Zach Wilson Benched

Edition #270

Good morning!

We don’t always win, but it’s never boring following the Jets. Well, unless you had to watch an Adam Gase press conference that is. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all, I hope you all have a great day.

The Jets made a huge call yesterday announcing that Zach Wilson will not only lose his starting spot but will also be inactive for the game against Chicago. Basically, Wilson has been put into a professional timeout by the Jets and Robert Saleh.

We’re going to get into it all right here, but Robert Saleh showed his control with that decision and he also sent a message to the locker room…we’re in the business of wins.

Before we get into the QB situation, let’s just take a moment to get through some quick throws.

Sauce Gardner was limited at practice today with a calf injury, but never fear, it sounds precautionary and Coach Saleh didn’t seem concerned that he was in any danger of missing the game at the weekend.

Kenny Yeboah was missing from practice yesterday and Saleh said that he was day-to-day. Rankins was also missing and Saleh said it didn’t look good for this weekend’s game which was to be expected.

Quincy Williams was limited, Nate Herbig was limited but Saleh said he felt good about his chance to play. Corey Davis was a full participant and he’s expected back this week, they’re also opening up the practice window for George Fant.

I didn’t think it would happen, but in benching Zach Wilson Coach Saleh sent a clear message to the rest of the locker room, we’re in the business of wins and wins alone.

Before we get into the details of the benching and what it really means, I wanted to take a moment to just appreciate the way this was handled.

It’s very hard to bench a quarterback that your regime drafted after just 20 games, especially when that player was drafted #2 overall. There is an arrogance in football where certain GMs and coaches will run something into the floor rather than admit they were wrong.

The Jets aren’t saying they made a mistake in drafting Zach but they are willing to call a spade a spade, and right now Zach Wilson is hurting the New York Jets, and that’s unacceptable to the coaches. Refreshing isn’t it?

Saleh also called White on Monday to give him the news, offering him extra time to mentally prepare for the game. Not that he will care one bit or ever see this, but my personal respect for Saleh has gone through the roof over the last 24 hours.

What did Robert Saleh say?

“We’re going to roll with Mike White”, when asked why Saleh responded, “It’s the same things we spoke about when we elevated him to the second spot…We know he’s fully capable of starting in this league, he’s won games for us, and we just want to give him an opportunity”.

When he talks about winning games, he’s referring to the Halloween performance against the Bengals last year where White threw 3 TDs on his way to completing 82.22% of his passes in a game where the Jets would upset the favoured Bengals 34-31. White was asked to do a lot that game because the defence struggled to keep Cincy at Bay, he’ll hopefully be asked to do a lot less this weekend.

When asked about what it means for Zach, Saleh said “The big thing I want to address on this one, just want to make sure you guys all listen to this, please. Zach’s career here is not over. I know that’s going to be the narrative and I know that’s what everybody wants to shout out but that’s not even close to the case. The intent, the full intent is to make sure Zach gets back on the football field at some point this year. When that is? I’m going to make that decision and I’m gonna take it day by day”

Mike White is going to be given a chance to ensure that Zach doesn’t see the field again this year. They’re good friends off the field but this is also a business, and this is a huge opportunity for White, if he plays well and if the Jets keep winning, then under no circumstances should the Jets go back to Wilson this year. If it really is about winning, then White just needs to offer the Jets average QB play, the reason Zach is being benched is that he couldn’t offer average QB play. White doesn’t need to be Mahomes out there. The best thing for Zach is to sit and watch, and here’s why.

Saleh continued “The biggest thing with Zach and the same things we’ve talked about is the young man needs a reset. His decision-making has been fine, and his practice habits and all that stuff have been fine, but there are some basic fundamental things that have gotten out of whack for him. And this is just an opportunity for him to sit back, focus on those things, and find a way to reconnect to all those different things we fell in love with during the draft process, and it’s something I feel like he’s going to be able to do. I think to ask him to do all those things while preparing for a game is unfair”

Obviously, the coach knows more than the fans, but I’d have to argue with the decision-making portion of that comment. His decision-making against New England led him to multiple interceptions and his decision-making against the Patriots on Sunday led him to choose the wrong options. Resetting isn’t something that happens in a week or two, stripping back everything and going back to the fundamentals of your mechanics will take months to really show signs of progress. That’s why I said the best thing for Zach is for him to sit the rest of the way and aggressively attack the reset and rebuild of his game this off-season.

“Maybe there was a little irritation in the moment but I don’t think there’s a grudge, I don’t think there’s hate, I don’t think there are lingering effects. To answer your question is had no baring on this decision” - Saleh’s response when asking about Zach’s handling of the locker room. I absolutely believe him when he said that didn’t come into his decision because had he been performing and made a comment that was equally as arrogant or disrespectful, then he’d still be the QB. But his entire response was based around players not “playing any less hard if they don’t like their teammate” and that just struck me as a strange thing to include. I’m probably reading too much into that but there you go.

Does this give the Jets the best chance to win?

Saleh was asked directly if this move gave the Jets the best chance to win and he responded with: “Yeah, the biggest thing in just evaluating over the last few days since the game. This isn’t just a Zach thing. Our receivers need to get better with alignments, route running and consistency. Our run game needs to be more consistent, our o-line needs to be better in protection. As coaches, we need to be better in regard to scheme and play-calling. We all got to be better. We’re not going to become the greatest show on turf because we’re changing up one player.”

