Patriots Opponent Film Study: Zach Wilson

When scouting quarterback prospects prior to the 2021 draft there was a kid that came out of nowhere from BYU and played with a swagger and style that was reminiscent of some of the greats of the game. I enjoyed each and every game I watched of him. As the draft date neared, those feelings of joy became tempered with sadness as the reports of the evil NY Jets were zeroing in on him. 

Now he became the one that got away. The could have been and the missed opportunity. As a New England Patriot fan, it’s always been a bedrock principle that the Patriots were better than the J-E-T-S because they had a quarterback named Tom-Freakin-Brady. And then they didn’t. Drafting Mac Jones at 15th overall will certainly be compared for years to come with the Jets’ 2nd overall selection. 

As the Patriots travel to East Rutherford, New Jersey to take on the Jets on Sunday I like to gather as much information as possible. I like to combine data and analytics with film review and scheme knowledge. Its the only way to have a clearer picture and check biases that crop up. And despite it being early in the season and we have to be careful of sample size there have been a few things that we can glean from Zach Wilson’s debut against the Carolina Panthers.

Data and Analytics

One of the hardest things for rookie quarterbacks to adjust to in the NFL is the speed and complexity of the defense they are facing. This includes setting protections and responding to pressures from everywhere across the line of scrimmage. This was an even bigger question with Zach Wilson because of the quality of his opponents and his offensive line at BYU was excellent at keeping him upright. 

PFF extensively charts each player on each play and grades their effectiveness. How did Zach Wilson do against situations where the Panthers brought pressure? His completion percentage dropped from the ugly 54.1% overall to a floor of 31.3% when pressured. Two of his turnover-worthy plays also occurred on pressured snaps. 

Maybe he’s better against the blitz? One of the principles they teach young throwers is to throw in the area that the blitzer came from. This will generally leave a hole in the defensive coverage and should allow for an easier completion and perhaps a big play to make them pay for sending extra rushers. Yeah, not so much. His completion percentage on the 12 dropbacks where he was blitzed was 27.3%

Overall his offensive grades were 63.2. How can the Patriots capitalize on this? They can send everyone. They can show everyone and send some. Be Relentless should be the theme of this one. They tallied 13 pressures as a team against the Dolphins and look to improve on that for this next one. The Patriots have the ability to get effective pass-rushing from many different players. Matthew Judon, Josh Uche and Chase Winovich are some of their best edge rushers. Christian Barmore can bring some skills inside. Adrian Philips and Kyle Dugger could provide speed from anywhere on the field. Oh, and did I mention that the offensive line of the Jets is in flux? A reshuffle is in order due to Mekhi Becton’s injury and they have a rookie left guard. This could be a teaching clinic on how to get after a QB.

Around FPC

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Film Study

You may be asking about Wilson’s interception. That did not come on a snap where he was pressured or blitzed. Instead, the scheme and the Linebacker’s discipline resulted in fooling Zach Wilson and made him pay for not seeing the defender. Mark Schofield talked at length about this play in a recent podcast and this is the type of thing that will give young quarterbacks nightmares.

And that’s not to say that the Patriots should expect it to be an easy time of it and walk all over the Jets. The following two clips show what Zach Wilson is capable of. His arm talent and willingness to make aggressive throws may cause the secondary headaches. 

And finally an interesting play from him. It was an incompletion and will likely never be remembered. When Wilson turned from his dropback and sees the free rusher and knows he’s about to get hit. He quickly shortens his reads and throws to the tight end. It was way too early in the down for the receiver to be expecting the throw but it shows a few vital positives. His ability to quicken his reads and make adjustments when needed to speed up. And an accuracy even when off-platform that is deadly.