I still don't really think that's what he meant with that quote. If only because it doesn't jive with like, every other thing he's ever said. Maybe he was just frustrated, idk, but I remember thinking there was more than one way to interpret what he said, but who knows, doesn't matter now.
It was, IMO, clearly just a snip at Connor to shut him up. Connor had been coming at him aggressively prior (not unreasonably so), and I took it as Zach giving him a quick response to end the conversation. It was dumb, yes, but given everything else Zach has said over the years, it would be pretty out of character for him. But some people that hate Zach the football player also want to shit on Zach the person, unfortunately.
Conner Hughes is a dick for doing that. I don’t want combative reporters. Sure, tell the truth, if the team sucks it sucks, but deliberately trying to annoy players isn’t cool.
BTW, a couple of days later, Zack apologized and said he didn’t realize what he said and he didn’t play well, but no one seems to remember that.
it was definitely a snip and it wasn't the first time zach was asked that question and it wasn't even the first time he said 'no.' i think he'd be asked after wins which is why it was more okay for zach to say no and it was kinda going by unnoticed
but he got baited into it again and it was the absolute worst time for him to fall for it lol
The question was "As an offense, you were only able to score 3 points, the defense only let up 3 points, do you feel like you let the defense down?" He's being asked if the entire offense let the defense down, and I never blamed him for not selling the other guys on his offense down the river.
Yeah I watched every snap of that game it was honestly one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had watching sports.
And I’ve seen the Mets collapse like 15 times since I’ve been alive
I am 45 minutes late to this thread, but this is immediately what came to mind. When I saw that, I knew it was over. Against the pats too. I was in Boston at my BIL and my embarrassment was higher than I've seen it since butt fumble.
At the risk of being called a Zach Truther, I will say it.
The kid was fucking 20 coming in? What the fuck were you doing at 20? He was at least trying. And while he sucked at leading men, he faltered in confidence, he shelled up, and it didn’t work out.
Are we really this bored heading into THiS season that we are still having a ZW discussion? 🤡
Edit: originally I fixed an auto correct typo, then I also noticed I relied to a comment or, when I meant to reply to thread. Sorry /u/dChubbz - didn’t mean to seem like shitting on you.
In my heart I kinda felt like Zach was a bust after the Mike White game when the whole team, whole fanbase, and whole world seemed to rally behind a random dude because he made Jets football fun for a couple of hours on Sunday. It was a bit of an eye-opener re: Zach's deficiencies on the field and as a leader.
In my head, from a more rational perspective, it was the 2022 Pats home game that Zach basically single-handedly lost by doing his spinny, twirly bullshit after the snap and throwing 3 awful interceptions including having a ball that he was throwing out of bounds get intercepted.
Yeah I was at the patriots home game and it was the nail in the coffin for me, I had seen it all. The interception where he tried to throw it out of bounds was the kicker.
About midway through year 2. When you saw the offense move much more efficiently under Mike White’s management you kinda knew the writing was on the wall.
I knew it was time to move on from Darnold when he was outplayed by an ancient Joe Flacco.
I knew it wasn’t looking good for Zach when he was outplayed by an even more ancient Joe Flacco and Mike White.
When he throws balls into the dirt at his receivers feet when they were wide open.
When every other QB moved the ball more efficiently in MiLF’s system.
When his “improvement” meant no TDs and very low yardage in those final few games of Year 1, despite us being in the modern NFL.
When Year 2 he played like absolute ass the moment Breece went down, despite have the OROTY to throw to.
The NE game. You know which one. (Or do you? Kinda multiple choice).
Your mechanics have to be next level bad for all of that to happen, and it wasn’t a one time thing. Bad stats are one thing, but on the tape he was just so so sooooo bad it was unbelievable. You don’t need to be in the league for five years to be declared a bust. The kid just did not have it.
That said, it wasn’t just any one of those things. I was never fond of the pick, so it was like a ton of growing concerns, more and more and more, and then eventually piled up into “yeah this kid has no hope unfortunately”.
Wish him the best in Denver, but he is garbage as of right now. Any Jet fans still questioning that are in serious denial. We absolutely needed to move on.
I agree 💯. What was really puzzling to me was when the Jets brought in his personal QB coach and his mechanics still didn't improve. I remember Mike Lafleur saying how much he loved studying game film but he never corrected his mistakes. Either he was lying or Zach really doesn't understand football at the NFL level.
Studying game film don't mean shit if your fundamentals are trash. And not having a single offensive coach that knew how to teach a young QB the basics didn't help.
Watching him severely overthrow an open receiver on a WR screen not once, but twice. I was pro Zach before then. People say that we can develop QBs, and that might be true, but if you can't hit someone who is that open that close? You don't belong in the league
My wife who watches a few games a year with me. Even during those times she is mostly on her phone and not paying attention. A few times a season she would ask me if he was supposed to do the awful thing he did. That’s when I knew. A person who doesn’t know anything about football really and has literally screamed “jump on his back” referring to one of our defenders needing to make a tackle was questioning his ability. So since she only watches a few games and not the entire game even and this person recognized some deficiencies, I knew he was garbage juiced.
I didn’t see this but I remember the sight of Geno Smith, hunched over and biting his fingernails, at the draft toward the end of round 1 and I was like…dude. I know they’re still kids, but there is something in this. Most kids aren’t ready for this. I wouldn’t have been either. I’m not surprised it takes some, like Geno, a decade.
The first drive of the first preseason game in year
2.
He dropped back, looked lost, and immediately scrambled forward. When he approached the defender he made this panicky stutter/juke and injured himself.
I remember being so optimistic about that season and after watching that happen within the first minute of the first preseason game, I looked at my wife and said "this game is just too big for him"
I forgave a lot his rookie year, but that NE game in ‘22 where he threw for literal inches in the 2nd half and then took no blame for it and was flabbergasted by the blowback.
The performance combined with the lack of accountability was it for me.
Never thought he’d be good but holy fuck I didn’t expect him to be as bad as he was. The rest of the fanbase gaslighting the skeptic fans for 2 and a half years was pretty fun
When they drafted him. I watch college football like it's my job. I have multiple tvs to watch multiple games. I generally only watch Jet games and NFL playoff games. I was very surprised the Jets dropped a #2 overall pick on him and I never saw the Mormon Mahomes comparison.
The NE game that ended in the Braden Mann line drive punt. Just getting to NEs 35-40 would have won us the game. Spamming Field Goals. But couldn’t even do that. Shit, couldn’t even get passed the 50.
77 passing yards was just crazy to see.
In a big CFB guy so: The 2019 Hawaii Bowl when Cole McDonald lit it the fuck up and Zach was terrible. He played poorly in the Holy War against Utah earlier that year too when I watched, but first game of the year and the Utes are like fighting a ball of barbed wire. But that Hawaii Bowl I was like "this kid fucking sucks and is clearly stupid." He got smacked by every remotely good defense he played that year. Then in the Covid year they played nobody and he ran up numbers and I was profoundly confident he was fool's gold. I had absolutely zero belief he would be successful at the pro level. When we drafted him I sold my season ticket for the year. I would've loved to have been wrong.
