How did Zach Wilson do vs. the Dolphins?
Zach Wilson’s performance against the Dolphins is proof that box score stats shouldn’t be considered when analyzing quarterback play.
Wilson, who completed 13 of 23 passes for 170 yards, played much better than the stat sheet indicates.
Despite not making many flashy plays through the air, the New York Jets’ young quarterback showed improvement.
Wilson looked more poised and decisive, and he had better short game accuracy than in previous weeks. He did that against a tough Dolphins defense, too – an aggressive squad that gives quarterbacks all sorts of trouble.
Regardless of the stat sheet, Wilson had one of his best games of the season, hitting the layups and occasionally showing his ability to make off-schedule plays.
With the big picture in mind, it’s encouraging to notice that Wilson’s improvement came in a less than ideal situation. The Jets quarterback had to deal with poor separation and pass protection for the majority of the game. Yet, he still played with more confidence and moxie – a sign that things are starting to change for him.
Make no mistake about it: Zach was far from perfect. He is still not trusting his eyes at times, and I’d say the main goal for the BYU product until the end of the season is to learn how to play inside the phone booth, in the pocket.
Nonetheless, considering the matchup and the job done by Jets’ receivers and offensive line, Wilson’s positives far outweigh the negatives in this game.
Zach finally looked like a confident quarterback. He committed mistakes, but they were acceptable ones.
The mistakes Wilson made were normal “rookie mistakes”. There weren’t any “quarterback without confidence” mistakes – which was the most worrying aspect of his game up until last week.
Wilson does not need to turn into an All-Pro mistake-free quarterback in one night. No one believes that’s possible.
The only thing Wilson needs to do is to show weekly improvement – and that was exactly what happened against Miami.
Wilson was ordinary, which was all the Jets needed to see from him.
The Jets needed their signal-caller to play like an NFL quarterback. Wilson did it, which is the first step toward letting his outstanding natural talent shine.
Wilson is talented. There is no question about that.
So, if he continues to improve on the mental part of the game – processing and just playing calmer overall – his natural talent will be the cherry on top of everything and will freely shine on Sundays.
With a positive outlook in mind, this week’s breakdown is an optimistic one on Wilson.
Sure, there will be a share of bad plays, but the good outweighs the bad:
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