NFL Draft: Jets take BYU QB Zach Wilson second overall, then trade up for USC lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker
The Jets are officially Zach Wilson’s team now.
The worst-kept secret involving the Jets was revealed on Thursday night when general manager Joe Douglas selected Wilson with the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft. It was long rumored that the Jets had zeroed in on the BYU product to be their latest franchise quarterback.
Wilson said he knew a couple of weeks back and began reaching out to former Jets quarterbacks, including Josh McCown and Mark Sanchez, to pick their brains and was excited to play for them.
"This is what I was hoping for," Wilson said. "This is what me and my family were praying for is to be in this situation and go play for the Jets. We’re so excited to be here."
Douglas almost immediately started building around Wilson. Looking to improve the interior of the offensive line, Douglas traded up to draft USC guard Alijah Vera-Tucker with the No. 14 pick.
The Jets sent picks No. 23, 66 and 86 to the Minnesota Vikings for 14 and No. 143 in the fourth round. It was a lot to give up, but Vera-Tucker is considered the best guard in the draft. Douglas said Vera-Tucker was a "top 10" player on their board. He could line up next to left tackle Mekhi Becton for many years.
This move left the Jets with only a second-round pick (No. 34) in Day 2 of the draft. But trader Joe could make more moves. The Jets have six picks in Rounds 4-7 now.
Wilson became the third quarterback that the Jets drafted in the top five since 2009, joining Sanchez and Sam Darnold. The Jets traded Darnold to Carolina on April 5 for a sixth-round choice in this draft and two picks next year.
The Jets went 2-14 last season and have missed the playoffs for 10 straight years. They believe that the 6-2 Wilson can be the quarterback to change that. Wilson does, too.
"When a team isn’t doing super well and you can go in there and actually be a key piece into what actually flips that organization around that’s so special," Wilson said. "I’m so excited.
Wilson is considered a great fit for new offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur’s wide-zone scheme that uses a lot of play-action passes, quarterback rollouts and throws on the run.
BYU ran tenets of that offense last year, and Wilson excelled in it. He showed the ability to make any throw and at any arm angle. As a junior, Wilson threw 33 touchdown passes and ran for 10 more while leading the Cougars to an 11-1 record.
"If I had to write exactly the offense I’d want to play in, it would be right there," Wilson said. "I think the coaching staff is exactly what I need and the scheme is right there."
Wilson’s meteoric rise after throwing 11 touchdown passes as a sophomore led to him becoming the first quarterback of the Robert Saleh era.
"The things that we value out of quarterback play, he checks every box," Saleh said.
Some question whether Wilson’s breakout season will transfer to the NFL, especially because he didn’t play against the competition that quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence of Clemson, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and Alabama’s Mac Jones faced.
Douglas certainly wasn’t concerned. He had the opportunity to draft Fields and Jones. Douglas opted to give the keys to the Jets’ franchise to Wilson. Lawrence went first overall to the Jaguars. Douglas was especially impressed with how Wilson conducted himself in the Zoom meetings.
"Love the confidence, love the energy, love the passion," Douglas said. "In our Zoom calls one of the things that really stood out was just his intensity. He was on the edge of his seat. He was close to the camera. You could tell how intensely focused he was. Then on top of it the mental horsepower, the recall going through these plays and knowing exactly the situation, the play calls, the audibles, how the defense was going to react.
"Every hurdle that we had in our predraft process we felt like he cleared."
Wilson, who grew up in Utah, said he’s not worried about being under the microscope in the New York market and the pressure on him as the Jets quarterback.
"I’m excited to take this full on," Wilson said, "because since I was 7 years old, we’ve been working on how to handle being an NFL player."
