Zach Wilson wanted to familiarize himself as much as possible with what life could look like from under center in a Jets uniform, so he reached out to some former Gang Green quarterbacks.
Talking with reporters shortly after being taken second overall by the Jets on Thursday night, Wilson said he had talked with some former quarterbacks, specifically Josh McCown, who helped him get a sense of what his future would hold.
“I talked to a couple of them,” Wilson said. “I actually haven’t called Chad [Pennington] yet, I need to, but McCown gave me some of the best advice. He was just talking about how amazing of a situation this is, how he came from a small town…and he never wanted to go to the big city. He got there to New York and he loved it. He said he loved living in New Jersey and he loved the culture and the atmosphere, and the culture Joe Douglas was bringing in with some of the hires he made.”
McCown played two seasons in New York, appearing in 17 games between 2017 and 2018, just before Joe Douglas took over as general manager and began to usher the franchise into a new era, which now includes Wilson at the forefront.
“He just felt like that team was right there on the rise,” Wilson said. “I thought that was so cool to hear that from him. It gives you confidence in being able to go in there. It made it very comfortable knowing I’m going into a great situation.”
Wilson arrives in East Rutherford in a much different spot than McCown, as a youthful prodigy rather than a 38-year-old veteran. Some still wonder if Wilson’s sudden and dramatic rise in production last year at BYU was for real, but Wilson believes he wouldn’t have entered the draft if he didn’t feel he was ready to make an impact at the highest level.
“When I made the decision to come out of college, it was because I felt like mentally and physically, I was ready for the NFL game,” Wilson said. I felt like my maturity, my ability to pick up an offense and connect with the guys around me was ready to go. When I decided to come out, that was the decision I made, is that I have to be ready to play in the NFL. I’m excited to take this full-on. Since I was seven years old, I’ve been working on how to handle being an NFL player.”
Gang Green fans: Get your Zach Wilson jersey from Fanatics!
With a better understanding of what the next chapter of his life will look like thanks to McCown, Wilson will now make the cross-country trip to MetLife Stadium, where he hopes to begin laying the groundwork for a long-awaited rise to contention for a Jets franchise starved for success.
“I’m so excited,” Wilson said. “I haven’t been to the east coast, I’m a west coast guy. But I’m so excited to be there. That was one of the biggest things when I decided to come out, was that I’m excited to experience living somewhere else. I didn’t know where it was going to take me, but I’m so excited to go be in New York City. I know there are so many opportunities there and some great situations and some great fans, so I can’t wait to be able to represent that city.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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