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They showed . . .
a picture of Zach Wilson from 2021 compared to Wilson in 2022 on social media.
This was clearly done to show how he’s bulked up.
And that isn’t a bad thing. Extra body armor is good at the quarterback position, where you take a lot of hits.
But it has little to do with the most important thing – taking his game to the next level, which he’s working hard to do this off-season.
One fan responded to this tweet – “Win games. This is irrelevant.”
I guess what the fan is perhaps saying is: “It’s great that he gained weight and muscle, but now he needs to improve his accuracy and read defenses better.”
Maybe they (and I’m not talking about Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh), need to cut back a little on the hype of the QB, and let the QB develop without adding to the intense spotlight he is under.
This is a very important point that can’t be emphasized enough.
Don’t put him in Canton just yet.
Let him grow.
As much as some might want to hype the QB, which obviously is the most important position in the NFL, it’s important to tamp down the pressure on the kid.
Saleh does a nice job of that in his press conferences.
“For Zach, really, it’s just to continue to progress and becoming the starting quarterback and moving in the direction that we all know that he’s capable of,” Saleh said.
And Saleh added: “He doesn’t need to be Tom Brady this year. Now if ends up being that that’s awesome, but that’s not the expectation for him. The expectation is for him to continue to climb that mountain, that’s quarterback play in this league, and we all got his back. He’s got a supporting cast that’s working it’s tail off and from there it’s just piecing it together.”
This is so perfect.
Remember after the Jets picked Wilson, Saleh and Douglas got on the phone with him, and tried to assure him the weight of the world wouldn’t be on his shoulders.
“The biggest thing I want to tell you – remember this – this organization is going to lift you, not the other way around,” Saleh told Wilson
“We have a great support system here, man – we are going to do everything we can so that you can reach your whole potential,” Douglas told Wilson.
So Saleh and Douglas get this importance of not overhyping him, but others might not look at it that way.
The way he’s promoted, it’s almost like he’s considered settled science, and he’s not. We don’t know what he is yet. He’s still a work in progress.
He has a lot of work to do to take that next step, and over-hyping him at this point can’t be a good thing for his mindset.
Saleh and Douglas get this, but everyone needs to be rowing in the same direction.
Everyone needs to be singing from the same hymn sheet.
When you are talking about building a powerful football culture, everything matters.
It’s not just a locker room thing.
So perhaps the Wilson hype needs to be ginned down a little.
For his sake.
June 30, 2022
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