Breer On The Wilson Process

[KRL]

https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/05/03/mmqb-matt-nagy-justin-fields-trey-lance-aaron-rodgers-daily-cover

 

This was a different type of draft year, and everyone had to get as creative as they could. So back on March 29, at BYU’s pro day, with the Niners-Dolphins trade going down, Zach Wilson getting ready to throw and the tectonic plates of the 2021 draft shifting, Jets coach Robert Saleh ran down BYU alum Fred Warner, his former star middle linebacker from San Francisco, with a bit of a weird request.

Warner was there to support Wilson and the rest of the Cougars trying to make their case to all the NFL teams there that day. He also served as a human measuring stick.

Hey Fred, can you go give Zach a hug real quick?

The first-team All-Pro obliged his old defensive coordinator, and in doing so helped Saleh, GM Joe Douglas and offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur put the final piece in place for the Jets’ decision on what to do with the second pick. The 6' 3", 230-pound Warner is roughly the same size as Patrick Mahomes, and, as he approached Wilson, who’d faced questions about his size, the Jets’ brass could actually see it.

Wilson was eye-to-eye with Warner, he had broad shoulders that measured up with a linebacker’s and confirmed what the Jets came in believing: that he had plenty of room to grow physically and could eventually show himself to be like the other big people in his family (his dad was a Utah defensive tackle, and he has one brother who’s a BYU linebacker and another who’s verbally committed to be one in 2022).

Right around that time, medical clearance came for the Jets, too, something that was important, given that Wilson had surgery on his right shoulder two years ago, and thus the final pieces were put in place for the 21-year-old to become the latest big swing that New York’s star-crossed football franchise has taken.

And obviously there’s a strong belief in Florham Park that this will be different than Mark Sanchez or Sam Darnold, or even the relatively successful Chad Pennington. They wouldn’t have done this if they didn’t feel that way. So how did they get there? A few weeks back, we detailed the Jets’ decision to deal Darnold and search for their next QB from GM Joe Douglas’s perspective. Now, we’re giving you how the coaching staff worked through this—and signed off on Wilson with the No. 2 pick.

• Saleh and his staff got going on the quarterbacks about a month ahead of starting on the rest of the draft class, a couple of weeks after arriving in Jersey in January, mostly because the Darnold situation combined with the team’s holding the second pick in a quarterback-rich year demanded that. Saleh studied the five quarterbacks who wound up going in the first round. LaFleur, QBs coach Rob Calabrese and pass-game specialist Greg Knapp did that and went deeper into the class, too, through the whole second tier.

The head coach directed his assistants not to talk to one another about the quarterback group to keep opinions on each player unaffected, and, when the staff reconvened in late February with their independent evaluations of the class, a consensus was reached that the top two were clear—Trevor Lawrence and Wilson. And that was with the offensive coaches drilling down on technical details, and Saleh clearly seeing Wilson’s fearlessness, bravado, timing, accuracy and just how smooth he looked as an athlete.

• This is going to sound bananas, but the Jets’ coaches actually discussed, at that point, how they preferred Wilson to Lawrence as a fit for their offense. Why? Wilson’s tape showed a very clean translation to the Shanahan style of offense. You can see him go through reads—1, 2, 3, out! Lawrence, conversely, played in an offense heavy on RPOs. That’s not a knock. Justin Herbert played in an RPO-heavy system in college, too, and was obviously fine.

It’s just that picturing Wilson running LaFleur’s system was easy, because BYU’s offense carries so many similar West Coast principles. And Wilson also had traits that the offense values, starting with a lightning-quick release and good balance throwing on the move.

• The next step was the Zoom meetings, and one thing in particular stuck out about Wilson in that setting. While his ADHD was at one point a story line, the quarterback showed uncanny, Rain Man–like recall. It shined through in particular during his Zoom meetings with the Jets, and as Knapp took him through the BYU tape. Or, more accurately, Wilson took Knapp through it.

