Denver is the perfect spot for the young QB to turn his career around.
Zach Wilson has been the butt of many an NFL joke since he entered the league in 2021. The former second-overall pick brought some of that upon himself by failing to live up to expectations in New York, but now he’s getting a chance to start over with Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos after the Jets traded him for a late-round pick swap.
History has not been kind to the quarterbacks of the 2021 draft, with Wilson joining Trey Lance, Justin Fields, and Mac Jones as former franchise saviors that have been traded for pennies on the dollar. All four figure to begin the 2024-25 season as backups in their new locales, with Fields in Pittsburgh and now Wilson in Denver having the best opportunities to win their respective starter’s job.
The trade comes not a moment too soon for Wilson, who struggled with unfair expectations after being put behind a bad offensive line on one of the NFL’s most tumultuous, yet demanding, franchises. This past year was especially trying, as Wilson was asked to step up in relief just four plays into the season after Aaron Rodgers went down with an Achilles tear on the season’s first series.
In Denver, Wilson will join a team without the “playoffs or bust” mentality that the Jets espoused last year. The Broncos are in rebuilding mode, which will help alleviate the pressure he’s felt since Roger Goodell first called his name three years ago.
Zach Wilson’s family is glad to see him moving westward, and they’re right to be excited.
As detailed in this New York Post story, Wilson’s mom and dad still live in Utah where he grew up, and they’re already rocking Broncos colors to celebrate their son’s relocation. Wilson’s mother, Lisa, shared several social media posts, including the quarterback in a Broncos jersey, and decorating their front lawn with Broncos flags and balloons. Denver is a whole lot closer than New York is to BYU, where Wilson performed exceptionally well in college. Perhaps most importantly of all, it’s out of the New York limelight and away from a fanbase that he had no hope of winning over.
Not every athlete is cut out to play in New York. It’s the most demanding media market in the nation, a place where every play, quote and off-field decision is put under the most high-powered microscope. Future Hall-of-Famers across several sports have come to New York and crumbled. What chance does a rookie quarterback with the weight of one of the NFL’s longest-suffering fanbases have?
Mark Sanchez was able to find success early in his Jets career, but he was buoyed by a top-notch Rex Ryan defense and a ground-and-pound philosophy on offense that didn’t ask him to do too much. Wilson’s Jets have had good defenses to be sure, but the overall roster and coaching quality that he’s dealt with has been lacking compared to some of those Sanchez teams.
Jarrett Stidham took over as the Broncos’ starter after Russell Wilson was benched late last year,and as of now he’s Zach Wilson’s main competition. Many around the league believe that Denver will draft a quarterback later this week, but with the 12th pick in the first round, they won’t be able to snag one of the top four QB prospects without trading up.
This could mean someone in the Bo Nix/Michael Penix Jr./Spencer Rattler tier, which could give Wilson a real chance to win the starter’s job and attempt to prove himself on his new team. Wilson is less than 14 months older than all three and already has plenty of NFL experience, and as he could tell them, most rookies struggle to take the reins from Day One.
Wilson could also benefit from finally being paired with an offensive coach head coach for the first time in his pro career in Sean Payton, especially after Payton started over by cutting ties with Russell Wilson, the incumbent quarterback that he inherited but never meshed with when he took over as Broncos coach.
We spend a lot of time pointing out the negatives about the athletes we follow, enough to where it’s sometimes easy to forget that they’re people, too. Wilson still has talent, and he’s headed to a place that should be much more conducive to his success. Time will tell if he can reinvigorate his career in Denver, but for now, it’s nice to see him get the chance.
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