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This isn’t meant to be a criticism . . .
It’s early in the spring, and if you are going to fix a QB, there really hasn’t been enough field time so far, in the OTAs, to really effect change.
But I’m just saying, I didn’t see much of a difference in Zach Wilson in practice, from when we last saw him.
Remember, the Tuesday practice, was the first spring veteran practice reporters got to watch.
There was a huge media contingent in attendance. The press room was packed.
You usually don’t see this for a routine OTA practice.
But the reason for the overflow media crowd was because this was the first practice open to the media with Aaron Rodgers as the QB Jets.
However, as you know, Rodgers tweaked his calf working with a medicine ball in a conditioning drill during stretching, so the media never saw him throw a pass in this practice.
So it was Wilson as QB 1 in this practice.
He had one very nice deep pass to Garrett Wilson that got a lot of coverage. That was a good play by the QB and the receiver. It wasn’t a fly route, but more of a deep route that involved the receiver cutting away from a defensive back.
But aside from that, my biggest takeaway was Wilson was still too tentative in the red zone, too often looking uncomfortable with the congested coverages you often see on that part of the field.
Instead of taking chances in the end zone, he more times than not checked down to running backs, something the defense will give you.
Reading coverages in the red zone is a huge challenge for any QB, especially a young one.
When Tim Boyle came on the field to run the offense for the red zone drill, he looked a little more comfortable.
Once again, in fairness, if you are going to take a time-out with a QB to fix him, you aren’t going to see drastic improvement early in the first spring of the project.
Just saying Wilson still looks like more of a thrower than a passer.
He wants to see guys flash wide open, and then throw a rocket to the receiver. He needs to throw with more timing and anticipation on the NFL level. The throwing windows often aren’t as big in the NFL as in college.
This guy has a lot of work to do.
And we knew that heading into the spring practices.
But this begs the question about who should be the primary backup in Week 1 against Buffalo.
It probably should be Boyle. Right? He worked for two years with Nate Hackett in Green Bay, and is more comfortable with the system.
This shouldn’t be a PR decision. What I mean by that is, the team shouldn’t worry about what the media and fan reaction is to Boyle being ahead of Wilson in Week 1. “Oh my goodness, the second overall pick is behind journeyman Tim Boyle?” How the outside world reacts, shouldn’t matter to a good culture. Just do what is best for the team.
Once again, not to make too big of a deal about one spring practice, but that red zone drill really made it clear, this guy has a long way to go in his reincarnation.
May 25, 2023
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