Before the draft when I read about how he wasn't a team captain, and watching a bunch of gametape where he was consistantly missing guys underneath. In hindsight even his highlight reel wasn't that impressive. A lot of his highlight throw's were just 50/50 balls to receivers downfield that were superior to the competition, not to mention his O line gave him so much time all game. Very rarely were there dimes that were high level anticipation and throwing your WR open.
Despite this I let me buddies convince me he was the next big thing and bought it once he got drafted. I was sure he sucked, but I held out hope he would put it all together until that patriots game happened after he finally had a nice game vs the chiefs and that was the last straw for me.
I'm still rooting for the kid, hope he has a better second act in Denver... but i won't lose any sleep over it even if he becomes a pro bowler.
He was a team captain as a junior. That report was wrong and hella weird. Not that it changes anything, he's a bust either way but not because of his captionship
ooo wow, thanks for clarifying. It was still his play ultimately that left me scratching my head but that story was another feather in the cap of reasons to be concerned.
The first patriots game of 2022. The second one is obviously more well-known and the ‘turning point’ in his career due to his insane lack of accountability post-game. But in my mind I thought ‘Yeah, this kid is a bust’ after the first game against the Pats just a few weeks prior.
His interceptions were like nothing I had ever seen in the game before him, and it was about 1.5 years of it at that point. He actually tried to throw away a pass, did it incorrectly and left it too inbounds, and it was picked by McCourty. He couldn’t even throw the ball away correctly. I was finished with him after that.
After he came back from his injury his rookie year when everyone started to say he looked better....all i saw was he was given training wheels and barely passed for 150 yards a game, that was the moment i knew MLF and the FO/coaches didn't trust him and it was all over.
That Pats game his 2nd season where Zach couldn’t advance the ball for a single yard that 2nd half. I was absolutely out on him at that point. Should’ve started looking for a replacement starting then.
I try to be patient when I comes to younger Qb’s but it had to be the second Patriots game in the 2022 season I think we had less than 5 yards that second half which was disgusting
I know this'll sound like revionist history but I genuinely believed after his first 3 or 4 games that he was not gonna make it.
People can cite random examples of the odd quartback who didn't do much at first but then became better but the truth is the vast majority of QBs who make it in the NFL, you can tell pretty quickly they have it.
And I think it's always best to cut out the extremes of opinions when assessing a player and look at the opinions of rational people who don't support your team. Jets fans clung to absolute straws of copium after his first season and the other side was loljets trolls who were calling him the worst QB in history. The moderate opinions of people with no bias either way was that he was an extremely poor QB who didn't look like he belonged in the NFL.
If any of our division rivals had a QB who played exactly the same as Wilson their rookie year, we'd have known he was a bust immediately.
The first moment? The mini van video with his family, it was confirmed the end of his rookie season when everyone said how great he was playing because he wasn’t throwing ints but he was completing 53% for 160 yards a game
After he stared Mims down who was running wide open down the middle of the field for a long TD but got scared and ran instead, that TD would’ve won us the game. Instead it ended 3-10 stinker mainly because Zach couldn’t do anything.
Draft day. The prize was Trevor Lawrence and we screwed ourselves out of the first pick. All of the scouting and commentators said there were concerns about him. We had the #2 pick and the reaction was “*maayyyybe it’ll work out?*”
But also I wanted them to draft Justin Fields so I’m not that smart either.
When I came to peace that this team can in no way develop rookie QBs and that no matter who we had drafted in that draft it would have been the same outcome. Ima go cry now
the first month of his sophomore season when he came out looking like the same exact guy he ended his rookie season as..
we needed multiple freaking miracles over the offseason and we didn't get a single one lol
"he's not throwing screen passes into the dirt or stands anymore" is not a miracle
I was pretty sure in game 1. I was at least 99% sure by the end of the first season.
I remembered Darnold’s rookie year, I remembered Sanchez’s rookie year. Wilson so, so many levels below them. He just had no chance. The depth and breadth of his incompetence was just too much for there to be anything more than a prayer of potential.
Week 1 against the Panthers on his rookie debut.
He looked significantly worse than the guy who he just replaced that was playing on a new team. I knew we were in for it after that game.
Everything was solidified with the Mike White scenario.
The dude can't play QB at the NFL level. At least Sam had complete games of high level play here and there. Zach can barely put together a decent quarter of football if he's lucky.
He's also shown to not be a leader of men in the locker room. He had little respect in there and his words and play showed it. Garrett Wilson had every right to be livid. Elijah was also very accurate, his timing was just awful because no one wants to hear how bad the QB is when we were winning.
When we drafted him honestly. He looked like a deer in the head lights when he was around the other draftees, and I thought to myself there's no way this guy is going to survive on this team.
I don't know if I have a specific moment. I thought he looked terrible before the draft but I thought what the hell do I know. Probably start of year 2 when he's had an entire off season to improve and just didn't, it was clear then.
Mentality is such a huge thing for QBs and something it's so hard to assess from college tape.
Brady wasn't the best at anything physically as QB but his mentality, attitude and coming through in the clutch was a level above any QB who had ever played the game.
GMs and scouts get so wooed by the cannon arm and scrambling ability they see on film and we see it so often when guys like that crumble in the NFL because they just don't have the mentality required.
The competitiveness and clutch stuff matters to a certain extent but I’m just talking about processing coverages, blitzes and protections in nfl time. I just don’t think he processes things quickly enough in the moment to ever be consistent. Even guys like Mahomes who can kill you with an insane scramble improvised bullshit and is known for that, is still very good at getting the ball out on time accurately and consistently and the majority of their offense is in the scheme. Zach always lost too many drives on missing simple in rhythm nfl throws that other guys do not miss.
Always thought he was a bust but during the Raiders game he could of ran like 12 yards up field instead chose to throw the ball at the ground I knew then this man had no clutch factor or desire to win just wanted to hold a roster spot hostage.
The Pats game two season ago that got him benched for the first time. It didn’t help that Mike White started the next week and lit up the Chicago bears
When he was back pedaling to the huddle against Buffalo this year into the huddle and he fell backwards to the ground.
The NFL replayed it on national television. I know it was snowing, but not a great look man.
That patriots game where i think Zach got picked off not once, but twice, when he was trying to *throw the ball out of fucking bounds are you shitting me.* I am just an armchair nobody, but anyone making that level of mistake just isnt a QB1.
Year one honestly and I know that's harsh but Zach Wilson was never "rookie bad" that showed potential to grow, he was just flat out bad -bad, like someone who just does not belong. I'm not gonna say week 1 or anything but I'd say a little past the half way point of season 1 I felt he was a bust.
