Breece Hall is out for the year, and maybe that prods the Jets to come out of their offensive shell a little bit. They’re not going to be able to beat good teams by simply running the ball with a combination of Michael Carter and James Robinson.
At some point, they’ll need to give Zach Wilson the green light to do a lot more – see if he can connect on some passes. So far, they’ve been unwilling to put the ball in his hands.
Early in Wilson’s rookie season, it seemed like they were more willing to let him learn on the job. But the results were pretty disastrous. He averaged 223 passing yards in his first five full games, but with 4 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. In particular, there were 4 interceptions and 4 sacks in a 25-6 loss against New England (the opponent he’ll see again on Sunday).
Wilson injured his knee in a Week 7 loss against the Patriots last year. Since returning, he’s gotten the training wheels treatment. In Wilson’s last 11 starts, he’s averaged only 169 passing yards, with 6 TDs and 4 interceptions. He’s averaged 7 fewer pass attempts in these most recent 11 games than he did in his first five games as a rookie.
At some point they’ll need to let Wilson do more. They need to figure out before the end of the year if there’s any chance of him being their long-term solution at the position.
For fantasy purposes, I have New York’s passing game on hold for now. Garrett Wilson, Elijah Moore and Corey Davis have some talent, but I would be leery of putting one of those guys in a fantasy lineup right now.
| ZACH WILSON'S FIRST 17 STARTS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opp | Result | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Rushing |
| 2021 | at Car. | L 14-19 | 20 | 37 | 258 | 2 | 1 | 0-0-0 |
| 2021 | N.E. | L 6-25 | 19 | 33 | 210 | 0 | 4 | 3-19-0 |
| 2021 | at Den. | L 0-26 | 19 | 35 | 160 | 0 | 2 | 1-2-0 |
| 2021 | Ten. | W 27-24 | 21 | 34 | 297 | 2 | 1 | 3--2-0 |
| 2021 | at Atl. | L 20-27 | 19 | 32 | 192 | 0 | 1 | 1-3-0 |
| 2021 | at N.E. | L 13-54 | 6 | 10 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| 2021 | at Hou. | W 21-14 | 14 | 24 | 145 | 0 | 1 | 2-3-1 |
| 2021 | Phil. | L 18-33 | 23 | 38 | 226 | 2 | 1 | 3-0-1 |
| 2021 | N.O. | L 9-30 | 19 | 42 | 202 | 0 | 0 | 4-33-0 |
| 2021 | at Mia. | L 24-31 | 13 | 23 | 170 | 0 | 0 | 4-12-1 |
| 2021 | Jac. | W 26-21 | 14 | 22 | 102 | 1 | 0 | 4-91-1 |
| 2021 | T.B. | L 24-28 | 19 | 33 | 234 | 1 | 0 | 2-0-0 |
| 2021 | at Buff. | L 10-27 | 7 | 20 | 87 | 1 | 0 | 2-24-0 |
| 2022 | at Pitt. | W 24-20 | 18 | 36 | 252 | 1 | 2 | 2-15-0 |
| 2022 | Mia. | W 40-17 | 14 | 21 | 210 | 0 | 0 | 4-2-1 |
| 2022 | at G.B. | W 27-10 | 10 | 18 | 110 | 0 | 0 | 5-1-0 |
| 2022 | at Den. | W 16-9 | 16 | 26 | 121 | 0 | 0 | 4-24-0 |
—Ian Allan