Another Zach Wilson Thread: Good Read from Peter King

[David Harris]

From Peter King a month ago:
 

Meet Zach Wilson

10

Zach Wilson comes from a University of Utah family. His dad Mike played linebacker for the Utes, his mom has a long history there, and the family had season tickets on the 50-yard line across the aisle from Utah coach Kyle Whittingham’s family at Rice-Eccles Stadium. BYU was the enemy. In 2016, Zach, a junior in high school, was a middling three-star QB recruit who remembers being at Rice-Eccles in 2016 as Utah nipped BYU and its exciting quarterback, Taysom Hill, in a 20-19 thriller.

Two years later, Wilson was a freshman starting quarterback for BYU at Utah, his parents watching from their family seats. Weird. Turns out it took till after Wilson’s senior year in high school to get BYU interested, and the hard sell worked. Wilson, a developing 6-2 ½-inch, 210-pound hard thrower with good movement in the pocket, earned the starting job in October of his freshman year, 2018. But in 2019, dogged by labrum and hand injuries, Wilson struggled, and after the season, then-passing game coordinator/QB coach Aaron Roderick told him there’d be a competition for the starting job in 2020. Said Roderick, who was confident Wilson would win the job once fully healthy: “I told him, ‘This is gonna be good for you. One day you’ll be in the NFL, and you’ll be under fire, and you’ll have to deal with injury and disappointment.’ The thing about Zach is, he did know it’d be good for him. He never complained, never felt entitled.”

Wilson said he’d have worked with Beck in the spring and summer before the 2020 season anyway, but admitted, “That was a tough time for me. It was frustrating because [I] was the starter before. I had to block out what people were saying about me. That adversity was something preparing me for that next level because there’s gonna be ups and downs in the NFL, and now I think I’m better prepared for them.”

2021 NFL Draft quarterback prospect Zach Wilson. (Getty Images)

On one of those 10-hour drives, he played the “QB” audiobook by Young, written with Jeff Benedict in 2016. Young, of course, was a BYU legend, maybe the best quarterback ever at a renowned quarterback school, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, a Super Bowl MVP. “I’d thought everything was so smooth in his career,” Wilson said. “It wasn’t.” Young signed with the USFL out of BYU, and it was a football disaster (except financially). His second stop, in Tampa, was worse. “I’d come into the locker room at halftime,” Young told me last week, “and everybody’s smoking!” Even a trade to San Francisco in 1987 brought heartache because of annual head-to-head battles for playing time with the great Joe Montana. In his seventh pro season, 1989, Young was frantic. Wilson couldn’t believe what he was hearing on the audiobook. Such as this passage from “QB: My Life Behind the Spiral,” when Young described a friend, Jim Herrmann, riding in the car with him one day in the ’89 season and finding uncashed checks from the 49ers:

“Whoa! There is a quarter of a million dollars here,” he said.

I said nothing.

“Bro, don’t you think you should cash these?”

“I can’t cash those things.”

“What? Why not?”

“I don’t feel like I’m earning the money.”

That night, I moved the checks to a drawer in my nightstand, where I left them for the rest of the season.

“I thought that was a super-cool book,” Wilson said. “Like Steve not cashing his checks. It’s so cool his mentality of, ‘I haven’t earned it yet.’ He’s always hungry for more and some people just feel like they’ve arrived. He was just not like that at all. That was such a cool lesson for me to learn. Even if I am fortunate enough to go early in the draft and make it to a good team, I haven’t done anything yet. You have to keep working for it.

“I think that’s what’s interesting about my career as well. I wasn’t a big recruit. I didn’t have a lot of offers. I went to BYU as just a normal three-star recruit. Nothing special. Nobody expected me to play early. I ended up having a chance to play as a freshman, something that I had to work for—nine quarterbacks in the quarterback room at the time. And then I was nobody last year and I was fighting for my starting job back and having shoulder surgery. Things didn’t go as well as we wanted to and the coaches opened up a competition to try and win the starting spot back. I was so determined to try and win that job back and prove that it was mine.”

