Zach Wilson Is Still Doing Zach Wilson Things, Just In A Dolphins Uniform
Former Jets QB showed flashes and flaws in his first preseason action with Miami.
The Miami Dolphins signed quarterback Zach Wilson this offseason to be the backup to Tua Tagovailoa. Miami desperately needed to add an experienced signal-caller who can step in should Tagovailoa suffer an injury – something that has become all too common for the Dolphins' starting quarterback.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel elected to start Tagovailoa in Miami's first preseason game on Sunday against the Chicago Bears. He led them inside the Bears' 5-yard line, but Chicago stopped a fourth-and-goal attempt to turn Miami over on downs. The drive lasted nearly 10 minutes, with Tagovailoa and the Dolphins dinking-and-dunking their way down the field.
Then, Miami turned to their new QB2, Zach Wilson. Wilson, the former second overall pick by the New York Jets in the 2021 NFL Draft, flamed out in New York after compiling a 12-21 record in 33 starts over three seasons. His career completion percentage is below 60%, and he has more career interceptions thrown (25) than touchdown passes (23).
Zach Wilson’s first preseason game in a Miami Dolphins uniform looked familiar: some nice throws, some bad misses, and plenty of questions heading into the season.
(Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Still, the Dolphins front office looked at Wilson and said, "That's the guy we want in case Tagovailoa goes down." However, the team also drafted former Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers in the seventh round of this year's draft.
On Sunday, Wilson replaced Tagovailoa after one series and led the Dolphins to two touchdown-scoring drives. In true Wilson fashion, though, it wasn't always pretty. In fact, at times it was downright ugly.
Overall, Wilson played OK. He completed 5–9 passes for 97 yards, with most of those yards coming on two big plays to Tahj Washington and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. Washington was wide open and Wilson had a clear pocket, but the throw to Westbrook-Ikhine was a nice zone-beating throw over the middle.
Wilson finished the first half before giving way to the rookie Ewers. In his first two drives, Ewers failed to complete a pass and turned the ball over with a fumble on a strip-sack inside his own 10-yard line. Dolphins fans were clamoring to see the rookie, hoping he could overtake Wilson on the depth chart, but the former Texas quarterback didn't look great in his first NFL action.
Based on what we saw Sunday, Zach Wilson is clearly Miami’s backup quarterback. Whether that’s comforting or terrifying probably depends on how hard you squint.