In three years with the New York Jets and Denver Broncos, quarterback Zach Wilson hasn't had many high points. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft was 12-21 as a starter in New York with 23 touchdowns and 25 interceptions. In Denver, he never saw the field.
Yet when the Miami Dolphins needed a backup for Tua Tagovailoa, they decided Wilson was worth bringing in on a one-year, $6 million deal.
"We thought he was the best option for us," Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Monday. "He was very much ... a direct calculated target. We thought that was a way that the Miami Dolphins could get better and are excited to see how he seizes that opportunity.”
The Dolphins have needed backup quarterbacks to save the day in recent years, but haven't seen the best results from those reserves. Last season, Tagovailoa was out of the starting lineup for six games, but Skylar Thompson didn't do much in his sole start and the Dolphins went 2-3 with Tyler Huntley under center.
Can Miami expect better results from Wilson? McDaniel thinks so.
On Monday, McDaniel said it wasn't surprising to see Wilson struggle early with the Jets and it doesn't have to define the 25-year-old quarterback's career.
"I watched every snap of his collegiate play, and he was a phenomenal talent that, in my opinion, didn’t have reps in an NFL pocket yet," McDaniel said. "At BYU, he was launching it from about 10 and 11 yards deep. You’re not in the phone booth, and so my estimation, there was going to be some nuanced growth to his game that I think it is close to impossible to excel that early in that new form of football that he was playing."
Wilson put up prolific numbers in BYU's high-flying offense, finishing the 2020 season with 33 touchdowns and only three interceptions, along with another 10 rushing touchdowns. Five years later, Wilson hasn't come close to replicating that success in the NFL.
"If you have adversity in your life, that can be a source of strength and growth, or it could be a source of, alright, that’s what defines you and you can’t get over that," McDaniel said. "What I see in Zach is the experience of being the second pick in the draft, being the starter Week 1, and then not fulfilling the rookie contract. That is behind him. To me, that’s an exciting prospect because you can’t put a measurement on that human ability that is huge at the quarterback position."
Last week, Wilson told Dolphins reporters that he still believes he can be a starter in the NFL.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Why the Dolphins made QB Zach Wilson a 'direct calculated target'
