So he’s a career backup who got overdrafted then?
The Jets hitched their wagon to a guy who had a cannon for an arm but was not a good QB. That’s where the failure happened. They weren’t asking him to be Superman, they were asking him not to be Jamarcus Russell but he couldn’t even do that.
Short answer: They failed because they threw a QB into a fire he wasn't ready for, and they missed badly on offensive/QB specific coaching hires and OL signings (injuries played a role) during his time as the unquestioned starter. The QB failed because he lacked maturity and lost the locker room. By the time he got his attitude together, it was too late as the OL and coaching was still ass. Both sides played a significant role.
Long answer: Here's the thing.
Any player drafted in the top 5-10 has expectations from the organization of not only starting immediately but either playing well or showing enough flashes to where you can confidently say "He's the guy, we need to build around him." Zach Wilson was drafted to be Superman because of an impressive throw he made in a controlled environment with no pads, no pass rush, and nothing going on to make that throw harder.
Front offices need to temper their damn expectations. A QB needy organization drafted a QB that had maybe the highest ceiling coming out, but was also a one-year wonder who frankly needed to sit. That's not how shyt works in NY, given Jets media and Madden appears to have more of a say on how the front office looks at rosters than the coaches do. NY expects greatness sooner than later
Anyway, where the Jets failed was not giving him good coaching off the rip, and never getting the OL issue corrected. The 2021 draft itself, the front office tried. They picked Alijah Vera-Tucker after him (who has since been plagued by injuries) and brought in Elijah Moore, who is a WR that I think is considerably better than what his career shows. Regardless, Wilson wasn't ready to play as a rookie, and the Jets were across the board terrible. It's cool, I'll say it's a wash.
2022, the Jets have an amazing draft as far as cornerstones, and they start out well because of a championship-caliber defense. With them bringing Garrett and Breece into the fold, expectations increase on Zach, and this is where Zach takes his share of the blame. He showed his immaturity and lost the locker room, as it was clear they were winning in spite of him. It didn't help that the guy who made the offense go -- Breece -- tore his ACL midway through the season.
2023 Zach is what you're looking to see from him in 2021. Flashes. But by now, it's two years too late (really one), he played behind a terrible OL and Nathaniel Hackett was his OC. Nobody wins in that situation. Hell, Aaron Rodgers came in during 2024, had what is objectively a top 5 QB season in Jets history, and they still won less games this year in the previous two years with Zach mainly at the helm.
The Jets have never truly developed a QB into something, and coincidentally enough QBs who have left the Jets go on to actually look like something in competent organizations.
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