Ever since Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending torn Achilles in Week 1 versus the Buffalo Bills, Zach Wilson has been the starting quarterback of the New York Jets. It has been far from a smooth process for the Jets adjusting from Rodgers to Wilson under center, especially with Nathaniel Hackett calling the plays.
Wilson has flashed some improvements in his game, but he still isn’t providing the consistency that is needed from the quarterback position. As the Jets head into their bye week in Week 7, how is Wilson faring in terms of quarterback efficiency numbers?
When looking at his general numbers, Wilson is completing a career-best 60.4 percent of his passes for 1,097 yards, four touchdowns, and five interceptions. The Jets are 3-3 entering the bye week following a win over the Philadelphia Eagles, and their next three games come against the New York Giants, the Los Angeles Chargers, and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Upon taking a deeper dive, Wilson is posting a league-worst mark in EPA per play at -0.208, according to rbsdm.com. Daniel Jones has the second-worst EPA per play among 33 qualified quarterbacks at -0.191.
Wilson boasts the worst success rate (36.9%) and the ninth-worst CPOE (-1.9) through the first six weeks. A mixture of Hackett not allowing Wilson to push the ball down the field often and the third-year quarterback being gun-shy in certain moments has led to him being tied for the 10th-lowest air yards per attempt (7.3).
The defense of the Jets has been outstanding again this season, making things difficult on some of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Jalen Hurts. But if the Jets want to remain in contention in the AFC, Wilson will need to be much better down the stretch.
