Jets general manager Joe Douglas didn’t want to tip his hand Thursday about which way the Jets are leaning with the No. 2 pick in the upcoming 2021 NFL Draft, but all indications seem to be that BYU quarterback Zach Wilson will be Gang Green’s next quarterback.
And according to a new report from NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala, Wilson has already begun reaching out to former Jets QBs to pick their brains about playing in the spotlight of the Big Apple.
“Zach Wilson‘s story is that he’s a preparer,” Kinkhabwala said on NFL Network. “I talked to John Beck, his quarterback coach who’s known him forever just a few hours ago, and he was saying how when he was in high school, Zach was preparing to be a college quarterback.
“When he was in college, he was preparing to be an NFL quarterback, and now as it looks like he’s going to the Jets, he’s been preparing to be a Jets quarterback, and to that end, Beck told me today that he has gotten on the phone with Chad Pennington, Josh McCown, and Mark Sanchez to talk about what it means to play for that organization in that environment.
“That, to me, says that he is trying to eliminate any of the unknowns.”
Wilson to the Jets at No. 2 is a consensus pick in every single mock draft at this point, and while Douglas didn’t want to talk about individual draft prospects when he met with the media on Thursday afternoon, he did describe the traits that he’s looking for in the Jets’ next signal-caller.
“Obviously scheme fit is important,” Douglas explained. “There’s so many traits you look for. Like you guys have heard me say, it’s the most important position in sports and there’s a lot that goes into it. Obviously, there’s the physical traits that go into it — the arm talent, the athleticism. Then there’s the intangible traits. The intelligence, the leadership, the mental toughness, the physical toughness. There’s really so many traits that goes into every quarterback evaluation and ultimately those traits are so important in determining a quarterback’s success.”
