No Matter Which Wilson Shows Up in Miami, The Jets Will Have To Draft Another QB
Football fans tuning into Saturday’s afternoon slate expecting to see the cream of the league’s crop were treated to four backup quarterbacks. In the Vikings case, they were down to their QB4 Nick Mullens, who last won a game in 2020.
He didn’t win on Saturday either, but Cincinnati’s Jake Browning, a virtual unknown since going undrafted in 2019 (he actually spent his first two pro seasons in the. Vikings organization), did for his third victory in six starts since Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury. All told, about half the NFL has been forced into using an understudy to win big games, which has to be close to a record.
That list includes the Jets Zach Wilson, who is coming off perhaps the best game of his career in leading Gang Green to a 30-6 home victory over Houston last Sunday. After going 16 quarters without a Wilson-led touchdown drive, New York put up all 30 points in the second half to push Wilson’s record as a starter to 4-6 this season, which, on its face, isn’t awful.
The problem, unfortunately, is that Wilson isn’t your typical QB2. Drafted No. 2 overall in 2021, Wilson’s—and the Jets’—expectations have always been held at lofty heights, especially given his approximately $9.6 million salary cap hit this season. That his 2023 demotion was due to April’s acquisition of Aaron Rodgers hasn’t lessened the ire from Jets fans during the lengthy period when the team was stuck in the mud offensively. When the future Hall-of-Fame QB ruptured his Achilles on the fourth snap of the opener, it put Wilson back under the microscope where his flaws (processing, accuracy, et al) were all too glaring. Since the QB is usually the face of the franchise, those warts were never going to be ignored.
Now that Wilson has had one good game (on top of a terrific third quarter in Week 4 versus Kansas City), everyone is eager to see if he can stack consecutive solid outings on Sunday in Miami. Not just so the Jets (5-8) can avoid official elimination from the playoff tournament so that Rodgers might return for the Week 16 tilt against Washington (he has been medically cleared, according to multiple reports), but to also add further data points that will go toward determining the 24-year old’s future.
There was an unsubstantiated report, which Head Coach Robert Saleh declined to deny when asked this week, that the Jets have already told Wilson that he will be traded next offseason, even if his nearly $11.2 million 2024 cap number complicates matters. I don’t have a problem with that, under one condition—that the Jets select a quarterback with a high Draft pick come April.
Scratch that. The Jets should have their due diligence on college QBs done so they can select one no matter what happens on Sunday.
The win over the Texans pretty much took the Jets out of the running for the top QBs projected to go 1-2, USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye. That doesn’t end the discussion. Looking at the teams with the five best records going into this week’s action, none of their QBs were taken earlier in their respective Drafts than Miami’s Tua Tagovailia at No. 5 overall. Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson was the only other first-rounder, chosen with the round’s last pick in 2018.
The point being that you can find a franchise QB at any point in a Draft, even with the “Mr. Irrelevant” pick like San Francisco’s Brock Purdy, with the right scouting, coaching, and, of course, luck. The Jets haven’t been blessed with any of these, but they still have to keep taking QB shots until they get it right.
New York has certainly utilized high picks on quarterbacks in recent Drafts—they traded up to pick Sam Darnold No. 3 overall in 2018. Other than the head-scratching pick of James Morgan in General Manager Joe Douglas’ dumpster fire first go at a Draft in 2020, they haven’t selected any other QBs in that period, not even as a projected backup.
Rodgers, who should just take the adulation about coming back from such a debilitating injury faster than any human could hope and fade away until next season, wasn’t expected to have a long shelf life regardless of this season’s deferral. New York was always going to be back at square one needing a “QB of the future” in short order. Knowing how historically awful Wilson’s first two seasons were from a statistical standpoint, the Jets should have taken a quarterback somewhere in their last Draft.
They didn’t, placing a long shot bet on Wilson. How strange—Douglas has had no issues with adding depth to stacked areas like the defensive line (see: 2023 first-round pick Will McDonald IV). But the most important position on the field, if not all of sports? Nah, we’re good. Sunday’s contest might be the last chance for the organization to earn any payoff, for another stellar showing would at least prop up his trade value.
Color me skeptical. So much depends on factors outside of Wilson’s control, such as play-calling, offensive line play, and the opponent’s game plan. That’s before you get to Wilson remembering what he did right against Houston. I just don’t see him tearing it up in a road game of such importance to Miami.
As much of the league has found, backup quarterbacks can be just as difficult to roster as a starter. There just aren’t enough good ones.
It’s a lot harder when you don’t draft them.
Prediction: Dolphins 27 Jets 9