Through the first 27 games of Zach Wilson’s NFL career, the second overall pick in the 2021 draft looked more like the latest in a series of Bad Quarterback Decisions made by the New York Jets’ franchise than anything resembling a confident and consistent starter in the league.
Then, Sunday night’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs happened, and all of a sudden, Wilson looked like a very different player. Through the first three weeks of the season, starting with his time in the barrel after Aaron Rodgers’ season-ending injury in the opener against the Buffalo Bills, Wilson had completed 44 of 84 passes (52.4%) for 456 yards (5.6 YPA), two touchdowns, four interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 57.0.
Against a very good Chiefs defense that ranked ninth in DVOA to that point, Wilson completed 28 of 39 passes (71.8%) for 245 yards (6.3 YPA), two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 105.2. It was only the second time in a game that Wilson completed at least 70% of his passes, and the first time he had thrown two or more touchdown passes without an interception.
Quite the step up for a young player who had looked lost in the soup more often than not.
“I felt like Hack [offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett] did an unbelievable job today mixing it up and spreading the ball around,” Wilson said after the 23-20 Jets loss. “I was seeing it really well. We need to keep building and I need to be better on the details. It’s the little things that win games, and you need to do them to be great.
“I think Hack trusted me better. Still, I need to be better for him. We need to keep growing on this and that’s the mindset for me on every single play.”
Robert Saleh, Wilson’s head coach, agreed regarding the progress.
“He was letting it rip and I thought he did a really nice job,” Saleh said. “I was just really happy for him to go out there and show that he does belong, that he can play in this league. If he plays that way, we’re gonna win a lot of football games.”
Wilson’s fumble with 7:45 left in the game marked the last time the Jets’ offense saw the field, as the Chiefs were able to bleed the clock (possibly with the help of at least one dubious call from referee Alex Kemp’s crew), but other than that, this was more like the Zach Wilson we saw at BYU than anything else we’ve seen to date.
The question is, was it a fluke, or can the Jets and Zach Wilson actually build on this? The answer lies in the tape, so let’s go there.