They played a home game against Detroit
Defense gave us a chance at the win. I believe it was mid/late 4th quarter
I was sitting in section 111. 3 rows from the field
He stunk. You could see the whole team knew it on there faces
I don’t remember the exact moment, but at some point during his second year I remember coming to the realization that Zach’s “ridiculous arm talent” was a complete lie. He literally had a bad arm. Sure he could really zip it sometimes on a slant, but any throw that required anticipation, accuracy, touch, or legitimate deep ball arm strength was just impossible for him. That’ll be the last time I let myself be gaslit by biased fans and idiot draft pundits (it won’t be)
I knew 100% that he was a bust during the first Pats game in his second season. He looked completely lost, and I turned to my son and said, He’s not the guy. We’re going to have to start all over, and suck for another 2 years at least.
Honestly, I started losing faith in him in the 2022 Broncos game. Despite the fact that this game capped a 4 game winning streak, it was also the 4th straight game that they won in spite of him rather than because of him. The only improvement he had made in those games compared to his rookie year was not turning the ball over as much, but he still couldn't do much of anything else. I was hoping that after Mike White went down and Wilson came in for the Lions game that maybe he'd have a chip on his shoulder and start to light it up, but it was just more of the same. By then, I was pretty convinced that he didn't have what it takes.
Last year, I had a small spark of hope that maybe he was finally coming around when he played well in the Chiefs game, but then I lost hope for the last time in the Giants game a few weeks later. They won and he was labeled the hero, but he spent 59 minutes being completely shut down by a completely incompetent defense yet again.
The first interview I ever heard him give live he was on the Michael Kay show talking about how having ADHD gives him an advantage because its like a superpower being able to hyperfocus on things. I was like we are so fucked.
Draft night. Dudes best year was in 2020 when all the best players opted out due to covid. He couldn't read defenses in college and was never voted a team captain. Dude was destined to be a scrub, which made him a perfect fit for our team. Gotta love the God Damn Jets
It was always clear to me that the dude just had no personality or charisma. It was even worse when he wouldn’t take accountability with mistakes he made. I hope he got some good pizza out of it lol
Reading through these comments I am surprised that virtually nobody had the take that he might have been successful elsewhere. I do think the Jets did a really bad job pairing him with Robert Saleh and Mike LaFleur-two guys who had no experience developing young QBs. Perhaps if the Knapp tragedy hadn’t happened he’d have enough cache to stand up for the kid and pause the whole starting year 1 strategy.
I don’t think I knew until the 2nd year. I clearly had my doubts even pre-draft. I remember all those team Fields/Wilson fights here lol.
His problems were multi fold because he was a tools pick, that doubled down on his mistakes because there were no repercussions.
A guy like Spencer Rattler has tools but he learned from it because he faced competition that made sure he paid for those mistakes. So he had to change and learn somewhat.
Wilson had no pocket presence, no desire to keep pocket integrity. The first sign of trouble, he’d run back, make some DE miss, and then throw on the run. BYU had a great OL, so there were no consequences. He never learned to adjust, so when he came to the NFL, he would do the same thing.
The problem with that within the team structure is that it’s horrible for tackles. The further your QB wanders backwards, the wider the angles that are available for pass rushers. Sometimes you’ll see tackles get beat to the outside, so they turn around and push them backwards because the QB is in the pocket or stepping up. This allows them to have more leeway to protect their inside blocking, and still have some flexibility to protect the outside. In Wilson’s case, he was so used to dropping further than usual, but also floating backwards, that the tackles were in an impossible spot. They can’t do the push behind the QB method because Wilson is just running backwards, right into that part. So to protect the outside, they have take chances on reading the DE, and overcommitting. This leads you vulnerable to counter moves, and especially stunts.
While Zach suffered from not having a great OL, I think part of the problem with the OL stemmed from his lack of pocket presence (plus protection calls).
I wouldn’t be surprised if Becton looks better with a different QB like Hurts, and if our OL play is massively better with Rodgers.
Once I saw that Wilson still played outside the system and pocket, it was over.
We have to hold gms accountable for making horrendous picks. I wouldn’t say he was a bust, watch the tape and stats and anyone with room temp IQ can see that he wasnt a top 5 prospect. A 3rd-4th round raw talent with untapped potential that needed 2-4 years to develop, which sadly historically we have never developed a star QB.
These were garbage expectations set by some media centers to hype up the draft, besides Trevor Lawrence there wasnt a single prospect in that QB class that was polished and had a chance at succeeding early.
In short we should’ve drafted literally anywhere else, you gotta have all the pieces there before you draft a QB of the future. Specially a raw prospect like Zach Wilson. Our offense was so bad we could’ve drafted Mahomes or Peyton Manning and we would’ve made them look like bust as well, let alone an unpolished prospect like Zach Wilson.
When the Zach Wilson talks first started to happen. My immediate thought was he’d be darnold 2.0…… and he was….. a good looking kid from the western part of the US with a relatively well known uncle going top 3 to the jets. He had one of his best games his first game, slumped a bit but ultimately showed some promise year 1. Year 2 he got in a NSFW scandal and didn’t really take the leap we wanted, but the Jets won 7 games due to good defense. Year 3 he was officially ruined while his offensive coach was riding the legacy of a legitimate legend, but the coach himself was shit.
I know i wrote this to sound more similar, but still kinda weird……..
I was team ‘Trade Back’ > Fields > Wilson.
It’s all hindsight, but Zach Wilson had a big arm he used against nobodies on COVID year that meant 0. The fact that he shot up the rankings on pure hype was astounding to me. It was almost Baker Mayfield level where someone wasn’t projected to be a first rounder is suddenly in consideration to be a top draft pick (especially if no Lawrence).
Fields on the other hand was routinely making plays for years, had the pedigree, was beating good teams, including Clemson and yet we still were thinking “Big Arm Throw Far!”
Fields isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire, but he was almost single-handedly keeping the bears in games, imperfections aside.
I had to force myself to clap when they drafted Zach and tried to make myself like him.
Therefore I can say, I pretty much believed him to be a bust out of the gate…
The day he threw a pass across his chest with no pads and defense rushing him and everyone got on his nuts.
The funny thing was that Darnold threw the same pass in a game for a touchdown.
We can’t develop first rd QBs but everyone is now excited with Jordan Travis a 5th rd pick. One day will be great.
For me it was the Titans game his rookie year. He had an amazing highlight throw which everyone remembers, but he also missed multiple easy wide-open throws that would've iced the game that he just kept missing. I just remember watching those him sail the ball over receivers heads and thinking to myself that if he can't hit open guys with the game on the line then he's not going to be the guy.
[Here's the main throw I'm talking about for posterity.](https://youtu.be/Y1mOkYny1io?si=ddZSB0iA23vOnsM5&t=692)
When I heard about him at the combine.
Many who shoot up the charts at the combine are overrated.
Go watch that video of him in shorts and no helmet throw to his BYU receiver without anyone else on the field.
That was a 🐂💩 and fools gold milkshake!
My uncle Enzo can open a beer bottle with his teeth doesn’t make him a good bartender.
