ESPN analyst issues blame for Zach Wilson failing with Jets

During a Monday appearance on the "NFL Live" program, Dan Orlovsky left little doubt that he blames the Jets for how signal-caller Zach Wilson failed with the organization across three seasons. 

"This is the Jets' fault," Orlovsky explained, as shared by Sean Keeley of The Comeback. "They failed Zach Wilson. There has to be so much to be learned by other teams. Specific to the Jets, Zach Wilson had flaws coming out of college. They immediately put him on the field. When you take players that have specifically mechanical flaws and you put them on the field, you set them up for failure."

Orlovsky didn't necessarily say anything controversial even in the eyes of the Jets. Back in January, Jets head coach Robert Saleh acknowledged that he wished the club "would have probably given [Wilson] that first year" to learn about life in the NFL as a backup. 

Wilson instead played in 13 games as a rookie, was benched multiple times during the 2022 campaign, and was thrust back into the starting lineup well ahead of schedule after Aaron Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles four offensive snaps into the 2023 regular season opener.

"The two things that were Zach’s issues coming out of school were, he was, in his lower half, a problem," Orlovsky continued. "And mechanically not consistent. That’s never been fixed. Partly because of having to play right away and then he panicked with the football, and that has never been fixed, partly because he had to play right away. So, there is some onus on the player but in many ways, this is a Jets failure." 

On Monday, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio noted that Wilson likely will be little more than "a third-string flier" and "a developmental project" who likely won't play during the 2024 season with the Broncos. Such a reset should allow Denver to determine if supposed "mechanical flaws" that impacted Wilson over the past three years can be corrected. 

According to Pro Football Reference, Wilson finished the 2023 regular season ranked last in the league among qualified players with a 30.6 adjusted QBR and 30th out of 32 quarterbacks with a 77.2 rating. Whether Denver head coach Sean Payton can turn such a player into a legitimate QB1 before September 2025 remains to be seen.