I told Young about what Wilson took from his story, and it made him happy. “Nobody knows how much grit you have till you have to have it,” Young said. “So you’ve got to fight for a job. Say you get benched. Look at you; don’t look at anyone else. Most often, victimization takes over, but it never does any good to play the victim. Work on yourself. Work on your game. You better have that level of grit to fight for a job and to fight to win a game, because in this game, you’re going to be tested over and over again.”

In his off-season work with Beck, Wilson finally felt healthy after January 2019 labrum surgery and hand surgery in the fall. His hip rotation and velocity got better in the work with Beck last year, the velocity particularly. “My arm got stronger, and I could work on making all the throws again,” Wilson said. By the time Wilson left in July for BYU’s summer practice, Beck thought the number of throws Wilson could make down the field with accuracy had shot way up.

In the video from three games I watched, there was one throw that I thought was the kind of NFL throw scouts and pro coaches would love. It happened in the Cougars’ only loss of the year, that crazy Saturday night game at Coastal Carolina that got invented three days before the game, with BYU flying to South Carolina for the game 40 hours after finding out they were playing in it.

BYU trailed 22-17 with 35 seconds left. Second-and-19 at the Cougar 9-yard line. No timeouts left. Desperation time. What Wilson said about this play when I asked him sounded like Tiger Woods remembering in vivid detail his second shot on 14 in the third round of the ’19 Masters, or Peyton Manning recalling a 15-year-old play like it happened five minutes ago. And this, I can assure you, will be music to the ears of teams wondering, “What kind of student of the game is Wilson?” Because he’ll need to be a good one in the NFL.

“I had plenty of time to prepare for the game,” he said.

Oh really? Two days?

Wilson: “I had a couple of tells in that game. Coastal Carolina subbed in number four (linebacker Kendricks Gladney Jr.)—he was lined up over the center and I knew that when he did that and they were in their two-minute situation, they were gonna play a ‘two-invert,’ where the safeties would play the seams. The safeties would sink and the corners would actually roll and go and hug the high post and then the backers would sprint underneath to the flats. I knew exactly what coverage was coming based on where [Gladney] was lined up. We had called a ‘four verts’ package there [four receivers running go routes or forms of them] and I knew based on timing and everything that I wasn’t gonna be able to hold the ball or throw the ball on time. I knew that I was gonna have to hold it and move around a little bit and try to find something. I remember just knowing in that coverage, when the corner to the field had the vertical seam by the slot, that he’s gonna roll over and try to take it away. and someone else is gonna run underneath [our] outside guy and play in the flat. I knew there was a shot where if I could put that ball right over the guy in the flat, and on the back shoulder to where that corner is playing the seam, there was a little window right there almost like a hole shot at [BYU receiver Gunner Romney]. I just remember, if I keep my eyes down the field, I’ll hold him and I’ll just keep that corner looking then I can fire that shot in there and that’d be a big gain.”

 

 

 

 

On the play, as best you can, watch Wilson’s eyes, or his head. Looks left, looks left, quick glance to the middle, then a millisecond look to the right and the hardest throw he could make. “I was holding the middle of the field,” Wilson said. “I was really trying to get those corners to think I was throwing down the middle of the field.”

Beck was watching from home in California. “That ball has to be driven,” Beck said. “We have a saying—you can’t just throw it, sometimes you have to drive it through the receiver. That play was a perfect example.”

Wilson howitzered the ball 41 yards in the air, to a point about two feet over Romney’s head. Romney leaped and came down with it. In 35 seconds, with no timeouts, Wilson took BYU 90 yards. He needed 91. The game ended with a completed catch a yard short of the end zone. It was BYU’s only loss of the year. “After the game,” BYU offensive coordinator Roderick said, “Zach went around to every guy in that locker room and said, “I gotta play better.’ “

I asked Roderick about Wilson’s recall, and his head for the position. “We can talk after a 12-play drive,” Roderick said, “and he’ll just take me through it—every play, in order, everything he saw, why he made every decision, what he was trying to do to the defense. His recall—I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I don’t know,” Wilson said when I asked him about it. His words sounded like a virtual shrug. “I try to understand every little detail. I don’t know where it comes from. I guess it’s the passion I have for the game.”

