Zach Wilson vs the Miami Dolphins
The Jets and Zach wilson are getting better offensively. That being said, he still has some work to do and needs to continue to develop in some key areas. He is also doing it with a a banged up wr core and without key play makers in the passing game at WR and RB.
1. Stepping up in the pocket and making big throws in pressure situations. Not looking to scramble every time some pressure is in his lap.
2. Making reads and staying on the vertical routes longer, not settling for the easy check downs on a consistent basis.
3. Improving in the drop back game, and starting to throw more intermediate routes.
4. In order to be an elite qb, he has to get better on third down. Since his return, he is 12/45 on 3rd down which is 31st in the NFL during that span. The only qb worse is Mac Jones of the Patriots.
5. Being more efficient in the red zone. Jets are 27th in the red zone and part of that is not having a go to wr down in this area. They lack a wr with size and ball skills down there.
In the big picture a qb makes his mark on 3rd down, when he has to make a throw in the pocket in a pivotal situation. He has to improve in this area to really get to the next level.
Zach is good on early downs and benefits from a heavy play action passing game with various boot routes. He also benefits from some jet sweeps that are passes but also from the rpo swing game. The Jets love running that play and it's an easy read for their qb. Lastly, they are very conservative rarely throwing the ball downfield on early downs which greatly helps his completion percentage, but also gets teams to start bringing edge pressures, a tremendous amount of cover 2 and man free coverages which is what the Dolphins did in week 15 in the 2nd half.
vs the Dolphins
13/23 170 yards 3/11 on 3rd down
Lets look at 1st and 2nd down vs miami . Zach was 10/12 on 1st and 2nd down benefiting from a heavy play action and short passing game.
Here's a look at some of the play calls.
2nd and 4 Boot for 16 yards to Griffin
2nd and 2 rpo swing to for 2 yards to Carter
1st and 10 drop back , quick out 14 yards to Crowder
1st and 10 Boot, 19 yards to Wesco
2nd and goal swing pass 4 yards berrios
2nd and 8 Quick out for 12 yards in the flat to Kroft
2nd and 9 Incomplete pass vs man free rat that was intended for crowder no one open
2nd and 5 Boot that wasn't open but got bailed out by a roughing the passer penalty
2nd and 7 Hitch route, 6 yards completed to Crowder
1st and 10 Trick play 24 yards to kroft from Wilson
hitch to crowder 7 yards, dig was open , he didn't stay on the read ,took the hitch for 7. These are the throws he has to be patient and make the read on.
1st and 10 option route sack , Carter gets beat in protection, Crowder beats him inside, but runs the whip route. Did he need to convert it or could he have just kept going and run the crossing route. Not sure if that was a choice but it may have been.
2nd 19 incomplete slant to crowder , the pass gets deflected.
3rd quarter
2nd and 10 bad read rpo,,,,1st series 2nd half film
3rd quarter
1st and 10 boot edge pressure near sack
1st and 10 boot edge pressure sack
2nd and 18 9 yard crowder 3 hitch .
4th quarter
1st and 10. 24 boot screen to the te Kroft. Nice design and gain.
1st and 10 drop back swing with 2 slants lt gets beat horrible routes fumble and turnover.
2nd and 12. fade to mims vs man free coverage, incomplete pass
2nd and 8. Tries to hit the deep dig with the back releasing late. The Dolphins play man free and no place to go with the ball.
The Jets were 3/11 efficiency on 3rd down which has been an issue over the past 4 games.
Here are some examples of some miss opportunities in the game.
3rd and 7 miami 9 they run a sit by #1 with a wheel, tight window but he scrambles, could he have hit kroft? (See clip below) Possibly could have stepped up in the pocket and hit Kroft for the nice gain.
After 2 bad plays they get a big 3rd and 11 to start the 2nd half.
This was the biggest play before the half as Zach missed a wide open big gain. They run a post pattern with a dig and the Dolphins are in cover 2 with no middle of the field safety. The play is wide open. Possible big gain instead they have to punt on the next play. This was the biggest miss of the game.
They were up 17-10 at the time and this was a bog opportunity to keep the chains moving.
Here are 3 clips that show the problems mentioned above. You'll see a nice easy big gain on the 3rd and 11 with the clean pocket.
3rd and 4 scramble bad route on the smash ....wants to throw it #2 too deep on the smash route but the wr never breaks it off and gives Zach a chance to make the throw. Should he have adjusted his pattern depth? He gets lucky and scrambles for 6 yards. (see clip below)
3rd and 9 protection breakdown.. Nothing that can be done as The line is sliding left but Mc Dermott goes the wrong way and he gets sacked( See clip below)
up to the 4th quarter...
3rd and 12 sack man free coverage, no separation, now one open downfield. You can see the 4 pictures below where there was not a time where he could make a throw and Wilson eventually gets sacked.
3rd and 7
They run mesh to the 3x1 side with the rb releasing that side. The Dolphins go cover 2 after going man free on some of the earlier snaps. The only routes he can throw is the crosser to the rb. He takes the rb and even if he caught it it would be short of the 1st down. Don't think he has the option of hitting the #1 wr and they don't sit the 2nd crosser down going away from the mesh.
Not much Zach can do with the ball.
As you can see, the Jets are trying to really simplify things on the early downs but have to be more efficient on third down. Wilson needs to progress and start taking some shots on the intermediate deeper routes when the read takes him there. Overall, he needs to keep getting better and has shown some improvement.
