The Important Lessons Wilson Learned in Denver

Zach Wilson didn't play a meaningful snap last season, but he still joins the Miami Dolphins as a much different quarterback than he was with the New York Jets.

Wilson's one year with the Denver Broncos, by all accounts, did wonders for his development after his failed stint with the Jets after arriving as the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft.

While he watched rookie Bo Nix take almost all the regular season snaps for Sean Payton's playoff team and backup Jarrett Stidham get the crumbs, Wilson nevertheless learned a lot in the Mile High city.

“Yeah, a ton," Wilson said during a Zoom media session with Dolphins reporters Monday. "Just processing in the NFL, pocket awareness, the ability to kind of progress more smoothly through my progressions and get the ball out of my hands and just maybe my understanding of the game I feel like has just increasingly gotten better since my first year in the league.”

Truth is, Wilson looked like a different quarterback in the preseason last year than even his last season with the Jets, which ended with an abbreviated appearance against the Dolphins in a December 2023 game at Hard Rock Stadium when he was knocked out with a concussion in the first half.

Of course, preseason and regular season are two different animals, so we won't know for sure what Wilson is going to look like if he's called into action for the Dolphins in 2025 — certainly a distinct possibility given Tua Tagovailoa's injury history.

But it sure does appear he's in a better position in terms of intangibles of taking advantage of his obviously physical attributes, which start with a big arm.

“Off the field, I feel like Denver was a good opportunity for me to kind of lay the stresses of being an NFL quarterback and just trying to be perfect every day to spending more time with the guys in the locker room, and growing that bond I think is always important and just enjoying every single day of being there," Wilson said. "So I think that’s always an important aspect and then it carries onto the field of you just being more comfortable.”

ZACH WILSON LOOKING TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP

Wilson is hoping head coach Mike McDaniel can continue helping his development the way Payton seemingly did.

“Yeah, I mean we all saw how his first couple of years went that I don’t necessarily think were all on Tua of course," Wilson said. "You’ve seen what the ability to get people that believe in you and a staff that makes everything else around him better and he’s played at an extremely high level and so I don’t think that’s ever anything bad to be around or to see and learn from.”

"I still believe I can be a starter in this league whenever that opportunity comes. And so I’m just trying to put myself in the best situation with the best team and coaches and do the absolute best that I can and hopefully at some point, you can get that opportunity to show what you could do.”

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