Recently, Jaguars offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer called Beck to discuss Wilson. (Jacksonville is widely expected to take Trevor Lawrence with the first overall pick in April, but Schottenheimer was doing his homework here.) “We talked about that Coastal Carolina drive,” Beck said. “He loved it. He said there were so many throws on that drive he loved—including that throw when he was backed up.”

Three other things:

• Wilson said he studied every one of Joe Burrow’s games from his 2019 LSU season “three or four times.” Wilson has the same kind of pocket-movement ability as Burrow, staying cool while figuring the best location from which to throw the most accurate ball. “There were so many things he did that I tried to apply to my games,” Wilson said.

• Spatial awareness is huge for an NFL quarterback because of the mayhem around him so often. Beck thinks several years of playing basketball as a kid all over the country—Wilson wanted to earn a basketball scholarship, not football, till his sophomore football season in high school—gave him “almost an innate sixth sense of feeling everything around him, like he’s around the rim on a basketball court.” When he moves in the pocket, it’s not frenetic, but more calculating.

• DoorDash. Crazy. Last year he was in California with Beck on Mother’s Day, and wanted to get his mom a large bouquet of flowers. So he worked a few extra hours that weekend to make the money. And back in Provo, if you saw a fit auburn-haired kid on a moped with some food bags in the last couple of summers, that was Wilson too. Roderick said there was a social-media post last year that said, “I’m pretty sure Zach Wilson just delivered my DoorDash. Is that possible?”

Yes. Yes it was. But his DoorDash days will be over this spring. BYU’s Pro Day is March 26, and he’ll be Zooming with teams in the weeks before the draft. He said he’s done “three or four” already. (Each team can do a maximum of five Zoom meetings with each prospective draftee.) Wilson’s skill-set is ideal for the quick-thinking and quick-throwing West Coast scheme, making the Jets (and new coordinator Mike LaFleur) at number two an intriguing option. Carolina, at eight with offensive coordinator Joe Brady, could be a strong candidate too; the Panthers may upgrade from Teddy Bridgewater, and Brady likes a coach-on-the-field type who can make throws to all parts of the field.

Entering the draft after his true-junior season and only one season (against mediocre competition) of high production is a definite risk. “It was nowhere in my intentions before the season,” he said. “But I always told myself if I had a chance to go in the first round, that’d be an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

Now the question is: Which team at the top of the draft won’t be able to pass up Wilson?

[T0mShane]

11 minutes ago, David Harris said:

But in 2019, dogged by labrum and hand injuries, Wilson struggled, and after the season, then-passing game coordinator/QB coach Aaron Roderick told him there’d be a competition for the starting job in 2020.

I was assured this never happened

[SayNoToDMC]

7 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

I was assured this never happened

What? A good read from Peter King?

[HawkeyeJet]

I just can't decided when I'm going to forget my own opinion of him and just start waving the pom poms like I always do and try to get onboard regardless.

Prior to MLB opening day and the final 4 is too soon though.  I have standards. 

[T0mShane]

Zack Wilson Stans: My dear sweet Zack was the unquestioned leader of the BYU program and has a rock-solid bill of health

BYU: We were going to bench him in 2020 because of his poor play and injuries.

Zack Wilson: It is true, I almost lost the starting job because of poor play and injuries.

Wilson Stans: How dare you.

[doublel9]

...Beck thinks several years of playing basketball as a kid all over the country—Wilson wanted to earn a basketball scholarship, not football, till his sophomore football season in high school...

⬆️⬆️⬆️

Ruh-roh, who does this sound like?

[Barkus]

5 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

Zack Wilson Stans: My dear sweet Zack was the unquestioned leader of the BYU program and has a rock-solid bill of health

BYU: We were going to bench him in 2020 because of his poor play and injuries.

Zack Wilson: It is true, I almost lost the starting job because of poor play and injuries.

Wilson Stans: How dare you.

It is a good example of him facing football adversity and overcoming it. Sam had a bad coach and he has been a non-functional nfl qb and his career is on the precipice of mediocrity or worse.

[SayNoToDMC]

13 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

Zack Wilson Stans: My dear sweet Zack was the unquestioned leader of the BYU program and has a rock-solid bill of health

BYU: We were going to bench him in 2020 because of his poor play and injuries.