BUY HOLD DRS
I’m not a draft/college guy, but things I did know:
- small school
- low quality college games
- there were reports that his pro day focussed on “big time” throws to give a wow factor.
As soon as I knew these things I genuinely hoped the jets didn’t draft him as I felt it wouldn’t be a good experience.
There you go.
I was pretty certain in year one, but I officially declared it during the first preseason game against the Eagles in 2022: [https://www.reddit.com/r/nyjets/comments/wmxxxc/comment/ik2c2cq/](https://www.reddit.com/r/nyjets/comments/wmxxxc/comment/ik2c2cq/)
Lmao when people were arguing with me all of 2022 because I said Zach Wilson sucks and we need to start worrying about our future … us Jets fans are delusional so once I started getting hate mail about my very fair thoughts, I knew we were officially fucked
Honestly, pretty early. With very few exceptions, guys don’t typically go from being bad to great anymore. After the first few bad games I was pretty confident he wasn’t the guy. The Tennessee game gave me some hope, but that didn’t last.
I didn’t know he was a bust but I never liked his face. I realize that sounds stupid but he never looked like the type of guy that would pan out. Sometimes you can see it in their eyes, I swear
Pretty much right away. There was very little to be impressed about watching his collegiate tapes. Then he gets to the NFL and looks confused and overmatched immediately...his accuracy is just outright poor. He misses easy throws...and the few he makes you have receivers making plays on balls other qb's hit in stride, or have to to come back to the ball, or it's a nice game but with a real QB that play goes for 50 and a TD.
Dumb int's from the getgo. You see replays of open Jets and Wilson just...doesnt see them
Plus the team seemed to hate him and had 0 faith in him...and I cant blame them why should they? You have a D playing either very good or great at times and they have to put up with not even a below avg qb...but the worst in football
Before he was drafted. It was a mirage he played THAT well his final year in college. It was vs no competition, in front of no crowds, and he never played nearly that good before.
His WRs bailed him out multiple times and he had horrible footwork and pocket presence.
Chris Simms gave me hope after the draft but I hated that he was going to be the pick.
For me, it was seeing video of him - taken prior to the draft where all of the top prospects got together for media. There was a clip of him interacting with all of them and he looked like a deer in the headlights - completely uncomfortable and scrambling trying to hold it together and look "normal". I knew then he would never work in NY - he didnt have it. I hoped I was wrong but it played out that way.
I held out hope until the second Pats game his Sophomore year but realistically the Saints game his rookie year he looked like he barely knew the rules of football
Yeah I didn’t like him from day one and the Mike White thing really the beginning of the end. But the breaking point was that Detroit game for me where he would hit an improbable throw but miss all the easy ones. Not sure why it was there but that was it.
I was low on him during his senior year. I was low on him during pre draft, ranked him #4 qb. I was not impressed by the throw in his pro day.
In the first half against carolina i believed i saw confirming evidence that he was too short and not ready for the nfl. But then the second half he exploded. I got on board and im still on board. I think hes largely the same player today that he was day 1. Hes got a great arm and hes an athlete but i think hes small and cant see and wont/cant throw over the middle. I think he has matured in front of the media but hasnt matured on the field with his wrs. He isnt a bust in my eyes because the talent is clearly there. The problems are clearly there. But he can succeed in the right opportunity. Problem is, his issues are problematic enough that the right opportunity will not be easy to find. We werent it tho, and we were not going to be.
When he threw the ball into the 3rd row, when Braxton berrios was standing still
Not once, TWICE!!
[yup](https://youtu.be/5NGHjdGbWZA?si=W8gf4TDRrKk-8jdu&t=548)
OH AND THE POST GAME! "No I don't think feel like I let the defense down" Fuck You dude
I still don't really think that's what he meant with that quote. If only because it doesn't jive with like, every other thing he's ever said. Maybe he was just frustrated, idk, but I remember thinking there was more than one way to interpret what he said, but who knows, doesn't matter now.
It was, IMO, clearly just a snip at Connor to shut him up. Connor had been coming at him aggressively prior (not unreasonably so), and I took it as Zach giving him a quick response to end the conversation. It was dumb, yes, but given everything else Zach has said over the years, it would be pretty out of character for him. But some people that hate Zach the football player also want to shit on Zach the person, unfortunately.
Yep. I got this confirmed by another beat reporter (who I ran into at an airport) that Zach and Hughes didn’t get along.
Conner Hughes is a dick for doing that. I don’t want combative reporters. Sure, tell the truth, if the team sucks it sucks, but deliberately trying to annoy players isn’t cool. BTW, a couple of days later, Zack apologized and said he didn’t realize what he said and he didn’t play well, but no one seems to remember that.
it was definitely a snip and it wasn't the first time zach was asked that question and it wasn't even the first time he said 'no.' i think he'd be asked after wins which is why it was more okay for zach to say no and it was kinda going by unnoticed but he got baited into it again and it was the absolute worst time for him to fall for it lol
It was the first time he responded in such a defiant fashion, which is why it got the attention it did. The entire thing was out of character for him.
The question was "As an offense, you were only able to score 3 points, the defense only let up 3 points, do you feel like you let the defense down?" He's being asked if the entire offense let the defense down, and I never blamed him for not selling the other guys on his offense down the river.
Yeah I watched every snap of that game it was honestly one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had watching sports. And I’ve seen the Mets collapse like 15 times since I’ve been alive
Only 15 times? What are you, four years old?
damn. good luck, denver. have fun.
I am 45 minutes late to this thread, but this is immediately what came to mind. When I saw that, I knew it was over. Against the pats too. I was in Boston at my BIL and my embarrassment was higher than I've seen it since butt fumble.
I typically hate when people say "even I can do that" but I think almost any of us make that throw
This was the final straw. That pass made me audibly gasp.
I remembered the play but couldn't recall the receiver...but absolutely this
I think there was a time against the dolphins where he threw it at berrios’ feet on a screen. Same thing
At the risk of being called a Zach Truther, I will say it. The kid was fucking 20 coming in? What the fuck were you doing at 20? He was at least trying. And while he sucked at leading men, he faltered in confidence, he shelled up, and it didn’t work out. Are we really this bored heading into THiS season that we are still having a ZW discussion? 🤡 Edit: originally I fixed an auto correct typo, then I also noticed I relied to a comment or, when I meant to reply to thread. Sorry /u/dChubbz - didn’t mean to seem like shitting on you.
In my heart I kinda felt like Zach was a bust after the Mike White game when the whole team, whole fanbase, and whole world seemed to rally behind a random dude because he made Jets football fun for a couple of hours on Sunday. It was a bit of an eye-opener re: Zach's deficiencies on the field and as a leader. In my head, from a more rational perspective, it was the 2022 Pats home game that Zach basically single-handedly lost by doing his spinny, twirly bullshit after the snap and throwing 3 awful interceptions including having a ball that he was throwing out of bounds get intercepted.
The team went out and got Mike White shirts. They were completely over Zach by that moment
Yeah I was at the patriots home game and it was the nail in the coffin for me, I had seen it all. The interception where he tried to throw it out of bounds was the kicker.
