Tale Of The Tape: Breakdown of NFL Draft Prospect Zach Wilson

Zach Wilson is one of the most interesting players in the 2021 draft class. He had a meteoric rise up draft boards this season. Entering the season as a relative unknown, Wilson caught my eye early after a dismantling of Louisiana Tech’s defense. He had 325 yards and two touchdowns with a 92% completion percentage. 

Over the next few months, Wilson would capture the attention and hearts of football fans everywhere, his stellar play leading BYU to their best season in a decade. With his great play, Zach Wilson has entered his name into the early first-round conversation, but who is Zach Wilson as a player? For that, we look to the tape.

If there’s one word I’d use to describe Zach Wilson’s play, it’s fun. At no point in watching Wilson will you feel sleepy. There is no yawning while watching him play. He will make some of the craziest throws that you will ever see. Routinely you will see Wilson roll out and hit a 50+ yard throw into a tight window, all on the run of course. He will evade rushers, then fling a pass right on the money downfield. He is great throwing on the run, still able to put balls in extremely tight windows.

There’s not a tight window that Wilson did not love to challenge, and more times than not he hits the throw. This is due to his great arm talent. The ball flies out of Wilson’s hand, with more than enough zip. His ball placement at times is mind-boggling. He will put a ball only where the receiver can get it. Wilson sometimes reminds me of a professional dart thrower, how he can so accurately put passes precisely where it needs to be. Wilson has good overall accuracy, there aren’t many errant passes on his film.

What I love a lot about Wilson is how tough of a runner he is. He’s more than capable of scrambling, and he’s fearless when he runs. You can see his passion for the game every time he takes off. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to score and bring his team to victory. He has good speed but I wouldn’t call him the most elusive in the open field. In the pocket, he’s a bit more mobile, able to sidestep defenders and move around the pocket before finding a man downfield.

There is a lot to like about Wilson, with his fearless style combined with great arm talent and ball placement. I feel that what makes Wilson so great is what can possibly hamper him in the future. As mentioned earlier, there isn’t a tight window that Wilson isn’t willing to challenge. There are some dangerous throws on tape that could’ve been picked off. He reminds me a lot of Baker Mayfield, or for an even higher-end comparison Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, in his gunslinging mentality. I think a team needs to have him sit a year to reign him in a bit.

In addition, I think Wilson’s a bit raw as a quarterback. He isn’t the fastest processor or reader of the field. I don’t think he’s bad or hopeless, but he definitely isn’t Joe Burrow. I wouldn’t call him a bad decision-maker, he just a lot of times looks for the big play. A noticeable thing I feel he should improve on is, he will see his target, pump fake, then throw it anyway to a covered up receiver. I see most of his missed passes due to timing as well. I think that sitting and learning could help him further learn and progress as a quarterback, learning how to get himself in a rhythm and play a tad bit less loose (You don’t want to reign him in too much though.) He’s just missing some of the subtle nuances you want from your quarterback, but he’s still young and has room to grow.

After watching Wilson, I can easily see his great upside. He has a ton of arm talent and a major knack for making big plays happen. He has good accuracy and some great ball placement. He is a very fun gunslinger with a ton of potential. He has some problems currently though. I think he still has some things to work on with his overall game to become a more complete player. A team should draft him high with the intention of sitting him for a year or two and ironing out some kinks. He has some risk attached to his playstyle, but also has some major franchise quarterback potential.

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-By: Jacob Keppen