From all accounts, Zach Wilson played well in his two preseason games as the Jets starting quarterback. He registered a quarterback rating of 104.2 and 104.7, and most importantly, he has not turned the ball over. He had the offense moving.
The Jets have been singing sweet music about their once-franchise quarterback by praising him at every opportunity. Jets starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers raved about how the Jets are in a good situation with Wilson playing well as a backup.
It’s all well and good that the Jets and Rodgers are saying the right things about the 2021 No. 2 overall draft pick, but the reality is that it will be a shocker if Wilson ever starts or play again for the team.
Rodgers likely wants to stay as long as he can if he does well for the Jets, and by the time he is done, Wilson is going to be a free agent. Why would he want to stick around and play for the Jets after what has been a bad experience for him?
The third-year Jets quarterback needs a reset after two rocky seasons. It’s hard to believe he can recover after being booed out of his job and losing his teammates altogether when he refused to take any blame for his inept performance against the New England Patriots at Foxborough in what was a winnable game that turned out to be a loss.
Sure Wilson is saying the right things, but deep down inside, he has to feel he deserved better by the Jets. He never had a chance to do well because his offensive line was terrible and he never had the proper coaching staff to help him get through his offensive struggles.
Robert Saleh has a chance to be a good coach for the New York Jets, but when they drafted a quarterback two years ago, they should have hired an offensive head coach that can grow on the job with the No.2 overall pick. It just makes sense that the Jets put a premium on offense to make this quarterback pick right rather than hiring a defensive coach.
Saleh did all he could to help Wilson, but the bottom line it just never made sense from the get-go.
Wilson is not going to want to wait that long to start, especially if Rodgers keeps playing into his 40s. He has this year and next season to go with his contract. The Jets could pick up his option, but why would they pick it up and pay for an expensive backup? It would not make sense when the Jets need to start paying their young players such as Garrett Wilson and Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner when their rookie deals are up.
Shoot, why would Wilson want to waste his time watching Rodgers play while waiting his turn? The last thing he wants to do is be rusty and lose all of his skills by watching from the sidelines.
The Jets and Wilson can say all the right things they want, but let’s use common sense and apply it to both parties here. It doesn’t make sense from either perspective.
They may have no choice, but to trade their backup quarterback and get a live body or a draft pick. They are not going to get much value return for him. If they get something for him, that’s an accomplishment in itself.
The once quarterback of the future likely made up his mind he needed a restart after last season’s experience. He may have hope for a trade this offseason, but it never happened since the Jets couldn’t trade him with his value low. I doubt experience with Rodgers will change things. The damage was already done last season.
He earned the right to get a fresh start elsewhere. He has a chance to be good with a good offensive coach and a great organization. He has the arm and height to play quarterback. If he could have gotten better protection from the offensive line last season, he could have been salvageable.
I just don’t see how this is all going to work for him here, even if he got another shot. Once he loses his teammates, it’s hard to get it back ever again.
The Jets and Wilson can say all the right things all they want, but they know better. Definitely, the fans know better. There’s no point of envisioning a feel-good ending here.
Don’t even think about Rogers being injured scenario. For one thing, he has been durable. Second of all, if this ever happens, this season is all but over since his teammates don’t even want the backup quarterback to ever start and it would be open season for fans to get on Wilson again.
Wilson’s career as a Jet ended last season, and it’s not even salvageable at this point.
You can read Leslie's Jersey Sporting News columns on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
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