Zach Wilson was a No. 2 pick exactly one year ago, tasked with turning around a franchise that hasn’t had stability at the quarterback position in decades.
Given the market he was entering and the starved fanbase he was inheriting, the pressure was already on for the hyped quarterback to be a hit for the Jets, and not another painful miss like Sam Darnold was. But after general manager Joe Douglas’ comments earlier this week, Boomer thinks the team itself may now be putting a little too much pressure on the 22-year-old.
“The comment that Joe Douglas made in regards to Zach Wilson, ‘I see 100 percent greatness in his future,’ something like that,” Boomer said during Thursday’s show.
“He’s all in. He’s definitely all in, there’s no question about it, and he needs to be all in. But for me, you know how you always say ‘this is what I would say if I was in this position?’ What I would say in this position if I were Joe Douglas: ‘My expectations are for him to be more mature this year, to be much better this year, to understand who he is and how he should play in the NFL, and my expectations are for him to be a really good player.’ Not ‘100 percent greatness.’ That’s saying a lot.”
Gio countered by saying that the pressure was already a given when considering where he was drafted, and that the pressure is also on Douglas considering it was he who tabbed Wilson as the franchise savior. But Boomer would have handled things a little differently if he were Douglas.
“Joe doesn’t usually talk like that,” Boomer said. “When I saw that I was like, ‘Man, you just put a ton of pressure on this kid.’
“To say he expects ‘100 percent greatness’? How about 100 percent improvement?”
Follow WFAN's morning team on Twitter: @7BOOMERESIASON, @GioWFAN, @Alsboringtweets, @JerryRecco, and @WFANMornings
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