Zack Wilson: It is true, I almost lost the starting job because of poor play and injuries.

Wilson Stans: How dare you.

I'm with you on wanting the guy who got jerked off, or had sex..... I really don't even know with "massage" people. Like is he accused of assault or rape at this point instead of just degenerate behavior? Theyre almost all degenerates with CTE, why I laugh I'm supposed to listen seriously to them on social issues.. I don't read through the threads entirely or have TV so I'm lost. I still want Watson till he's found guilty(unless this is way worse than I'm aware of). If we're stuck at 2 with all the trades today its probably Wilson. Get used to it

[Charlie Brown]

Watch San Francisco......

That is all.....

[Barry McCockinner]

4 minutes ago, Charlie Brown said:

Watch San Francisco......

That is all.....

for what?

[SayNoToDMC]

Just now, Charlie Brown said:

Watch San Francisco......

That is all.....

That would be a scary combo. I don't think he's actually getting moved though. I wouldn't be shocked if the lunatic running the Texans(Not the owner, the cult leader) is involved in this. It doesn't hurt him to kill the trade market for somebody they couldn't afford to let leave and vowed to never play there again

[Mike135]

This is what users in "dark mode" see...

[Gangrene]

 

Zach Wilson is legitimate. 

The first time he gets rag dolled like Bronco linebacker AJ Johnson did to Darnold, that's when all the glorious draft hype meets the reality of taking NFL quality hits on those 16 or 17 football days a year.

Behind the 29th ranked, recently rebuilt oline that protects a particular QB's recently rebuilt shoulder, fans hold their collective breath as the next franchise savior peels himself gingerly off the turf.

Somewhere out there in America, a renowned shoulder surgeon stirs as he watches a football game with renewed interest on his 85" X800 4K Sony.  Tony Romo's honey'ed voice fills the surgeon's expansive living room.

"Zach Wilson does appear to be favoring his throwing shoulder. James Morgan, has just put on his helmet and has begun throwing on the side."

[jetstream23]

“Blue Horseshoe loves Zach Wilson.”

 

 

[David Harris]

23 minutes ago, Mike135 said:

This is what users in "dark mode" see...

Oh Max, ohhhh Maaaxy ? 

my favorite part of the article was the recall Wilson had about past drives and past plays.  The retention and subsequent dissection of the decisions on each play were the golden nugget in that article for me. Because THAT translates to any level.  Put him in Lafeur’s quick decision, quick throw offense and let him carve the defense up. 
 

And his deeper understanding of that one play he describes- knowing the defense being played and exactly how it stacks against the offensive play he is running- that he has to hold the safeties in order for a small punch hole window to open up and then delivering it there. That is exactly translatable to the NFL. 
 

I know I’m falling back into loving whoever the Jets are going to take. Guilty as I always am. But am I wrong to feel that the Jets really are different this time. For the first time we have the owner, GM and HC aligned perfectly and the next step is bringing a tailor made QB in that fits like a puzzle piece. Zach Wilson many strengths fit glove in hand with out offense. He has the arm, athleticism, football acumen and the moxie.  Our big free agent signings are all young ascending talents.  

The Same Old Jets don’t feel the same anymore.  I’ve let this team break my heart 1000 times and may be setting myself up for another fall. But this feels different. I think it is different.

[David Harris]

Just now, David Harris said:

Oh Max, ohhhh Maaaxy ? 

my favorite part of the article was the recall Wilson had about past drives and past plays.  The retention and subsequent dissection of the decisions on each play were the golden nugget in that article for me. Because THAT translates to any level.  Put him in Lafeur’s quick decision, quick throw offense and let him carve the defense up. 
 

And his deeper understanding of that one play he describes- knowing the defense being played and exactly how it stacks against the offensive play he is running- that he has to hold the safeties in order for a small punch hole window to open up and then delivering it there. That is exactly translatable to the NFL. 
 

