Dan Orlovsky Tells Zach Wilson To "Grow The Fudge Up" And You Can't Help But Wholeheartedly Agree With Him
Sometimes it's fun to use "bro" or "man" or "dude" in a good-natured way, but the derisive way ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said this to New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson is notable. However, the line that really had me rolling was the following:
"You're not in the Mountain West anymore, champ."
Because yes, Zach Wilson is a dude/bro/punk kid/fuckboi/champ. I don't blame him, to be honest. Being asked to be the face of a moribund football operation in the New York media market, and to be barely 23 years old in your second season takes an uncommon, frankly unfair amount of maturity, football IQ, and good decision-making on and off the field.
Zach Wilson hasn't shown any of those qualities. The most notable thing about his NFL career stems from how he was reportedly slinging dick with an older woman in the offseason, leading to a cascade of "Cougar" jokes that invoked Wilson's BYU mascot and harkened back to his glory days, or: one spectacular season of college football.
If you said before the season the Jets would be 5-3 through eight games, you'd almost automatically assume Wilson had taken that "next step" or "Year 2 leap" that catapults many QBs and NFL players toward realizing their full potential. At least so far, that hasn't happened with Wilson. I did a longform dissection of the 2021 first-round QB class recently, analyzing how good it was supposed to be…but isn't.
And that held true this past weekend, too. No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence threw an interception on the 1-fucking-yard line and blew the Jaguars' game in London. Somehow, the man drafted just after him — yup, that'd be Zach Wilson — fared WORSE.
I can't believe some people actually thought Wilson wouldn't faceplant against the Patriots. Bill Belichick eats first- and second-year quarterbacks alive. New England's Monday night dud versus Justin Fields and Chicago was a total shock and the rare exception to the rule just spelled out. If I'm not mistaken, the Pats had defeated the Jets 12 straight times. This was the bounce-back spot of all bounce-back spots.
So in the aforementioned deep dive I did, I spoke about how I looooooved Wilson as a prospect. His downfield throwing prowess in particular popped off the screen — and still does, by the way! He was getting personal coaching from former BYU/NFL vet John Beck, and with some form of the 49ers' offense coming over to New York on Robert Saleh's staff, I figured everything was lining up for Wilson to explode to NFL stardom.
While Wilson still makes throws like this on occasion…
Look at these boneheaded interceptions where he has poor mechanics, and you get why Orlovsky is saying what he's saying when he says "carelessness vs. aggression" and "confidence vs. ego"…
Those giveaways are mindless, stupid, bad football and it's cringe-worthy "entertainment." The more quarterbacks playing at a high level there are, the better the NFL is. Wilson seems to have all the physical tools to get it done. Whether it's a work ethic thing, a lifestyle thing or a just flat-out "the lights are too bright" thing, it blows that he's sucking this badly.
Doesn't seem like Wilson really cares to own up to his faults, either.
Was just writing about Russell Westbrook and thought about how I used to have full belly laughs because of his insane shot selection. That type of thing happens whenever I see Wilson's latest god-awful pick. Then I have this weird reflection period where I'm just like, "Damn…why isn't he better?" It's not even an ego-driven thing where I neeeeeeeed to be right on my from-afar pre-draft evaluation, because look at all the moronic GMs who pick bust quarterbacks and it's their actual job!
No no no. What I want is Zach Wilson to actually get his head out of his ass and play some good, quality football for more than a quarter at a time. This Jets team is ready to compete now. If Wilson doesn't show something down the stretch, it won't be the least bit shocking if they move off him. Right now, I'd say it's gonna happen. Praying for the Gang Green faithful and their general well-being that the guy turns it around.
I thought there was no timeline/reality/simulation in which Wilson's tenure with the Jets would possibly look worse than Sam Darnold's. I think we're almost getting there at this point. Just gonna leave this here…
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