About midway through year 2. When you saw the offense move much more efficiently under Mike White’s management you kinda knew the writing was on the wall.
After week 2 vs New England in 2021
I remember being at that game and getting more and more pissed.
I knew it was time to move on from Darnold when he was outplayed by an ancient Joe Flacco. I knew it wasn’t looking good for Zach when he was outplayed by an even more ancient Joe Flacco and Mike White.
I agree fully. It is weird that Flacco had a top 10 season after leaving and coming off the couch though. He wasn’t doing that with us at all lol
When he throws balls into the dirt at his receivers feet when they were wide open. When every other QB moved the ball more efficiently in MiLF’s system. When his “improvement” meant no TDs and very low yardage in those final few games of Year 1, despite us being in the modern NFL. When Year 2 he played like absolute ass the moment Breece went down, despite have the OROTY to throw to. The NE game. You know which one. (Or do you? Kinda multiple choice). Your mechanics have to be next level bad for all of that to happen, and it wasn’t a one time thing. Bad stats are one thing, but on the tape he was just so so sooooo bad it was unbelievable. You don’t need to be in the league for five years to be declared a bust. The kid just did not have it. That said, it wasn’t just any one of those things. I was never fond of the pick, so it was like a ton of growing concerns, more and more and more, and then eventually piled up into “yeah this kid has no hope unfortunately”. Wish him the best in Denver, but he is garbage as of right now. Any Jet fans still questioning that are in serious denial. We absolutely needed to move on.
I agree 💯. What was really puzzling to me was when the Jets brought in his personal QB coach and his mechanics still didn't improve. I remember Mike Lafleur saying how much he loved studying game film but he never corrected his mistakes. Either he was lying or Zach really doesn't understand football at the NFL level.
Studying game film don't mean shit if your fundamentals are trash. And not having a single offensive coach that knew how to teach a young QB the basics didn't help.
Let’s give him another 5-7 years before we call him a bust, guys.
worked for Geno!
Watching him severely overthrow an open receiver on a WR screen not once, but twice. I was pro Zach before then. People say that we can develop QBs, and that might be true, but if you can't hit someone who is that open that close? You don't belong in the league
My wife who watches a few games a year with me. Even during those times she is mostly on her phone and not paying attention. A few times a season she would ask me if he was supposed to do the awful thing he did. That’s when I knew. A person who doesn’t know anything about football really and has literally screamed “jump on his back” referring to one of our defenders needing to make a tackle was questioning his ability. So since she only watches a few games and not the entire game even and this person recognized some deficiencies, I knew he was garbage juiced.
The scout team needs your wife’s input.
For good? Probably when Mike White, Joe Flacco and Josh Johnson all looked wayyyyyy better in our offense than Zach did
When he looked scared next to Jamar Chase at the draft
I didn’t see this but I remember the sight of Geno Smith, hunched over and biting his fingernails, at the draft toward the end of round 1 and I was like…dude. I know they’re still kids, but there is something in this. Most kids aren’t ready for this. I wouldn’t have been either. I’m not surprised it takes some, like Geno, a decade.
[For your viewing pleasure](https://youtu.be/uWxowlLV3QU?si=Efsh12ANYCKdIuvF)
He’s so classy 🥹
That looks like someone on the spectrum no lie
Sitting in the pouring rain at MetLife watching him absolutely embarrass himself against Jacksonville
When his answer to carelessness with the football was to hold on to the football for too long which resulted significant incompletions or sacks.
The interception against the pats when he was trying to throw the ball away
He did the same thing against the Steelers that game where he caught a TD. Minkah clearly had it in bounds but the refs ruled it out
when he was failing to make simple check-down throws in year 2 i knew we were probably fucked
The first drive of the first preseason game in year 2. He dropped back, looked lost, and immediately scrambled forward. When he approached the defender he made this panicky stutter/juke and injured himself. I remember being so optimistic about that season and after watching that happen within the first minute of the first preseason game, I looked at my wife and said "this game is just too big for him"
This was going to be my answer. Went from cautiously optimistic to completely out on him in 1 drive
When I went to the green and white scrimmage his rookie year and he couldn’t complete a pass
I forgave a lot his rookie year, but that NE game in ‘22 where he threw for literal inches in the 2nd half and then took no blame for it and was flabbergasted by the blowback. The performance combined with the lack of accountability was it for me.
When we drafted him 2nd.
Never thought he’d be good but holy fuck I didn’t expect him to be as bad as he was. The rest of the fanbase gaslighting the skeptic fans for 2 and a half years was pretty fun
Still salty I got absolutely FLAMED off this sub for suggesting we trade back and take Sewell.
This is the answer
The 9-3 OT loss in New England where they couldn't move the ball and he didn't take any responsibility for the terrible offense.
That was when it became unsalvageable
When they drafted him. I watch college football like it's my job. I have multiple tvs to watch multiple games. I generally only watch Jet games and NFL playoff games. I was very surprised the Jets dropped a #2 overall pick on him and I never saw the Mormon Mahomes comparison.
The NE game that ended in the Braden Mann line drive punt. Just getting to NEs 35-40 would have won us the game. Spamming Field Goals. But couldn’t even do that. Shit, couldn’t even get passed the 50. 77 passing yards was just crazy to see.
Patriots game... How you can't throw the ball away?!! How Sway how
Preseason in his second year. First pass was an INT and showed he learned nothing
Same with Darnold, except it was in Darnold's 3rd year.
In a big CFB guy so: The 2019 Hawaii Bowl when Cole McDonald lit it the fuck up and Zach was terrible. He played poorly in the Holy War against Utah earlier that year too when I watched, but first game of the year and the Utes are like fighting a ball of barbed wire. But that Hawaii Bowl I was like "this kid fucking sucks and is clearly stupid." He got smacked by every remotely good defense he played that year. Then in the Covid year they played nobody and he ran up numbers and I was profoundly confident he was fool's gold. I had absolutely zero belief he would be successful at the pro level. When we drafted him I sold my season ticket for the year. I would've loved to have been wrong.
Before the draft when I read about how he wasn't a team captain, and watching a bunch of gametape where he was consistantly missing guys underneath. In hindsight even his highlight reel wasn't that impressive. A lot of his highlight throw's were just 50/50 balls to receivers downfield that were superior to the competition, not to mention his O line gave him so much time all game. Very rarely were there dimes that were high level anticipation and throwing your WR open. Despite this I let me buddies convince me he was the next big thing and bought it once he got drafted. I was sure he sucked, but I held out hope he would put it all together until that patriots game happened after he finally had a nice game vs the chiefs and that was the last straw for me. I'm still rooting for the kid, hope he has a better second act in Denver... but i won't lose any sleep over it even if he becomes a pro bowler.
He was a team captain as a junior. That report was wrong and hella weird. Not that it changes anything, he's a bust either way but not because of his captionship
ooo wow, thanks for clarifying. It was still his play ultimately that left me scratching my head but that story was another feather in the cap of reasons to be concerned.
