Detroit Jock City
Fansided

Detroit Lions Draft Prospect: Quarterback Zach Wilson

By Nathan Williams

BOCA RATON, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 22: Zach Wilson #1 of the Brigham Young Cougars looks on prior to the game against the Central Florida Knights at FAU Stadium on December 22, 2020 in Boca Raton, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
BOCA RATON, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 22: Zach Wilson #1 of the Brigham Young Cougars looks on prior to the game against the Central Florida Knights at FAU Stadium on December 22, 2020 in Boca Raton, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
Detroit Lions
(Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /

Weaknesses and Flaws

  • Decision making needs work.
  • Predetermining where throws are headed
  • Leaves wide receivers open to big hits
  • Working through reads at times

So that last bullet point contradicts what I said a bit. That’s because there were times that I saw Wilson do a good job at working through his reads on throws, and other times that I also seen some really poor choices made on the field.

Some of that is him learning from his mistakes, hopefully.

There were dozens of plays that I noticed Wilson would throw to the first receiver in his progression when there were other clear targets open down the field that could maximize gains in yardage.

I have also seen some really ill-advised shovel passes that had the potential to be turnovers if things had gone even the slightest bit wrong.

It worked there, but there were a lot of times it could have ended up bad.

More from Detroit Lions

He tends to often show the defense where his primary target is on the field. He attempts to look the safety’s off, but when the defense is in a two safety zone and be pump fakes to the sweeping running back, it tells the deep safety to sit on his side of the field, right where his wideout is headed.

Probably me nit-picking, but I saw it more than once.

My biggest concern, however, is him leaving his wide receivers open to big hits. That is something that goes back to that lurking safety. I noticed Wilson squeezing his throws into tight windows just for his teammate to get blown up by the waiting defensive backs in more than one game.

I’m aware that is part of playing the game, but guys at the professional level are going to remember their quarterback doing this routinely.

Home/Detroit Lions