Zach Wilson not winning over many Jets fans in NFL debut

New York Jets fans hope Zach Wilson is the franchise quarterback they’ve been waiting for but his NFL debut isn’t going particularly well. 

Had the New York Jets not won a couple of meaningless games last season, they would’ve walked to the No. 1 overall pick and Trevor Lawrence. Alas, Adam Gase coached his team to a couple of wins that pushed them down to the No. 2 pick. Yet, they felt hopeful that Zach Wilson, their choice with the second selection, could be the right guy.

After some worrisome offseason practices, though, Wilson looked pretty good in the preseason. But the regular season is a whole different animal and that was evident for the signal-caller out of BYU in Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers.

Through the first half, Wilson was downright awful, going 6-of-16 for 83 yards with an interception and three sacks. And in case you were thinking he would turn that around out of halftime, the rookie quarterback started out the first two drives of the third quarter going 3-of-6 for nine yards and taking another big sack.

To make matters worse, the Panthers had taken a 16-0 lead over the Jets at halftime with former Jets Sam Darnold and Robby Anderson leading Carolina to pole position.

Zach Wilson’s growing pains could be tough to watch for the Jets this season.

There’s no point in fully condemning a rookie quarterback in the first half of his first game or even in his first game. However, for a franchise that has been waiting so long for answers at quarterback, this is not the debut fans were hoping for.

But this might be the way things go for Zach Wilson in his rookie season. Making the jump from BYU — playing a soft schedule in 2020 thanks to the pandemic — to quarterbacking the Jets is unfathomably substantial. That means there are going to be some tough moments.

At the same time, there should also be plenty of flashes. It should be noted that the Carolina defense might be young but is talented and well-coached. This is far from an easy match for the rookie quarterback. It’s going to be a series of ups and downs for the Jets youngster.

That may make it hard to keep the faith but Jets fans would be wise to not write Zach Wilson off just yet. Some good things take time and this could be one of them.