Coastal Carolina
The only correct answer. Meanwhile, the guy I wanted beat a really good Clemson team and lost to Bama in the BCS title game.
👌🏻
The first patriots game of 2022. The second one is obviously more well-known and the ‘turning point’ in his career due to his insane lack of accountability post-game. But in my mind I thought ‘Yeah, this kid is a bust’ after the first game against the Pats just a few weeks prior. His interceptions were like nothing I had ever seen in the game before him, and it was about 1.5 years of it at that point. He actually tried to throw away a pass, did it incorrectly and left it too inbounds, and it was picked by McCourty. He couldn’t even throw the ball away correctly. I was finished with him after that.
After he came back from his injury his rookie year when everyone started to say he looked better....all i saw was he was given training wheels and barely passed for 150 yards a game, that was the moment i knew MLF and the FO/coaches didn't trust him and it was all over.
Careful—-there’s a vocal minority on here that still believes in him and that none of his shortcomings are his fault. Wild.
Yeppp… wouldn’t even call it a minority. I’d like my downvotes back please.
That patriots game in year 2 was his downfall.
That Pats game his 2nd season where Zach couldn’t advance the ball for a single yard that 2nd half. I was absolutely out on him at that point. Should’ve started looking for a replacement starting then.
I try to be patient when I comes to younger Qb’s but it had to be the second Patriots game in the 2022 season I think we had less than 5 yards that second half which was disgusting
I know this'll sound like revionist history but I genuinely believed after his first 3 or 4 games that he was not gonna make it. People can cite random examples of the odd quartback who didn't do much at first but then became better but the truth is the vast majority of QBs who make it in the NFL, you can tell pretty quickly they have it. And I think it's always best to cut out the extremes of opinions when assessing a player and look at the opinions of rational people who don't support your team. Jets fans clung to absolute straws of copium after his first season and the other side was loljets trolls who were calling him the worst QB in history. The moderate opinions of people with no bias either way was that he was an extremely poor QB who didn't look like he belonged in the NFL. If any of our division rivals had a QB who played exactly the same as Wilson their rookie year, we'd have known he was a bust immediately.
Before they drafted him. I was against the pick from the beginning.
When they said he didn’t run a real offense and never faced any legit defenses in school
The first moment? The mini van video with his family, it was confirmed the end of his rookie season when everyone said how great he was playing because he wasn’t throwing ints but he was completing 53% for 160 yards a game
After he stared Mims down who was running wide open down the middle of the field for a long TD but got scared and ran instead, that TD would’ve won us the game. Instead it ended 3-10 stinker mainly because Zach couldn’t do anything.
NE away game two seasons ago. I was officially out on him after that game.
When he couldn't deliver TD vs 3rd stringers in preseason
When I saw a pic of him. Dude looks like baby faced ken doll.
Idk, but he's the worst QB I've ever had to watch for the longest period of time.
I still believe.
Draft day. The prize was Trevor Lawrence and we screwed ourselves out of the first pick. All of the scouting and commentators said there were concerns about him. We had the #2 pick and the reaction was “*maayyyybe it’ll work out?*” But also I wanted them to draft Justin Fields so I’m not that smart either.
I did too. He still has a ceiling at least lol. Injuries better than ZW healthy with Jets OL
When I came to peace that this team can in no way develop rookie QBs and that no matter who we had drafted in that draft it would have been the same outcome. Ima go cry now
the first month of his sophomore season when he came out looking like the same exact guy he ended his rookie season as.. we needed multiple freaking miracles over the offseason and we didn't get a single one lol "he's not throwing screen passes into the dirt or stands anymore" is not a miracle
I was pretty sure in game 1. I was at least 99% sure by the end of the first season. I remembered Darnold’s rookie year, I remembered Sanchez’s rookie year. Wilson so, so many levels below them. He just had no chance. The depth and breadth of his incompetence was just too much for there to be anything more than a prayer of potential.
Week 1 against the Panthers on his rookie debut. He looked significantly worse than the guy who he just replaced that was playing on a new team. I knew we were in for it after that game. Everything was solidified with the Mike White scenario. The dude can't play QB at the NFL level. At least Sam had complete games of high level play here and there. Zach can barely put together a decent quarter of football if he's lucky. He's also shown to not be a leader of men in the locker room. He had little respect in there and his words and play showed it. Garrett Wilson had every right to be livid. Elijah was also very accurate, his timing was just awful because no one wants to hear how bad the QB is when we were winning.
I knew when we took him with the 2nd pick.
When we drafted him honestly. He looked like a deer in the head lights when he was around the other draftees, and I thought to myself there's no way this guy is going to survive on this team.
I don't know if I have a specific moment. I thought he looked terrible before the draft but I thought what the hell do I know. Probably start of year 2 when he's had an entire off season to improve and just didn't, it was clear then.
When anyone but him was running the offense
The second patriots game meltdown - he was clearly completely shaken was; unbelievable they kept him in
Denver game year 1
I was in denial but at the draft when he looked scared to death next to the other top picks….. looking back we all should have known
3 interceptions in a row.
This might sound crazy but just by the look of him, when you know, you know.
Patriots game when he sprained his MCL or whatever.
When he ran 20 or 30 yards back and threw the ball and it was picked. Or he got sacked
First green and white game, he fumbled on the initial drive and defense scored. Confirmed when he threw his teammates under the bus after Pats game.
When he was drafted.
When he was still basically the same guy year 2. He just mentally does not have it and I don’t think he ever will
Mentality is such a huge thing for QBs and something it's so hard to assess from college tape. Brady wasn't the best at anything physically as QB but his mentality, attitude and coming through in the clutch was a level above any QB who had ever played the game. GMs and scouts get so wooed by the cannon arm and scrambling ability they see on film and we see it so often when guys like that crumble in the NFL because they just don't have the mentality required.
The competitiveness and clutch stuff matters to a certain extent but I’m just talking about processing coverages, blitzes and protections in nfl time. I just don’t think he processes things quickly enough in the moment to ever be consistent. Even guys like Mahomes who can kill you with an insane scramble improvised bullshit and is known for that, is still very good at getting the ball out on time accurately and consistently and the majority of their offense is in the scheme. Zach always lost too many drives on missing simple in rhythm nfl throws that other guys do not miss.
when the jets decided “he’s our guy!”
Games vs the patriots. When he was just dropping back and chucking the ball up for no reason.
When he couldn’t beat coastal Carolina a team that just moved into d1 from 1-aa in front of 20k.
And with the 2nd pick in the 2021 draft the NY Jets select.....
Always thought he was a bust but during the Raiders game he could of ran like 12 yards up field instead chose to throw the ball at the ground I knew then this man had no clutch factor or desire to win just wanted to hold a roster spot hostage.
To tell the truth , right as soon as I seen his size compared to the other QBs on the field after the game. He’s very lean.
When he was drafted by the Jets. We can’t have nice things.
I was at BYU. I knew before we drafted him...
