An ode to Zach Wilson, the third-biggest bust in NFL history

[milestogo]

Welcome to Mount Bustmore, Zach.


Zach Wilson is the bad habit Robert Saleh can’t quit. The mistake he refuses to admit. An endless font of hope that somehow, against the odds, he’ll materialize into a franchise quarterback. On Sunday afternoon Saleh finally pulled the plug on his three year experiment, as Wilson managed to break the one person who was left to believe in him.

Wilson will exist in some fashion in the NFL for a while. He’ll cling on with the Jets, eventually get released, then some team is going to look at him like a fixer-upper and see if they can’t crack the code. It won’t work, but if Sam Darnold and Blaine Gabbert can continue existence in this league — and if Blake Bortles can hang on for eight seasons, then Wilson sure as heck will.

That won’t change that his days as a starting quarterback are effectively over, and he can be chiseled onto Mount Bustmore alongside Ryan Leaf, JaMarcus Russell, and Johnny Manziel. The Four Horsemen of the Football Apocalypse. And you know what? I think Wilson is the third-biggest bust of this group. Nobody in NFL history is going to eclipse Ryan Leaf. His off-field demons, coupled with being the pick after Peyton Manning will forever establish him as the biggest bust in history. After that comes JaMarcus Russell, a desperate, Hail Mary of a No. 1 pick that saw the Raiders pass over TWO Hall of Famers taken immediately after in Calvin Johnson and Joe Thomas.

Then there’s Johnny Football. The player who I think got bailed out by Zach Wilson. Sure, he only played in 14 games before flaming out of the NFL with substance issues, but he was the No. 22 pick. The majority of the league knew this was a bad move when it happened — and only the Browns were dumb enough to pull the trigger. Wilson didn’t earn his spot alone. It takes a village to make a player fail like this. When it comes to the Jets’ quarterback it was a bad game of telephone where almost everyone in league circles talked themselves into believing Wilson was the real deal — even though it made no sense.... Wilson was, and is, the worst quarterback I’ve ever watched get drafted in the Top 5 since covering the draft. I’ve got the receipts to back this up.

https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2023/11/20/23968577/zach-wilson-bust-jets-robert-saleh-nfl

[JT45242]

1. No list of QB busts is complete without Akili Smith and Tim Couch...bigger busts because of draft position andno trade

Tim Couch was taken #1 overall, Akili Smith #3 overall with Donovan McNabb sandwiched in between.

Both of these are bigger busts than Manziel for sure and Leaf as well, because not only did these teams pick piece of crap QB who failed but they turned down Ditka's offer of another teams entire draft to move down to slot #5 in the first round when you knew a RB was going in your slot.

Not sure which is worse, Wilson or the guy the 49ers jettisoned because of what they gave up to get them.

Manziel wasn't taken in the top half of the first round. All QB in the bottom half of round one are at best 50/50 lottery tickets to be servicable. So, by definition he cannot be as big a bust as someone that people either traded into the top 3 to get or turned down all those Ricky Williams picks to get.

[underpants]

2. Not a draft thing but the Browns trade for Watson is a disaster

And they can’t get away from until 2027. Serves them right.

[JT45242]

5. And they gave up 6 draft picks in the top 3 rounds for that serial sexual assaulter

That will go down with the Rocky Colavito trade as one of the worst in Cleveland sports -- and that is hard to say since the NBA had to create a rule that you could not give away all your first round picks in back to back years because of the horrible trades the Cavaliers made.

All that guarenteed money for a guy who had one good season.

[underpants]

7. Yeah. On the lake too.

Crazy.

[gab13by13]

3. What about Brian Bosworth, "The Boz?"

2 time Butkas award winner at Oklahoma, signed the largest rookie contract with the Seahawks.

Want to know where he is today? Check out those Dr. Pepper commercials, The Boz is the cop.

[Raven123]

4. From the wayback machine: Tony Mandarich

Packers #2 overall draft pick. Was suppose to be the best offensive lineman ever, at that time. Never panned out

[NCIndie]

6. Garbage article. Wilson is the product of perhaps the worst franchise in the NFL.

Wilson would be languishing as a backup QB anywhere else, and no one would care about him.

Mount Bustmore with Wilson as the fourth Horsemen of the Football Apocalypse? You need more horses and a bigger mountain. The list of failed Heisman winners who were at least as bad as Wilson (who didn't win the Trophy) is a lot longer than four.

Meh. Go to the QB stats for this year, and ask the bottom five what it's like to suck at QB. Ask numbers 23-50 what it's like to be crappier than Wilson. (I wouldn't him on my team, but let's get real. New York is not the center of the universe -- though it is a magnet for horrid QBs this year, including Jones, Taylor, and DeVito.)

[Best_man23]

8. Years from now it would not surprise me if we find out

That, like JaMarcus Russell and Johnny Football that Zach Wilson didn't do the off-field work to be successful in the NFL.

[True Dough]

9. The guy drafted right after Wilson

Trey Lance, also looking like a bust! Ditto for Mac Jones at #15. What was considered a deep QB draft class has produced Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields (some would say the jury is still out on both of them), but not much else of note.

[milestogo]

10. Up here in Packerland they let new QBs sit on the bench a few years before starting.

Aaron Rodgers was drafted in 2005 but sat on the bench till 2008 while Brett Favre started.

Jordan Love was drafted in 2020 but sat on the bench will 2023 while Aaron Rodgers started.

I don't think its a bad idea to develop a young QB for a few years. Love is doing ok, and I think he's going to be another great one.

[True Dough]

11. "Great one" is a stretch, IMO

Love is tied for 15th with Kirk Cousins in passing yards despite playing two more games. 16 TDs and 10 INTs. His QBR of 47.7 puts him at 22 among QBs.

I think he'll be solidly mediocre, at best.

[milestogo]

13. This is Love's first season playing.

I don't expect "greatness" from him this year, especially when the whole team is so young.

He had over 300 yards yesterday.

[True Dough]

14. He's shown flashes, but also a lot of inconsistency

I'd put money on C.J. Stroud, who's about three years younger and in his rookie season, as a much better bet to achieve greatness.

[milestogo]

15. I haven't watched him.

But I think a lot of the players who end up being MVPs don't start out looking like it.

[Best_man23]

16. Trevor Lawrence is a solid QB, think Jacksonville found their guy

Last edited Wed Nov 22, 2023, 05:06 PM - Edit history (1)

If you were to ask Bears fans their opinion of Fields, I think most would say they're ready to move on and want the Bears to draft another QB in 2024.

[True Dough]

17. I'd give you "solid" in regards to Lawrence

He's top 15 in many QB categories. And he just turned 24.

He had a fine game against the Titans with two passing TDs and ran another couple into the end zone himself. But he had quite a few duds too earlier this season.

There's a decent chance that he blossoms into an elite QB or maybe he'll just remain "solid" for the rest of his career. But hey, he's already earning almost $10 million per year at the level he's at now, so there's a lucrative future ahead, if he can remain healthy.

[True Dough]

18. But there's a few wild stats from this season so far

like Sam Howell leading the league in passing yards at 3,038! Who would have guessed that???

[True Dough]

12. The starter for his weekend

is Tim Boyle, a 29-year-old who has thrown for about 600 yards in his entire NFL career. It's possible things get worse before they get better for the Jets, and that's really saying something!

Trevor Siemian is up next after Boyle.