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Factoid

Zach Wilson

Wilson latest rookie to struggle against Patriots

Zach Wilson got confused and knocked around by New England, but it’s hard to be surprised. That’s a movie, after all, that we’ve seen many times before.

It’s tough for any rookie quarterback to play well, but Bill Belichick and his group is better than most at putting together game plans that get inside their heads.

In the past 20 years, there have been 16 quarterbacks selected in the first round who have played against New England in their first year. The vast majority of them have had pretty lousy outings in their first game against the Patriots.

Combined, those quarterbacks have gone 3-13, with 13 touchdown passes and 23 interceptions. They’ve completed 55 percent of their passes and averaged only 197 passing yards.

The sack numbers aren’t quite as bad as you might expect – just 35.

FIRST-ROUND ROOKIE QUARTERBACKS AGAINST NEW ENGLAND
YearPlayerResultComAttYdsTDIntSk
2003Leftwich, JAXL 13-272140288121
2004Roethlisberger, PITW 34-201824196200
2006V.Young, TENL 23-401536227025
2009Sanchez, NYJW 16-91422163102
2012Tannehill, MIAL 16-231329186003
2012A.Luck, INDL 24-592750334231
2013E.Manuel, BUFL 21-231827150200
2015Mariota, TENL 16-333632003
2016J.Goff, LARL 10-261432161124
2017Watson, HOUL 33-362233301222
2018Darnold, NYJL 3-381628167004
2018J.Allen, BUFL 12-242041217120
2019D.Jones, NYGL 14-351531161131
2020J.Herbert, LACL 0-452653209023
2020Tagovailoa, MIAW 22-122026145012
2021Z.Wilson, NYJL 6-251933210044

Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index