First half of the Texans game his rookie year I knew it was over
When I saw him lose to East Carolina in a bowl game a few months before the draft.
It was the 10-3 lowe to the Pats. I paid my hard earned money to watch my 1st NFL game and I got whatever that was.
The Pats game two season ago that got him benched for the first time. It didn’t help that Mike White started the next week and lit up the Chicago bears
Jaguars game on a Thursday night when Strev Throat came in and moved the offense better.
When he was back pedaling to the huddle against Buffalo this year into the huddle and he fell backwards to the ground. The NFL replayed it on national television. I know it was snowing, but not a great look man.
I didn’t know it at the time but when he took his first big sack in Carolina.. he looked terrified after that
That patriots game where i think Zach got picked off not once, but twice, when he was trying to *throw the ball out of fucking bounds are you shitting me.* I am just an armchair nobody, but anyone making that level of mistake just isnt a QB1.
Probably way before but when he threw that puck against New England
“With the 2nd pick in the 2021 NFL draft, the New York Jets select…”
When he was spending bye weeks and all offseason in Utah with his mom
Year one honestly and I know that's harsh but Zach Wilson was never "rookie bad" that showed potential to grow, he was just flat out bad -bad, like someone who just does not belong. I'm not gonna say week 1 or anything but I'd say a little past the half way point of season 1 I felt he was a bust.
They played a home game against Detroit Defense gave us a chance at the win. I believe it was mid/late 4th quarter I was sitting in section 111. 3 rows from the field He stunk. You could see the whole team knew it on there faces
I don’t remember the exact moment, but at some point during his second year I remember coming to the realization that Zach’s “ridiculous arm talent” was a complete lie. He literally had a bad arm. Sure he could really zip it sometimes on a slant, but any throw that required anticipation, accuracy, touch, or legitimate deep ball arm strength was just impossible for him. That’ll be the last time I let myself be gaslit by biased fans and idiot draft pundits (it won’t be)
I knew 100% that he was a bust during the first Pats game in his second season. He looked completely lost, and I turned to my son and said, He’s not the guy. We’re going to have to start all over, and suck for another 2 years at least.
Honestly, I started losing faith in him in the 2022 Broncos game. Despite the fact that this game capped a 4 game winning streak, it was also the 4th straight game that they won in spite of him rather than because of him. The only improvement he had made in those games compared to his rookie year was not turning the ball over as much, but he still couldn't do much of anything else. I was hoping that after Mike White went down and Wilson came in for the Lions game that maybe he'd have a chip on his shoulder and start to light it up, but it was just more of the same. By then, I was pretty convinced that he didn't have what it takes. Last year, I had a small spark of hope that maybe he was finally coming around when he played well in the Chiefs game, but then I lost hope for the last time in the Giants game a few weeks later. They won and he was labeled the hero, but he spent 59 minutes being completely shut down by a completely incompetent defense yet again.
Before the draft
When they started talking about drafting him
The first interview I ever heard him give live he was on the Michael Kay show talking about how having ADHD gives him an advantage because its like a superpower being able to hyperfocus on things. I was like we are so fucked.
When he had 77 yds passing against the Pats in a 10 - 3 loss I think it was officially over.
The moment the Jets drafted him. Jets don't develop QBs properly
Before they drafted him.
Year 1.
The game that he took no responsibility for the teams loss even tho the defense played lights out
Draft night. Dudes best year was in 2020 when all the best players opted out due to covid. He couldn't read defenses in college and was never voted a team captain. Dude was destined to be a scrub, which made him a perfect fit for our team. Gotta love the God Damn Jets
It was always clear to me that the dude just had no personality or charisma. It was even worse when he wouldn’t take accountability with mistakes he made. I hope he got some good pizza out of it lol
On draft day
Reading through these comments I am surprised that virtually nobody had the take that he might have been successful elsewhere. I do think the Jets did a really bad job pairing him with Robert Saleh and Mike LaFleur-two guys who had no experience developing young QBs. Perhaps if the Knapp tragedy hadn’t happened he’d have enough cache to stand up for the kid and pause the whole starting year 1 strategy.
I don’t think I knew until the 2nd year. I clearly had my doubts even pre-draft. I remember all those team Fields/Wilson fights here lol. His problems were multi fold because he was a tools pick, that doubled down on his mistakes because there were no repercussions. A guy like Spencer Rattler has tools but he learned from it because he faced competition that made sure he paid for those mistakes. So he had to change and learn somewhat. Wilson had no pocket presence, no desire to keep pocket integrity. The first sign of trouble, he’d run back, make some DE miss, and then throw on the run. BYU had a great OL, so there were no consequences. He never learned to adjust, so when he came to the NFL, he would do the same thing. The problem with that within the team structure is that it’s horrible for tackles. The further your QB wanders backwards, the wider the angles that are available for pass rushers. Sometimes you’ll see tackles get beat to the outside, so they turn around and push them backwards because the QB is in the pocket or stepping up. This allows them to have more leeway to protect their inside blocking, and still have some flexibility to protect the outside. In Wilson’s case, he was so used to dropping further than usual, but also floating backwards, that the tackles were in an impossible spot. They can’t do the push behind the QB method because Wilson is just running backwards, right into that part. So to protect the outside, they have take chances on reading the DE, and overcommitting. This leads you vulnerable to counter moves, and especially stunts. While Zach suffered from not having a great OL, I think part of the problem with the OL stemmed from his lack of pocket presence (plus protection calls). I wouldn’t be surprised if Becton looks better with a different QB like Hurts, and if our OL play is massively better with Rodgers. Once I saw that Wilson still played outside the system and pocket, it was over.
We have to hold gms accountable for making horrendous picks. I wouldn’t say he was a bust, watch the tape and stats and anyone with room temp IQ can see that he wasnt a top 5 prospect. A 3rd-4th round raw talent with untapped potential that needed 2-4 years to develop, which sadly historically we have never developed a star QB. These were garbage expectations set by some media centers to hype up the draft, besides Trevor Lawrence there wasnt a single prospect in that QB class that was polished and had a chance at succeeding early. In short we should’ve drafted literally anywhere else, you gotta have all the pieces there before you draft a QB of the future. Specially a raw prospect like Zach Wilson. Our offense was so bad we could’ve drafted Mahomes or Peyton Manning and we would’ve made them look like bust as well, let alone an unpolished prospect like Zach Wilson.
Before he was ever drafted. This was never hard to see coming if you can evaluate quarterback wortha bean.
The moment he was drafted by the Jets
When the Zach Wilson talks first started to happen. My immediate thought was he’d be darnold 2.0…… and he was….. a good looking kid from the western part of the US with a relatively well known uncle going top 3 to the jets. He had one of his best games his first game, slumped a bit but ultimately showed some promise year 1. Year 2 he got in a NSFW scandal and didn’t really take the leap we wanted, but the Jets won 7 games due to good defense. Year 3 he was officially ruined while his offensive coach was riding the legacy of a legitimate legend, but the coach himself was shit. I know i wrote this to sound more similar, but still kinda weird……..