I know I’m falling back into a bad habit of loving whoever the Jets are going to take. Guilty as I always am. But am I wrong to feel that the Jets really are different this time. For the first time we have the owner, GM and HC aligned perfectly and the next step is bringing a tailor made QB in that fits like a puzzle piece. Zach Wilson’s many strengths fit glove in hand with out offense. He has the arm, athleticism, football acumen and the moxie.  Our big free agent signings are all young ascending talents.  

The Same Old Jets don’t feel the same anymore.  From the new medical staff to the GM, HC, future QB, free agent signings... I’ve let this team break my heart 1000 times and may be setting myself up for another fall. But this feels different. I think it is different.

 

[David Harris]

Double post 

[Peace Frog]

40 minutes ago, doublel9 said:

...Beck thinks several years of playing basketball as a kid all over the country—Wilson wanted to earn a basketball scholarship, not football, till his sophomore football season in high school...

⬆️⬆️⬆️

Ruh-roh, who does this sound like?

Sounds like the dude calling him unathletic may have been misguided. 

[Patriot Killa]

1 hour ago, David Harris said:

“I think that’s what’s interesting about my career as well. I wasn’t a big recruit. I didn’t have a lot of offers. I went to BYU as just a normal three-star recruit. Nothing special. Nobody expected me to play early. I ended up having a chance to play as a freshman, something that I had to work for—nine quarterbacks in the quarterback room at the time. And then I was nobody last year and I was fighting for my starting job back and having shoulder surgery. Things didn’t go as well as we wanted to and the coaches opened up a competition to try and win the starting spot back. I was so determined to try and win that job back and prove that it was mine.”

Small school prospects can become elite players with dedication and heart. It’s one of the many reason I love Damian Lillard. I have his throwback college jersey from when he was at Weber State. He barely got a scholarship to play anywhere but Weber State gave him a chance and he turned into the #6 overall pick in 2012.. he has went on to have what will be a Hall of fame career 8 years in & will go down as one of the best shooters of all time. Zach Wilson is talented enough to get whatever he wants out of his career. Players who spend extra time on top of extra time on their craft will always come away successful. 

[jetstream23]

Where did the rumors that Wilson is douchey, entitled or lacks leadership come from?

Have watched, read and listened to a lot about Wilson today including interviews. I don’t get the sense he’s any of those things. 

[Patriot Killa]

2 minutes ago, jetstream23 said:

Where did the rumors that Wilson is douchey, entitled or lacks leadership come from?

Have watched, read and listened to a lot about Wilson today including interviews. I don’t get the sense he’s any of those things. 

From weirdo JNer’s with obsessive and destructive qualities.

[JoJoTownsell1]

1 hour ago, doublel9 said:

...Beck thinks several years of playing basketball as a kid all over the country—Wilson wanted to earn a basketball scholarship, not football, till his sophomore football season in high school...

⬆️⬆️⬆️

Ruh-roh, who does this sound like?

Patrick Mahomes Was Better at Basketball Than Football

https://www.wsj.com/articles/patrick-mahomes-basketball-super-bowl-11612243581#:~:text=“That's all stuff that he,at a church in Oklahoma.

[jetsrule1969]

42 minutes ago, Patriot Killa said:

From weirdo JNer’s with obsessive and destructive qualities.

Couldn't agree more. What a joke they have become.

[Patriot Killa]

1 minute ago, jetsrule1969 said:

Couldn't agree more. What a joke they have become.

who are you lol

[RutgersJetFan]

If I was Zach Wilson I would 100% keep working DoorDash in my spare time just to **** with people. 

[Patriot Killa]

22 minutes ago, RutgersJetFan said:

If I was Zach Wilson I would 100% give fans free flights thru Jet Blue in my spare time just to **** with people. 

^^

[Dcat]

2 hours ago, David Harris said:

my favorite part of the article was the recall Wilson had about past drives and past plays.  The retention and subsequent dissection of the decisions on each play were the golden nugget in that article for me. Because THAT translates to any level.  Put him in Lafeur’s quick decision, quick throw offense and let him carve the defense up. And his deeper understanding of that one play he describes- knowing the defense being played and exactly how it stacks against the offensive play he is running- that he has to hold the safeties in order for a small punch hole window to open up and then delivering it there. That is exactly translatable to the NFL. 