If you’ve watched coaches’ tape before, you’ve seen how, before a play is shown, a shot of the scoreboard comes up to establish the point of the game the play is taken from, down-and-distance, etc. Well, at one point, in a meeting with Wilson, Knapp had the screen frozen on such a frame. Wilson immediately told him what was coming. He took him through the play call. He took him through the defense’s call. He told him how a certain corner would usually be in the coverage associated with the call. He explained his throw. Then, he told him why the coaches called the play and how it was worked into the practice week.

Suffice it to say, that impressed the coaches, and it wasn’t the only time it happened. Again, the formation presnap wasn’t even on the screen yet.

• Another part of the process was determining whether Wilson would be equipped to deal with New York. There were two reasons, primarily, the Jets eventually came to the conclusion that he’ll be fine. One, less than a year ago, he dealt with his coaches at BYU, disappointed in how 2019 played out, opening up a quarterback competition—and responded with one of the most finely quarterbacked seasons in school history. And two, Provo’s not New York. But BYU and Utah football are a big deal in that state, so he did have some “fishbowl” experience.

The Jets also got feedback on his personality and developed their own opinions as to how it would play in New York. Wilson’s throwing coach, former NFL QB John Beck, was a tremendous resource along the way, too, telling the team he’d never seen a more natural thrower at that age, or a quarterback who could throw that effortlessly off-platform, but also that he was a smart kid with enough of a cocky edge, and self-awareness, to take slings and arrows in New York.

Now, here’s one thing that really stood out to me, on how the Jets are going to handle Wilson going forward: They don’t want to put the weight of the world on his shoulders. In fact, if you watch the phone call the Jets made to Wilson after making it official, it’s right there. “All you gotta do is be yourself, nothing more, nothing less,” Douglas told Wilson, before Saleh got on the phone and added, “The biggest thing I want to tell you, just remember this, this organization is going to lift you, not the other way around.”

The point was emphasized with the Jets, soon thereafter, trading up for guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, then taking receiver Elijah Moore and tailback Michael Carter.

And the concept really does show awareness of where things went wrong with Darnold. The Jets aren’t going to ask the world of Wilson right away (though the plan is to prepare him to start Week 1, as would be the case with anyone on the roster, and the reality is he likely will start). They’ll ask him to be, to steal a phrase from my old NFL Network colleague Bucky Brooks, the trailer and not the truck as a rookie, and allow him to grow from there.

A team with that idea going in is a good place for any quarterback to start. We’ll see if that situation eventually adds up to better results at the position than the Jets have gotten of late.

[JiF]

10 minutes ago, KRL said:

If you’ve watched coaches’ tape before, you’ve seen how, before a play is shown, a shot of the scoreboard comes up to establish the point of the game the play is taken from, down-and-distance, etc. Well, at one point, in a meeting with Wilson, Knapp had the screen frozen on such a frame. Wilson immediately told him what was coming. He took him through the play call. He took him through the defense’s call. He told him how a certain corner would usually be in the coverage associated with the call. He explained his throw. Then, he told him why the coaches called the play and how it was worked into the practice week.

Suffice it to say, that impressed the coaches, and it wasn’t the only time it happened. Again, the formation presnap wasn’t even on the screen yet.

You mean to tell me, that Zach Wilson described a Football play and the coverage associated with the call???????????

 

[jetscanes331]

5 minutes ago, JiFapono said:

You mean to tell me, that Zach Wilson described a Football play and the coverage associated with the call???????????

 

I think the point they're making is that what he was able to recall the play just by seeing the scoreboard. That's pretty impressive, no?

[JiF]

1 minute ago, jetscanes331 said:

I think the point they're making is that what he was able to recall the play just by seeing the scoreboard. That's pretty impressive, no?

No.  Not really.   Everyone QB can do this.  Hell, give some highlights of my intramural Flag Football Championship game from 22 years ago and I can tell you the exact play, down and distance and my entire thought process as I willed our team to victory!

[jetscanes331]

Just now, JiFapono said:

No.  Not really.   Everyone QB can do this.  Hell, give some highlights of my intramural Flag Football Championship game from 22 years ago and I can tell you the exact play, down and distance and my entire thought process as I willed our team to victory!

