Rescuing Zach Wilson is smart. Stopping at Zach Wilson is hubris.
As a quarterback, Wilson’s merely appetizer material. A side-dish slinger. If the NFL Draft is still serving Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr. as a main course, and at a reasonable cost, the Broncos would be crazy not to bite.
A QB room consisting of Wilson, Jarrett Stidham, Ben DiNucci and a seventh-round flier to be named late would be the worst in the division. And dead last in an AFC that’s still loaded with franchise signal-callers.
In isolation, though, you get it. Landing Wilson from the Jets with a seventh-round pick for a sixth-rounder is a solid, low-cap, low-risk move.
It just better not be the only one, at least where the quarterback is concerned.
After Russell Wilson took the money and ran, the best thing the Broncos could do at QB1 right now is open this competition to the masses. Bring in as many bodies as you can afford until one of them actually sticks.
And, on paper, this body’s got more upside than most. Maybe. The draftniks at NFL.com three years ago described the 24-year-old Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick in the ’21 draft, as a “blend (of) Jake Plummer and Johnny Manziel coming out of (BYU).” Which is both awesome (the Plummer part) and terrifying (the Manziel part) in the same sentence.
On one hand, the kid did beat Russell Wilson, head-to-head, at Empower Field as a visiting QB with the Jets twice in two trips since September 2022.
On the other, what the heck does that say?
If you look at Zach Wilson’s 30 career starts against anyone not named the Broncos, he’s sported a 10-20 record, thrown 23 touchdowns and 22 picks, and completed 17 passes per game at a clip of 56.5%.
Also, he got benched for Trevor Siemian. 2023 Trevor Siemian.
Wiser football heads, old coaches and scouts texted me Monday to say they still see a spark in young Zach, that nobody could’ve walked away from the dumpster fire that is the J-E-T-S without some second-degree burns. That maybe Broncos QB Whisperer Sean Payton* is the sensei who winds up bringing it out of the guy. The way he brought it out of Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater and Kerry Collins, another top-five bust in his early days with Carolina.
Although with the latter, it’s worth noting that Collins went 16-9 as a starter over his first two seasons with the Panthers, pre-Payton. He even made a Pro Bowl during his second season in the league before things went south. Wilson, at a similar stage in his career, hasn’t come anywhere close to that.
As depth, though, he works. As insurance, he fits. If anything, it means Payton and GM George Paton don’t have to feel forced to sell whatever farm is left in order to try to swoop into one of the top 5 picks in the draft. It probably also means that they’re not sure if they’ve got the capital to even pull that off.
Unless the tank for 2025 — a reality show of Shedeur Sanders, Deion Sanders and Peyton would be more theater than these mountains could handle — is truly on, Wilson helps a QB room. He doesn’t complete it. Add Penix or Nix to that mix, though? Now you’re cookin’ with gas.
Wilson is the banana bread French toast at Panzano, the mac & cheese at Nola Jane. A great first bite. But if he’s the last, this offseason is going to leave Broncos Country with a familiar, empty feeling in the pit of their stomachs.
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