Getty New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson.
The race to be the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos might be leaving one man behind.
In a rundown of offseason observations for all 32 NFL teams, The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider wrote that former No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson might be losing ground to rookie Bo Nix and veteran Jarrett Stidham.
“After 12 practices — 10 OTAs and a pair of minicamp sessions — it is difficult to see how Zach Wilson fits in at quarterback for the Broncos,” Kosmider wrote on June 17. “The fourth-year quarterback has unique arm talent in a QB room that also includes rookie Bo Nix and veteran Jarrett Stidham. But Wilson looks like someone who may need more time to adjust to Denver’s offense, even more so than Nix. Perhaps training camp could alter the equation, but at this point, it’s hard to envision Wilson starting for Denver in Week 1. And he has ground to make up if he’s going to win the backup job.”
The Denver Post’s Ryan McFadden also pointed out issues in Wilson’s performance during OTAs.
“Yes, Wilson’s arm strength is noticeable. But the overall body of work has been inconsistent,” McFadden wrote on June 4. “During the Broncos’ last open viewing of organized team activities, Wilson took reps with the first team and struggled to find a rhythm.”
Wilson was traded to the Broncos from the New York Jets in April 2024 along with a seventh-round pick in exchange for a sixth-round pick.
Jarrett Stidham & Bo Nix Might Not Be Better Options
While Stidham enters his sixth season in the NFL, he’s hardly a better option than either Nix or Wilson.
Over the last two seasons, Stidham was the quarterback AFC West teams called on when they benched their longtime highly paid starters late in the season. After spending his first three seasons as a backup with the Patriots, he started the final two games of the season for the Las Vegas Raiders in 20222 after Derek Carr was benched and went 0-2.
After signing a 2-year, $10 million contract with the Broncos in 2023, Stidham started the final two games of the season after Russell Wilson was benched, going 1-1.
Nix set the FBS Division I record with 61 starts during his college career at Auburn and Oregon. By comparison, Wilson had 28 starts over three seasons at BYU when he was drafted. Both players will be 24 years old when training camp starts.
According to McFadden, Broncos head coach Sean Payton was not displeased with Wilson’s performance.
“Mistakes aside, Payton insisted Tuesday that the former BYU standout has done well learning the offense, even suggesting he’s been able to pick things up quicker than backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham did last year due to Wilson’s experience with the Jets offense,” McFadden wrote.
Zach Wilson Polarized Teammates, Fans in New York
It was Wilson’s arm strength that essentially kicked off his NFL journey — most notably with one throw across his body from his Pro Day in 2021 that went viral.
After being selected No. 2 overall out of BYU in 2021, Wilson struggled mightily in three seasons with the Jets. He went 12-21 as a starter but was pressed into duty in 2023 after Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon on the first offensive series of the season. It was a year in which Wilson had hoped to be able to learn under the four-time NFL MVP’s tutelage.
His time with the Jets became most notable for one game — a 10-3 loss to the New England Patriots in 2022 in which Wilson went 9-of-22 passing for 77 yards with zero touchdowns as the Jets put up just 103 yards of total offense.
Afterward, Wilson said he didn’t think the offense let the defense down despite New England’s only touchdown coming on a punt return. Wilson apologized to his teammates within days but was still benched and vilified in the media — the beginning of the end of his time in New York.