 

I understand that but I get the feeling they might not only be asking about high and low lights. I imagine his recall extends to most of the plays. No offense but I'm sure he's got quite a few more plays in his mental bank than you do. Also if it was enough to impress 4 professional football coaches and a writer, maybe it should be taken at face value.

[Larz]

I stand corrected. Ankle socks is big enough. Didn’t know he has ADHD. My son has it. Anybody that makes fun of this kids socks is getting a power shot from me, got that?!?

[Jet Nut]

13 minutes ago, JiFapono said:

You mean to tell me, that Zach Wilson described a Football play and the coverage associated with the call???????????

 

Kind of missed the point of the exercise

[jbt]

6 minutes ago, JiFapono said:

No.  Not really.   Everyone QB can do this.  Hell, give some highlights of my intramural Flag Football Championship game from 22 years ago and I can tell you the exact play, down and distance and my entire thought process as I willed our team to victory!

how did you go undrafted that year?

[JiF]

2 minutes ago, jetscanes331 said:

 

I understand that but I get the feeling they might not only be asking about high and low lights. I imagine his recall extends to most of the plays. No offense but I'm sure he's got quite a few more plays in his mental bank than you do. Also if it was enough to impress 4 professional football coaches and a writer, maybe it should be taken at face value.

jetcane - my man!  The Flag Football reference, was a joke.

Real talk - this stuff is reported every single year, about every single QB.  It literally means absolutely nothing.  

[JiF]

2 minutes ago, Jet Nut said:

Kind of missed the point of the exercise

oh, please explain...

I'm all ears.

[Sonny Werblin]

The kid is a football junkie. And regardless of everything else, you need that to be a great QB in today’s NFL. The last QB to be great without it was Favre, and he could’ve cleaned up plenty of mistakes if he had it.

[Jet Nut]

Just now, JiFapono said:

oh, please explain...

I'm all ears.

You already were told what he did just by looking at the tape.  

It impresses offensive minds like LaFleur and defensive minds like Saleh.

Not good enough when your guy couldn't and wasnt allowed to read defenses, needed cards on the sidelines for help.

 

[JiF]

1 minute ago, jbt said:

how did you go undrafted that year?

I was listed at 6'1, 215.  Real height and weigh; 6'0, 195.   Rumors were I'd run in the low 4.4/4.5 range, old high school ankle injury knocked that down to around a 4.9.  I had Chad Pennington like touch and placement but my off platform stuff had a lot be desired.  It was the off script the scouts loved but when the testing came out, the got gun shy.  I get it.  Bounced around as UDFA for a little while, tried to make the switch place kicker but they didnt love my swing.  Spent a few years in the Arena League but early signs of CTE really impacted my longevity. 

I know, save the sob story for someone who cares! 

[JiF]

1 minute ago, Jet Nut said:

You already were told what he did just by looking at the tape.  

It impresses offensive minds like LaFleur and defensive minds like Saleh.

Not good enough when your guy couldn't and wasnt allowed to read defenses, needed cards on the sidelines for help.

 

Oh, so I actually, didnt miss the point of the exercise! Sweet!

[k-met57]

i think its pretty hilarous that they had fred werner hug him so they can scout his size in comparison...

[Adoni Beast]

[freestater]

29 minutes ago, JiFapono said:

You mean to tell me, that Zach Wilson described a Football play and the coverage associated with the call???????????

 

[Jet Nut]

9 minutes ago, JiFapono said:

Oh, so I actually, didnt miss the point of the exercise! Sweet!

No your point is to crash the Wilson thread and ruin it for others 

 

[PS17]

Ah, I missed the Wilson thread cattiness. We’re back on track!

[JiF]

Just now, Jet Nut said:

No your point is to crash the Wilson thread and ruin it for others 

 

I'm ruining the "the Wilson" thread for others?  lmfao.  You're amazing.   This is the one and only thread, the exclusive place to talk about our new QB!!!!  Honestly, bro, my bad, I didnt know this was the only thread that we talked about Zach Wilson.  My apologizes for mocking a fluff piece celebrating something that every single QB in college Football can do, totally unfair and who am I to share my opinion?  right?!!!!

I'll make sure moving forward, I only say the nicest of things about Zachypoo so that I dont hurt your feelings and ruin it for others, okay, sweetheart ////rubs his back to console his little stressed out heart.

