this season we said Zach needed to improve off PA, and that’s exactly what he’s doing towards the end of the year.

Here’s a play that showcases both sides of Zach’s game. First the negative, when he gets the ball back from Berrios he has a wide-open Jamison Crowder for a huge gain, I mean if this comes out on time there’s a chance that Crowder can score on this play. If he doesn’t have the grip then there is an easier completion to the TE straight away, but for some reason, Zach pulls it down. Now the positive, Zach really showcased his elusiveness on Sunday on more than one play and here he shows how difficult he is to bring down in the open field, I didn’t run the play to the end on here but he manages to avoid 3 defenders and still deliver the ball for a gain, that’s a positive. He shouldn’t have had to do that, but his ability to do that avoids a negative play here.

Bonus Clip

I couldn’t do a film review without featuring the pick-6 from Brandin Echols. Anticipation, break, close and completion. He reads it all the way. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to vote for Echols as the NFL rookie of the week. He’s currently winning with a 73% share of the vote, but every vote counts.

https://www.nfl.com/voting/rookies/

That’s it for today. I know hinting at any negative for Zach is dangerous territory, so I’m going to go into hiding for 24 hours and I’ll see you back here for Thursday’s newsletter.