• If there’s one statistical line that should actually get people excited not about how Zach Wilson played against the Chiefs, but how that projects going forward, it’d be this one: 26-of-34, 233 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs.
Those are the third-year quarterback’s numbers the Jets fell behind 17–0 against the Super Bowl champions late in the first quarter.
For the Jets’ staff, it was confirmation that Wilson, who hadn’t played very well to that point, was playing with a psychological resilience that he hadn’t during his first two years. Only adding to that is everything Wilson had to hear over the course of September, on how misguided the Jets were to stick with him after losses to the Cowboys and the Patriots.
And now, as I see it, there’s reason for guarded optimism that the Jets are going to keep taking steps with Wilson at quarterback—and I know how that’s going to sound to a lot of people who were, understandably, out on Wilson after his first two seasons. The first piece of this, to me, is where the offensive system is going. Aaron Rodgers, old school in a Peyton Manning kind of way, has long favored playing in an offense devoid of much motion or pre-snap movement. The reason for that is, simply, because he wants to be looking at the defense as he breaks the huddle and making his own adjustments, with a stagnant initial look giving him the chance to move teammates around. Wilson, conversely, has played—like most young quarterbacks—in systems heavy on motion and pre-snap movement. So the Jets are trying to get back to doing more of that, but it’s easier said than done after building an offense for Rodgers that had guys standing in place until otherwise directed by the quarterback. And it’s a process not just for the quarterback and the coaches, but also the other 10 guys in the huddle. The second piece is Wilson’s own development under offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and pass-game coordinator Todd Downing, who are now learning, piece by piece, what works and what doesn’t in game settings for Wilson. That, too, should improve over time, and already has—the Jets took a shot on the first play of the Chiefs game, which was a product of increased confidence in Wilson. And the work is not just with the schematic stuff, either. Fundamentally, Hackett and Downing have drilled down on overhauling Wilson’s footwork, and the belief is they’re already getting a more accurate quarterback as a result. It was, to the coaches, apparent on three throws from the pocket, with feet set, on the first drive of the second half—a back-shoulder throw on a seam route to Tyler Conklin, a slot fade to Jeremy Ruckert and a tight-window throw to Allen Lazard for the touchdown. And so, no, I’m not saying that the Jets have saved their season, or that we’ll see Wilson in the Pro Bowl, or that the quarterback will be a bridge to Rodgers’s making a miraculous recovery from Achilles surgery. But with the Jets’ schedule softening here a bit, I’m not going to be surprised if Wilson at least shows us why Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas didn’t panic when their young quarterback looked pretty bad at the end of September.
