Getty New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson delivers a pass while taking a hit on January 9, 2022.
When the New York Jets decided to reboot the franchise around Zach Wilson, many tantalizing traits factored into the decision.
The cannon of an arm, the work ethic, the football IQ, the playmaker mentality, and yes, the tight window accuracy on high difficulty throws — even if he struggled with short-accuracy passing in year one.
That’s why when teammate Michael Carter (the RB) was asked about his quarterback’s standout trait, his answer was somewhat surprising and very humorous.
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Carter Joins GMFB
The popular Jets rookie running back made a guest appearance on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” on February 8. That’s when the question was posed: “What stood out most in Zach Wilson’s first season?”
.@8kMike hyping up @ZachWilson on @gmfb 💚😂
If you’ve watched Carter throughout the year, you’d know he has a very unique personality and he’s a bit of a class clown. His answer here — including the way he delivered it — fit that description perfectly. He replied with a devilish grin:
He a good guy first of all… I think what you see is what you get with him. First of all, he’s a freak athletic. A lot of people don’t think this but he’s a good basketball player. Like he can really hoop. Zach can really hoop. It’s just funny knowing that he can, cause when you look at him you might not be like — you might not know that he can hoop.
Elijah Moore even gave his reaction on Twitter, which was filled with amusement and laughter. “This man need his own segment…tv show…just his own of summmmmm,” he said about Carter.
Although the RB’s response felt like more of an inside joke on Wilson than anything, Carter wasn’t lying. The quarterback played varsity high school basketball in Draper, Utah, starting at point guard as a junior. He can also “jam” the ball as the half-back hyped towards the end of the video clip.
“Dunking is an understatement,” Carter told co-host Kyle Brandt. “He could really like, jam.” Of course, it didn’t take long for video evidence to surface of Wilson throwing it down in the digital age. ESPN BYU sports host Benjamin Criddle shared the footage.
The conversation led to a joke from Brandt, who countered: “Those men can jump! There’s a movie about it.”
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Basketball Helped Wilson Develop at QB
Back when he was first drafted by Gang Green, Wilson told reporters that the game of basketball really helped him as a quarterback. Beat reporter Connor Hughes tweeted at the time: “Zach Wilson says a lot of his improvisational skills he developed by playing … basketball.”
Zach Wilson says a lot of his improvisational skills he developed by playing … basketball. #Jets
In a Deseret News feature, journalist Jay Drew wrote that Wilson told him, “[growing up] I was more into basketball and was thinking that would be the future sport for me.” He even had a basketball court in his backyard at his parents’ house.
He added that he “always wanted to be the guy with the ball in his hands,” and now those point guard abilities as a distributor have translated into an NFL career.
The athleticism Carter noted is key to Wilson’s game as a dual-threat quarterback but even more important may be his mental drive. His brother Josh Wilson explained: “The thing I would say about Zach, and it is not a bad thing, is that he kinda gets obsessive over things. That just kind of drives him, even in football… You give him something to do, and he is going to go 110 percent. I don’t think a lot of people are like him in that way. He is always wanting more and more and more.”
Josh Wilson even gave a unique example — juggling. “He taught himself how to juggle, and he mastered it,” he told Drew. “[Now] he’s an amazing juggler. He worked until he got it.”
There’s no doubt that obsessive nature has switched over to football now but Wilson’s original passion is still in his blood. At a BYU basketball game yesterday on February 7, Wilson posted a courtside photo with the caption: “Wondering if you can still play is the real game.”
Jets fans are hoping these rare traits will produce their first franchise signal-caller in a long time, but if it doesn’t work out, maybe Wilson can play for the Knicks.
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