 

[jetsons]

49 minutes ago, KRL said:

https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/05/03/mmqb-matt-nagy-justin-fields-trey-lance-aaron-rodgers-daily-cover

 

This was a different type of draft year, and everyone had to get as creative as they could. So back on March 29, at BYU’s pro day, with the Niners-Dolphins trade going down, Zach Wilson getting ready to throw and the tectonic plates of the 2021 draft shifting, Jets coach Robert Saleh ran down BYU alum Fred Warner, his former star middle linebacker from San Francisco, with a bit of a weird request.

Warner was there to support Wilson and the rest of the Cougars trying to make their case to all the NFL teams there that day. He also served as a human measuring stick.

Hey Fred, can you go give Zach a hug real quick?

The first-team All-Pro obliged his old defensive coordinator, and in doing so helped Saleh, GM Joe Douglas and offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur put the final piece in place for the Jets’ decision on what to do with the second pick. The 6' 3", 230-pound Warner is roughly the same size as Patrick Mahomes, and, as he approached Wilson, who’d faced questions about his size, the Jets’ brass could actually see it.

Wilson was eye-to-eye with Warner, he had broad shoulders that measured up with a linebacker’s and confirmed what the Jets came in believing: that he had plenty of room to grow physically and could eventually show himself to be like the other big people in his family (his dad was a Utah defensive tackle, and he has one brother who’s a BYU linebacker and another who’s verbally committed to be one in 2022).

Right around that time, medical clearance came for the Jets, too, something that was important, given that Wilson had surgery on his right shoulder two years ago, and thus the final pieces were put in place for the 21-year-old to become the latest big swing that New York’s star-crossed football franchise has taken.

And obviously there’s a strong belief in Florham Park that this will be different than Mark Sanchez or Sam Darnold, or even the relatively successful Chad Pennington. They wouldn’t have done this if they didn’t feel that way. So how did they get there? A few weeks back, we detailed the Jets’ decision to deal Darnold and search for their next QB from GM Joe Douglas’s perspective. Now, we’re giving you how the coaching staff worked through this—and signed off on Wilson with the No. 2 pick.

• Saleh and his staff got going on the quarterbacks about a month ahead of starting on the rest of the draft class, a couple of weeks after arriving in Jersey in January, mostly because the Darnold situation combined with the team’s holding the second pick in a quarterback-rich year demanded that. Saleh studied the five quarterbacks who wound up going in the first round. LaFleur, QBs coach Rob Calabrese and pass-game specialist Greg Knapp did that and went deeper into the class, too, through the whole second tier.

The head coach directed his assistants not to talk to one another about the quarterback group to keep opinions on each player unaffected, and, when the staff reconvened in late February with their independent evaluations of the class, a consensus was reached that the top two were clear—Trevor Lawrence and Wilson. And that was with the offensive coaches drilling down on technical details, and Saleh clearly seeing Wilson’s fearlessness, bravado, timing, accuracy and just how smooth he looked as an athlete.

• This is going to sound bananas, but the Jets’ coaches actually discussed, at that point, how they preferred Wilson to Lawrence as a fit for their offense. Why? Wilson’s tape showed a very clean translation to the Shanahan style of offense. You can see him go through reads—1, 2, 3, out! Lawrence, conversely, played in an offense heavy on RPOs. That’s not a knock. Justin Herbert played in an RPO-heavy system in college, too, and was obviously fine.

It’s just that picturing Wilson running LaFleur’s system was easy, because BYU’s offense carries so many similar West Coast principles. And Wilson also had traits that the offense values, starting with a lightning-quick release and good balance throwing on the move.

• The next step was the Zoom meetings, and one thing in particular stuck out about Wilson in that setting. While his ADHD was at one point a story line, the quarterback showed uncanny, Rain Man–like recall. It shined through in particular during his Zoom meetings with the Jets, and as Knapp took him through the BYU tape. Or, more accurately, Wilson took Knapp through it.

