On Zach Wilson and the pain of quarterback development

During the summer, many praised the New York Jets for their handling of rookie quarterback Zach Wilson. The organization put in place an offensive system that in some ways mirrored the offense he ran last season at BYU under new offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. The Jets, perhaps looking at the comfortable pockets Wilson threw from last year, added to their offensive line in both free agency and the draft, when they traded up in the first round to pair Mekhi Becton with Alijah Vera-Tucker. Then they added talent at the skill positions, such as Corey Davis in free agency and Elijah Moore and Michael Carter in the draft.

The reward? Starting the season 0-3 and becoming a meme thanks to a 12-year old on Tik Tok.

So how has it gone wrong early for Wilson and the Jets, and how can the young quarterback pull himself out of this early season rut? Is the answer simply, as it sometimes is with young quarterbacks, time and patience?

Yes, but for more than a few reasons.

We can start with what has happened up front. Despite the investments in the offensive line, in an attempt to replicate the cavernous pockets Wilson threw from in Provo, that group has not gelled the way LaFleur and head coach Robert Saleh probably hoped. In his own analysis of the struggling Jets offense, Seth Galina of Pro Football Focus highlighted the woeful protection numbers from the Jets so far this season:

Just what is the impact of that pressure? For young quarterbacks — and NFL rookies in general — one of the biggest adjustments they face is the speed of the professional game. For Wilson, who played behind an offensive line that was one of the best in college football in 2020, this is an even steeper adjustment. When you go from having all day to throw from clean pockets, giving you the opportunity to work through multiple options on a play and pick the cleanest one, to being under pressure early in the down, that wears on your mind.

The result? You start artificially speeding up your process in the pocket. You cut drops short, you scan through reads quicker – if you make them at all – and you hurry things up back there to avoid getting drilled yet one more time.

Take this interception against Denver on Sunday, and pay particular attention to his footwork on the drop:

Wilson, executing a three-step drop from the shotgun formation, really speeds up his footwork on this because he wants to get the ball out of his hands as quickly as possible. The problem? By cutting his drop short, and staring down Davis on the out route, he puts himself ahead of the concept. So after finishing his abbreviated drop, he is staring at his receiver, waiting for Davis to get into his break so he can pull the trigger.

And the whole time, safety Justin Simmons is just reading his eyes.

While that play illustrates the problem with the feet in these situations, let’s now take a look at how this impacts the mind. On this play from Sunday, Wilson has a pair of in-breaking routes to choose from, an inside dig from Moore and an outside dig from Davis. The quarterback will read this from inside-out, looking first at Moore and then, hopefully, to Davis:

But he never gets to Davis, and throws a near-interception in the general direction of Moore.

Watching this play, you can understand Wilson’s inclination to speed things up. He has pressure off the right edge in the form of Von Miller and trust me, if that man was coming at you intent on causing you physical harm, you’d speed things up too.

Unfortunately, the job of NFL quarterback tasks you with making the right decision even with the Von Millers of the world looking to put you in the hospital. So again, Wilson stares down his first read and throws this into the teeth of the defense with an underneath hole defender just reading his eyes.

And he misses Davis, who is a better option as he is open on the second dig route to the outside.

In terms of helping Wilson, one might turn to the common answers of “more play-action” and using the boot-action designs we expected to see from this offense during the summer. Unfortunately, game scripts, as well as some play-calling decisions, have not trended in this direction. As Galina noted:

Something we did see against Denver was the use of the weakside halfback option route, to try and get running backs isolated against the Broncos’ linebackers and give Wilson some easy reads and throws. Unfortunately, even those were a bit of an adventure. On this 2nd and 5 play, with the Jets already trailing by ten early in the second quarter, the rookie passer looks for rookie back Michael Carter, isolated on a linebacker with the ability to break inside or outside based on the defender’s leverage:

Wilson, with the pocket collapsing all around him, still manages to put this throw on Carter from a non-existent base. His feet are seemingly off the ground when he lets this pass go.

It could have gone for a big gain, but Carter failed to pull it in, and the Jets faced third down.

Later in the first half, Wilson looked to connect with RB Ty Johnson on the same design, only to the left side. As you watch this incompletion, pay attention yet again to Wilson’s feet:

Wilson again speeds up the drop, and when he finally lets the pass go, here is his throwing base:

This is a throw that Wilson is trying to put up the hash, but his left foot is stepping in the general direction of Boulder.

With the sped-up process in the pocket impacting his feet, we are starting to see it impact him mechanically, leading to misses on throws like this one.

So, what is the fix?

Time. Literally and figuratively.

Wilson is a rookie quarterback, and three games are not nearly enough of a timeframe for him to adjust to life as an NFL passer, adjust to the speed of the professional game, and get used to playing behind an offensive line that right not is not protecting him like the wall he played behind at BYU.

As my friend Brian Phillips from Pats Pulpit likes to say, if only I had a nickel for every time I used the phrase “quarterback development is not linear.” This was always going to be a process, and a multi-year one at that, in New York. Especially with Becton going down early like he did, depriving Wilson of his blindside protector.

But, he does need more time in the pocket as well. We are seeing the results of pressure on a young quarterback, creeping into his mind and making him do things that he should not be doing. Forcing him to cut drops short, thereby throwing off the timing of concepts. Forcing him to cut progressions short, missing opportunities in the passing game. And we are seeing it impact him from a mechanical standpoint as well.

Life as an NFL quarterback is not easy. I maintain that it is the hardest job in sports. But there are going to be brighter days ahead for Wilson in this offense, he just needs time. Again, literally and figuratively. As Caesar said, “It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.” Wilson and the Jets are going through some growing pains right now. But there is light at the end of the tunnel, even as he endures this pain. Wilson just needs to avoid the trappings of pressure in the pocket — real as well as perceived — and he will be a better quarterback in the end.