One Thing the Jets Could Not Fix in the Draft

While the Jets added some key pieces in the 2022 NFL Draft, this former NFL scout points out their biggest issue that GM Joe Douglas wasn't able to fix.

Jets fans have been glowing since the draft and gushing over the picks team general manager Joe Douglas made.

Douglas brilliantly added exactly the kinds of offensive players team quarterback Zach Wilson needed. 

Nothing takes pressure off a QB better than a great ground game, and Douglas selected running back Breece Hall to do just that. 

Douglas also added the type of wide receiver his young QB needed by drafting Garrett Wilson.

On paper, it looks like Douglas understood what the team’s QB needed most and he went out and got it done. 

It would seem all should be well in New York. 

However, there is something deeper going on that nobody is talking about. 

Wilson holds the ball too long. 

It was all over last season’s game film and this is the one thing Douglas could not fix this offseason. 

That is because this issue is beyond Douglas’ control. It is an internal issue with Wilson. 

Wilson consistently held the ball too long in the pocket before throwing, and it caused the offense to sputter. 

It caused sacks, interceptions and it caused problems with Wilson’s downfield ball placement being all over the road. His passes downfield tended to be too high, too low or plain off target. 

Part of the issue is Wilson’s lack of confidence and the other part of it is Wilson not being sure of what he is seeing downfield.

Proof is this is found in Wilson’s 11 interceptions on the season, and him being sacked 44 times (third-most in the league). 

The offensive line is quick to get the blame, and that unit was an easy, and almost believable scapegoat. 

That was until backup QB Mike White stepped for an injured Wilson, and magically the offense clicked on all cylinders. 

Suddenly, even the offensive line looked better. 

Why?

White had a quicker release. 

White was noticeably more decisive with the football in the pocket. 

Part of White’s quicker release stemmed from having a bit more experience in the league. However, he just came off with having a lot of confidence.

“I have 100% confidence in myself,” White told reporters in November. “If you ask me, I should have been the first-overall pick.” 

READ: Ex-Jets Scout Praises Joe Douglas For New York's 2022 NFL Draft Class

It is with that same confidence White played with. It is the same confidence he showed against New England and when New York beat the eventual AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals. 

Some will argue that Wilson can develop that same decisiveness with the football with more experience too.

This remains the hope of New York’s fan base. 

However, everything does not always click for first-round QB’s, which is why many have ended up as busts.

The 2021 season proved to be too big of a jump for Wilson. Going from playing a creampuff schedule during his “breakout season” at BYU to going up against NFL defenses was overwhelming and Wilson looked overwhelmed. 

It was too big of an adjustment going from throwing to wide open receivers and receivers, after they had made their route breaks in college. In the NFL, QB’s have to be able to accurately throw timing routes before the receivers make their breaks. 

Wilson resorted to what he did best at BYU, which was playing sandlot football. He was best when improvising and playing outside the box. 

Many of Wilson’s biggest plays last season with the Jets came when he had to ad lib or on trick plays. 

Unless Jets’ offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur is going to build a playbook full of trick plays, Wilson is going to have to show he can stand in the pocket and deliver the ball accurately downfield on time. 

Pre-draft 2021, I identified Wilson lacking instincts to play the QB position as a concern. 

Wilson looked like a manufactured QB at BYU.

What does that mean? 

Everything looked too mechanical. 

Wilson looked like a QB who was groomed to play the position. He looked like a QB who was taught, trained and steered in the direction of being a QB from a young age, but it was not who he really was. 

The increase in talent catering to Wilson’s weaknesses will help, but it will not completely be able to compensate. 

Whether or not he can correct this will be the difference between winning and losing for the New York Jets in 2022.

MORE:

• Ranking the Jets UDFA's Chances of Making the Roster
• What Will Garrett Wilson Mean to the Jets?
• Ex-Jets Scout: Ahmad Gardner Will Be NFL’s Top Cover Corner

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