My biggest complaints about Sanchez and Sam Darnold were that they were/are slow to read what is happening on the other side of the ball and make a smart decision for that play.  That inability trumped any and all of their positive physical skills.  After reading this article, I'd expect Wilson to be a lot smarter out there.  Ability to read the field quickly and make a smart decision (Tom Brady, Joe Montana and many more) can be the difference between success and failure.  Neither Sanchez nor Darnold failed/will fail due to lack of physical skills.  For them, the biggest issue was/is between the ears. 

Sure hope this Utah boy can adjust to life in the greater NYC area.   This ain't Utah. But that is a different discussion.

[Dunnie]

3 hours ago, T0mShane said:

Zack Wilson Stans: My dear sweet Zack was the unquestioned leader of the BYU program and has a rock-solid bill of health

BYU: We were going to bench him in 2020 because of his poor play and injuries.

Zack Wilson: It is true, I almost lost the starting job because of poor play and injuries.

Wilson Stans: How dare you.

i appreciate the consistency ... and the poetry.

[SayNoToDMC]

Very strange I've gotten time outs for my racial uncomfortable behavior. Granted I've spent more time and get along better with than maybe anyone here. I say sh*t, never meant to offend accept Manish and I'm best man at up upcoming hindu ceremony.

[Bugg]

King's a fluffer, which is why serious NFL people like Bellichick, the Mannings, Tom Brady, avoid him and his happytalk handy nonsense like the COVID after dinner mints. 

Look, I'll trust Douglas, no matter what. But I saw Chad Pennington's shoulder-surgery scarred career. And while it has no objective basis, I personally have experienced shoulder surgery, and saw my son's D2 DT football career go off the rails due to a torn labrum and surgery.

So Wilson is a small guy no matter how you cut it who after 2 shoulder surgeries will be facing NFL front 7 300 lb. beasts who bench press Hondas and run like cats. Comparing the teams BYU played to Steve Young or Jim MacMahon to whom Wilson's teams faced gives up the ghost. It's laughable. Oh, he looked good runninga round an empty field the other day; let's jump for f__in' joy. 

This would be a ridiculous risk. 

Again, if by some miracle the jets walk away with Najee Harris and Mac Jones(the white Deshawn Watson; oh, his team is too good, let's discounthim, same as Watson was ,  it's the same thing; he doesn't lose, he throws 40 yard accurate ropes with said big asses in his face, facing NFL defenders will not be a new experience) , sign me  the f___ up. 

[Bugg]

10 hours ago, jetstream23 said:

Where did the rumors that Wilson is douchey, entitled or lacks leadership come from?

Have watched, read and listened to a lot about Wilson today including interviews. I don’t get the sense he’s any of those things. 

In Wilson's defense, being a hard case douchebag is not mutually exclusive form being a  great QB. But ..he may not be very good so...

[RedBeardedSavage]

I don't know, it's clearly a fluff piece on behalf of ZW's agent in order for Peter King to maintain his level of access. 

That said, for whatever reason, I really like that this kid listens to Steve Young biographies in his off time.

I want a quarterback who is obsessed with being great, and listening to biographies of other great quarterbacks while driving is mildly psychotic... in a good way.

[Jethead]

Never have been a Peter King fan. He's a frontrunner, the Eddie Haskell of columnists.

NFL is truly a copycat league and Wilson is Mahomes light. Hopefully he tastes great and is not just less filling.

Still think JD will wait for Fields pro day before making up his mind. Fields is a 5-star player, a legitimate contender.

If we pick one of the QBs at #2, doubt we get enough for Sam to make trading him a better option than having a true QB competition. Predict that under that scenario he will be the Jets opening day QB.

[flgreen]

11 hours ago, jetstream23 said:

Where did the rumors that Wilson is douchey, entitled or lacks leadership come from?

Have watched, read and listened to a lot about Wilson today including interviews. I don’t get the sense he’s any of those things. 

The Panthers? 

[More Cowbell]

13 hours ago, David Harris said:

From Peter King a month ago:
 

Meet Zach Wilson

10

Zach Wilson comes from a University of Utah family. His dad Mike played linebacker for the Utes,