Jets GM: We could've handled Zach Wilson's NFL transition differently
New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas said he would've handled Zach Wilson's transition to the NFL differently if he had the chance.
"In today's NFL, when you take a quarterback in the first round … time's against you," Douglas recently told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. "And you need to see what you have so you can make a decision in that four-year window, three-year window.
"I think going back, it would have been great to have a veteran quarterback like a Joe Flacco that first season. But ultimately, we made the decision to jump in head first with our youth movement. … I think we saw some of the benefits of that last year. But sometimes you don't take into account the ramifications of playing a young quarterback early in his career. If I had to do everything over again, I would have probably had that veteran presence in the room early for Zach."
Wilson has failed to live up to expectations since the Jets drafted him second overall in 2021. The BYU product passed for 15 touchdowns against 18 interceptions over his first two seasons in the league while posting an 8-14 record as a starter.
He started 13 games as a rookie, with a knee injury forcing him to miss four games midway through the campaign. Wilson and Mike White were New York's top two quarterbacks entering that campaign, and the Jets traded for Flacco after Wilson went down six weeks into the season.
Wilson also missed the first three games of the 2022 campaign with a knee ailment. He kept his QB1 status after being cleared to play, but struggles on the field eventually resulted in New York benching him for White. The Jets - owners of a top-five defense last year - started four different quarterbacks in 2022.
New York aggressively addressed its quarterback position this offseason, acquiring four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers via trade with the Green Bay Packers.
"Zach has an unbelievable ceiling, and Zach is wired the right way in terms of his love of the game, his work ethic, his attention to detail," Douglas said. "And so, this is a great opportunity for him to shadow one of the best passers of all time in Aaron Rodgers and pick up every little thing he can from him and get better every day."