If you’ve watched coaches’ tape before, you’ve seen how, before a play is shown, a shot of the scoreboard comes up to establish the point of the game the play is taken from, down-and-distance, etc. Well, at one point, in a meeting with Wilson, Knapp had the screen frozen on such a frame. Wilson immediately told him what was coming. He took him through the play call. He took him through the defense’s call. He told him how a certain corner would usually be in the coverage associated with the call. He explained his throw. Then, he told him why the coaches called the play and how it was worked into the practice week.

Suffice it to say, that impressed the coaches, and it wasn’t the only time it happened. Again, the formation presnap wasn’t even on the screen yet.

• Another part of the process was determining whether Wilson would be equipped to deal with New York. There were two reasons, primarily, the Jets eventually came to the conclusion that he’ll be fine. One, less than a year ago, he dealt with his coaches at BYU, disappointed in how 2019 played out, opening up a quarterback competition—and responded with one of the most finely quarterbacked seasons in school history. And two, Provo’s not New York. But BYU and Utah football are a big deal in that state, so he did have some “fishbowl” experience.

The Jets also got feedback on his personality and developed their own opinions as to how it would play in New York. Wilson’s throwing coach, former NFL QB John Beck, was a tremendous resource along the way, too, telling the team he’d never seen a more natural thrower at that age, or a quarterback who could throw that effortlessly off-platform, but also that he was a smart kid with enough of a cocky edge, and self-awareness, to take slings and arrows in New York.

Now, here’s one thing that really stood out to me, on how the Jets are going to handle Wilson going forward: They don’t want to put the weight of the world on his shoulders. In fact, if you watch the phone call the Jets made to Wilson after making it official, it’s right there. “All you gotta do is be yourself, nothing more, nothing less,” Douglas told Wilson, before Saleh got on the phone and added, “The biggest thing I want to tell you, just remember this, this organization is going to lift you, not the other way around.”

The point was emphasized with the Jets, soon thereafter, trading up for guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, then taking receiver Elijah Moore and tailback Michael Carter.

And the concept really does show awareness of where things went wrong with Darnold. The Jets aren’t going to ask the world of Wilson right away (though the plan is to prepare him to start Week 1, as would be the case with anyone on the roster, and the reality is he likely will start). They’ll ask him to be, to steal a phrase from my old NFL Network colleague Bucky Brooks, the trailer and not the truck as a rookie, and allow him to grow from there.

A team with that idea going in is a good place for any quarterback to start. We’ll see if that situation eventually adds up to better results at the position than the Jets have gotten of late.

That's a good write up. thanks for posting. 

[Jimmy 2 Times]

27 minutes ago, Larz said:

I stand corrected. Ankle socks is big enough. Didn’t know he has ADHD. My son has it. Anybody that makes fun of this kids socks is getting a power shot from me, got that?!?

My kid has it too along with sensory issues.

I can’t even get socks on him.

[JiF]

6 minutes ago, PS17 said:

Ah, I missed the Wilson thread cattiness. We’re back on track!

I'm legit shocked that post triggered people so much.  I didnt insult Zach.  I didnt knock him.  I didnt do anything of the sort.  I was simply was laughing at the idea that him remembering a play, is some type of special skill.  All QB's can do this, all of them, every single one of them.  lol

I'm not bashing Zach, at all.  I'm bashing the stupidity of that take as if it means anything.

I know we're all a little very sensitive these days, this draft stuff is super duper important and the stuff we posted on the interwebz is a HUGE deal but maybe we could all just chill a bit?  The draft is over.  Zach's our dude.  I'm stoked for Zachypoo.  I hope he's great.  If he is, I promise you, it's not because he remembered play from college.

 

[JiF]

GROUP HUG???????????  

COME ON GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LETS SQUEEZE EACH OTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TAKE OUT THE AGRESSION!!!!  YOU HATE ME!!!!!!   I KNOW IT!!!!!   SQUEEZE MY GUTS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SayNoToDMC]

I'd love to read an article like this about the Raiders process of JaMarcus Russell 

[Shockwave]

So the Jets FO had Zach above Trevor. Wow. 

[TommyT]

2 minutes ago, JiFapono said:

GROUP HUG???????????  