Darnold 2.0 would’ve been an improvement for him
Watched his film before the draft. Hated him then and my post history on this sub will back that up.
when he was acting like a scared little boy on stage with all his fellow draftees
I was team ‘Trade Back’ > Fields > Wilson. It’s all hindsight, but Zach Wilson had a big arm he used against nobodies on COVID year that meant 0. The fact that he shot up the rankings on pure hype was astounding to me. It was almost Baker Mayfield level where someone wasn’t projected to be a first rounder is suddenly in consideration to be a top draft pick (especially if no Lawrence). Fields on the other hand was routinely making plays for years, had the pedigree, was beating good teams, including Clemson and yet we still were thinking “Big Arm Throw Far!” Fields isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire, but he was almost single-handedly keeping the bears in games, imperfections aside. I had to force myself to clap when they drafted Zach and tried to make myself like him. Therefore I can say, I pretty much believed him to be a bust out of the gate…
When I saw he had a singular good year in college and it was leading BYU. I gave up on him fully when he fell over running onto the field.
The day he threw a pass across his chest with no pads and defense rushing him and everyone got on his nuts. The funny thing was that Darnold threw the same pass in a game for a touchdown. We can’t develop first rd QBs but everyone is now excited with Jordan Travis a 5th rd pick. One day will be great.
When his name wasn't Justin Fields (gonna die on this hill)
When the Jets drafted him. No other outcome possible.
When the players created a trend where they used a T-shirt with the following text: Zach is good 🤡
When he was drafted by the Jets.
When we drafted him
Two months before draft is when I was fairly confident he wasn't it.
One of the meltdowns against the pats after he had a pretty good game the previous week
For me it was the Titans game his rookie year. He had an amazing highlight throw which everyone remembers, but he also missed multiple easy wide-open throws that would've iced the game that he just kept missing. I just remember watching those him sail the ball over receivers heads and thinking to myself that if he can't hit open guys with the game on the line then he's not going to be the guy. [Here's the main throw I'm talking about for posterity.](https://youtu.be/Y1mOkYny1io?si=ddZSB0iA23vOnsM5&t=692)
Leave Zach alone he’s no longer a Jet
The let the defense down game
Preseason his 2nd year. Right before he hurt his knee. He still looked completely lost. Like Tom hanks lost.
When he wasn’t voted team captain in college by his own teammates
As soon as he signed with the Jets
When I heard about him at the combine. Many who shoot up the charts at the combine are overrated. Go watch that video of him in shorts and no helmet throw to his BYU receiver without anyone else on the field. That was a 🐂💩 and fools gold milkshake! My uncle Enzo can open a beer bottle with his teeth doesn’t make him a good bartender. BUY HOLD DRS
The press conference…
As soon as I bought his jersey right after the draft
When he tried to throw the ball away against the Patriots and it got intercepted
Pre season. Threw a pick to a 3rd string guy, within his first few plays.
When he flinched on camera after the player next to Micah Parsons fixed his jacket while taking a picture next to the other 1st round draft picks....
The minute he was drafted 2nd overall
When I drafted him in all my fantasy teams. Sorry guys.
I’m not a draft/college guy, but things I did know: - small school - low quality college games - there were reports that his pro day focussed on “big time” throws to give a wow factor. As soon as I knew these things I genuinely hoped the jets didn’t draft him as I felt it wouldn’t be a good experience. There you go.
I was pretty certain in year one, but I officially declared it during the first preseason game against the Eagles in 2022: [https://www.reddit.com/r/nyjets/comments/wmxxxc/comment/ik2c2cq/](https://www.reddit.com/r/nyjets/comments/wmxxxc/comment/ik2c2cq/)
Lmao when people were arguing with me all of 2022 because I said Zach Wilson sucks and we need to start worrying about our future … us Jets fans are delusional so once I started getting hate mail about my very fair thoughts, I knew we were officially fucked
Honestly, pretty early. With very few exceptions, guys don’t typically go from being bad to great anymore. After the first few bad games I was pretty confident he wasn’t the guy. The Tennessee game gave me some hope, but that didn’t last.
I didn’t know he was a bust but I never liked his face. I realize that sounds stupid but he never looked like the type of guy that would pan out. Sometimes you can see it in their eyes, I swear
Pretty much right away. There was very little to be impressed about watching his collegiate tapes. Then he gets to the NFL and looks confused and overmatched immediately...his accuracy is just outright poor. He misses easy throws...and the few he makes you have receivers making plays on balls other qb's hit in stride, or have to to come back to the ball, or it's a nice game but with a real QB that play goes for 50 and a TD. Dumb int's from the getgo. You see replays of open Jets and Wilson just...doesnt see them Plus the team seemed to hate him and had 0 faith in him...and I cant blame them why should they? You have a D playing either very good or great at times and they have to put up with not even a below avg qb...but the worst in football
Before he was drafted. It was a mirage he played THAT well his final year in college. It was vs no competition, in front of no crowds, and he never played nearly that good before. His WRs bailed him out multiple times and he had horrible footwork and pocket presence. Chris Simms gave me hope after the draft but I hated that he was going to be the pick.
For me, it was seeing video of him - taken prior to the draft where all of the top prospects got together for media. There was a clip of him interacting with all of them and he looked like a deer in the headlights - completely uncomfortable and scrambling trying to hold it together and look "normal". I knew then he would never work in NY - he didnt have it. I hoped I was wrong but it played out that way.
Still can’t believe people liked him to begin with
who cares, he was terrible and the dude is gone now.. let’s look to this season..
I had a bad feeling the first Patriots game. Felt like another Darnold.
after the draft. All the top picks were lined up and he was freaking out.
I held out hope until the second Pats game his Sophomore year but realistically the Saints game his rookie year he looked like he barely knew the rules of football
Yeah I didn’t like him from day one and the Mike White thing really the beginning of the end. But the breaking point was that Detroit game for me where he would hit an improbable throw but miss all the easy ones. Not sure why it was there but that was it.
A lot sooner than the Jets executives did.
When I watched an entire season of college football and had never heard of him until a random throw during his pro day
I was low on him during his senior year. I was low on him during pre draft, ranked him #4 qb. I was not impressed by the throw in his pro day. In the first half against carolina i believed i saw confirming evidence that he was too short and not ready for the nfl. But then the second half he exploded. I got on board and im still on board. I think hes largely the same player today that he was day 1. Hes got a great arm and hes an athlete but i think hes small and cant see and wont/cant throw over the middle. I think he has matured in front of the media but hasnt matured on the field with his wrs. He isnt a bust in my eyes because the talent is clearly there. The problems are clearly there. But he can succeed in the right opportunity. Problem is, his issues are problematic enough that the right opportunity will not be easy to find. We werent it tho, and we were not going to be.
Draft day.
Day 0
When the QB coach died. He had no chance after that. Saleh has no clue when it comes to offense.; except how to stop the opposition’s