During this same segment, Saleh spoke about taking bullets at the podium and I can confidently say he took a bullet for his QB there. He’s absolutely right in everything he said, but anyone with even one eye can see that the main issue with the Jets’ offence right now is the play at QB. Zach has not been getting it done and while they won’t become the greatest show on turf with Mike White in charge, they’re making the change because they expect it to be better with White than it is with Zach. If they didn’t they wouldn’t be making this change. Let’s just remind ourselves of some Zach stats this season:

(Based on a minimum of 50 dropbacks, 43 qualified QBs)

Completion Percentage: 55.3% (43/43)
Yards per Attempt: 6.8 (26/43)
Time to Throw: 3.09 (40/43)
NFL Passer Rating: 72.5 (40/43)
Turnover Worthy Pass Percentage: 5.7% (41/43)
Completion % When Pressured: 26.7% (39/39)
Interceptions when pressured: 5 (38/39)

I’ve seen a lot of people say that the timing is awful because we’re about to go into a better stretch of games against defenses that are easier to play against. I don’t disagree with that statement but at the same time, Zach isn’t struggling because of the defenses he’s facing necessarily. The Patriot’s defense didn’t force Zach to miss a wide-open Mims, it didn’t force him to miss Braxton. His QBR has been above 55 once all season. Zach is a mechanical mess right now and that’s why he needs a reset, the opposing team shouldn’t come into the equation and I don’t think it did when Saleh made this call.

What can we expect from Mike White?

If you’re expecting Mike to come in here and put up video game numbers you’re going to be disappointed. People wanted Zach to move the football, make the simple reads and play at an average to slightly below average level, if that’s your expectation for the #2 overall pick in the draft, it should be the same for a 5th-round pick from 2018. He’s been a career backup for a reason, but there are such things as late bloomers…see Geno Smith, although he was more highly thought of coming out of West Virginia obviously.

In essence, this is what you’re getting with Mike White. He’ll move the ball because his accuracy is significantly better than Zach’s, but he will also force balls into windows where they have no right being forced into. That Buffalo game was rough, but the Bengals game was a good one and the Indianapolis game was shaping up well before he got injured. He’s not perfect by any stretch, but if he’s throwing over 40 times on Sunday something has gone wrong. In an ideal world he’s throwing around that 30 mark, maybe even less. If he can complete around 65% of his passes, the Jets should beat the Bears.

Corey Davis spoke to the media about Mike White saying: “He’s confident, poised, he’s pretty accurate with the ball … he knows how to run the operation and run it pretty smooth and get guys where they need to be. I’m excited, man. I’m excited to see what he’s going to do.”

There’s one stat that I love about Mike White and that’s 56.1%, that’s his completion percentage under pressure over the course of the 2021 season or 45 dropbacks. For all QBs who had pressure on at least 20 dropbacks last year, that 56.1% ranks as the 5th best mark. His 3.9% turnover-worthy play percentage when pressured was 16/52 of qualified quarterbacks, that’s right around Joe Burrow (3.5%), Tom Brady (3.7%) and Kyler Murray (3.9%). I’m obviously not saying he’s as good as those guys, what I am saying is that when people just throw out a statement like “He threw 4 picks against Buffalo, he’s not a good QB” it doesn’t really tell the whole story and doesn’t do justice to the things he does well.

"Any time you step into the huddle as a quarterback, and you have grown men looking at you, it means something to me. Whether we 0-16 or if we're fighting for a playoff spot, it means something to me." - Mike White

What’s next for the Jets QB situation?

This is perhaps the biggest question facing the Jets. Let’s be perfectly honest, Saleh said he expects to get Zach back on the field this year, but if he does have to go back to fundamentals and it really looks as though he does, that doesn’t get resolved in 1-2 weeks, that’s an off-season process. Zach shouldn’t see the field again this year, if he needs to reset then give him the time to reset. Benching him only to rush him back in two weeks does nothing for the Jets in 2022, and it does nothing for the Jets moving forward.

I still hope that Zach breaks out and becomes the QB that Joe Douglas envisioned when he drafted him #2 overall, but the statistics and odds are against him. The likely scenario is that the Jets will bring in tougher competition for Zach in the off-season, whether that’s someone like Gardner Minshew or Jimmy G, depending on the cap situation there is no way the Jets feel comfortable going into the 2023 season with Zach, White and someone like Flacco.

Would it surprise me to see the Jets take a QB early in the 2023 draft? Absolutely. Would it surprise me to see them take a flyer on a mid-round prospect? No, it really wouldn’t. I can’t seem to find the quote now, but I remember reading a quote from a former GM years ago (I want to say Ron Wolf but can’t remember) that stated that you pick a QB every year until you’re sure you have one.

I haven’t looked at the QB class in detail yet, but if someone like Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker falls, do you see that as a low-risk, high-reward type move in the 4th round? How about K.J. Jefferson over in Arkansas? Or Malik Cunningham at Louisville? One guy I do like is Grayson McCall in Coastal Carolina.

It’s never boring to be a Jets fan.

On Tuesday the New York Jets partnered with Food Bank for New York City to serve meals at Food Bank’s community kitchen and pantry in West Harlem to give back to residents and families in need ahead of the holiday. Additionally, the Jets will donate $15,000 to Food Bank for New York City.

Jets players Quincy Williams, Solomon Thomas, Braden Mann, Thomas Hennessy, Tanzel Smart and Adam Pankey unloaded turkeys and fixings from the Food Banks truck and served a grab-and-go Thanksgiving meal.

Just a reminder that 50% of all contributions made to TJW this week will be going to the Food Bank for New York and although it won’t be a lot, $1 = $1 meal according to the Food Bank website so every little counts.