COME ON GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LETS SQUEEZE EACH OTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TAKE OUT THE AGRESSION!!!!  YOU HATE ME!!!!!!   I KNOW IT!!!!!   SQUEEZE MY GUTS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What you are missing from this thread is no one gives a sh!t what you think or cares what you find a need to say.

[Dcat]

26 minutes ago, Jet Nut said:

You already were told what he did just by looking at the tape.  

It impresses offensive minds like LaFleur and defensive minds like Saleh.

Not good enough when your guy couldn't and wasnt allowed to read defenses, needed cards on the sidelines for help.

 

I swear... Sanchez and Darnold were two of the biggest 1st round dummies playing QB in the NFL Ive ever seen.  Weak football minds and extremely slow processors.  Defense always one step ahead of them.  At least Pennington, when healthy, could read the f'ing field somewhat.  Sanchez had zero ability to do so and Darnold... well the line was so bad it's hard to tell, but there were way too many plays where he was not under pressure but still threw it straight into coverage instead of the open man.  Both Darnold and Sanchez had the physical talent and bodies needed for success.  Neither had the football smarts and brain processing speed necessary  (well maybe Darnold can finally show some signs in Carolina).

[Tranquilo]

3 minutes ago, Shockwave said:

So the Jets FO had Zach above Trevor. Wow. 

I do like that they had members look at video individually before ranking the quarterbacks. That explains why they waited to trade Darnold. Thorough process. And thank gawd they were all on the same page re: 1 and 2.

[Dcat]

23 minutes ago, k-met57 said:

i think its pretty hilarous that they had fred werner hug him so they can scout his size in comparison...

They were trying to see if they could make it move.

[munchmemory]

4 minutes ago, Dcat said:

I swear... Sanchez and Darnold were two of the biggest 1st round dummies playing QB in the NFL Ive ever seen.  Weak football minds and extremely slow processors.  Defense always one step ahead of them.  At least Pennington, when healthy, could read the f'ing field somewhat.  Sanchez had zero ability to do so and Darnold... well the line was so bad it's hard to tell, but there were way too many plays where he was not under pressure but still threw it straight into coverage instead of the open man.  Both Darnold and Sanchez had the physical talent and bodies needed for success.  Neither had the football smarts and brain processing speed necessary  (well maybe Darnold can finally show some signs in Carolina).

He won't.

[Jet Life]

22 minutes ago, Jet Nut said:

No your point is to crash the Wilson thread and ruin it for others 

 

He’s still highly emotional over the loss of Fields. It shall pass with time 

[JiF]

8 minutes ago, TommyT said:

What you are missing from this thread is no one gives a sh!t what you think or cares what you find a need to say.

^^^responded to me because he clearly gives a sh*t and needs to hear what I have to say.

 

[JiF]

8 minutes ago, Jet Life said:

He’s still highly emotional over the loss of Fields. It shall pass with time 

I think it's funny you guys think this is a thing.  I dont think you all realize how little I give AF about Justin Fields.  He could bust out of the league and I wouldnt care one ******* bit.  I just liked him as a prospect, along with thousands over other dudes who have come and gone from college to the NFL.  

Prediction; next year, I will like a prospect and I will share my opinion of said prospect.   I know, I know, I know, it's crazy, crazy!!!! of me to share that opinion on a Football message board where people like, share opinions but the world is full of crazy sh*t, ya know? 

 

 

[munchmemory]

3 minutes ago, JiFapono said:

I think it's funny you guys think this is a thing.  I dont think you all realize how little I give AF about Justin Fields.  He could bust out of the league and I wouldnt care one ******* bit.  I just liked him as a prospect, along with thousands over other dudes who have come and gone from college to the NFL.  

Prediction; next year, I will like a prospect and I will share my opinion of said prospect.   I know, I know, I know, it's crazy, crazy!!!! of me to share that opinion on a Football message board where people like, share opinions but I the world is full of crazy sh*t, ya know? 

 

 

My problem is with folks who go 100%--hook, line and sinker--with any prospect just because a Jet GM/HC says it's the right move.  Remember all the "trust Gase", "trust Mcc", "Trust Rex", "trust Tanny" b/s?