(Warning: I'm probably rambling here)
There were a few issues from yesterday that stood out to me:
-Targeting GW so heavily in the first half, especially when he was covered by Jaire Alexander
-Both Wilsons misjudging where the first down marker was (Zach on his slide, Garrett on at least one of his routes)
-Zach hanging in the pocket too long
-Related to the above, Zach having the athleticism to pull it down and run but not doing it
-Passing on first down on just about every series
I know a couple of those are definitely the work of LaFleur, that last one especially, but some of them could also be Wilson. I also noticed that a few of them disappeared after the second half which I think reasonably can be attributed to adjustments by the coaching staff. I know LaFleur scripts out at least a couple of series in the first half, not sure how many, and the team practices that script during the week so maybe Zach was trying too hard to execute like they did in practice instead of . The passing game opened up slightly in the second half when we started getting other receiver options involved (Usomah, Davis, Carter, Berrios) and the offense in general clicked better as we went more under center and less in the shotgun.
We also saw Zach calm down a bit. Part of his transition from NCAA to NFL starter, especially this season, is that the offense is asking him to change the way he plays. At BYU he seemed to be more of a QB who threw it down the field or on the move and the CS wants him to get more comfortable at hanging in the pocket and as a result his internal clock is getting a little screwed up while he grows into a new role. The reluctance to run could also be part of his knee injury from the preseason. Not sure if it's giving him issues, him deciding to do it less, or the CS telling him to back off of it but there were at least two plays where I thought he had a chance to scramble for a gain and instead wound up throwing it away or attempting a throw to a WR who just wasn't that open in the first place. He's also getting flustered when he's pressured; 1-7 when pressured yesterday as opposed to 9-11 when's kept clean. I'm expecting the quantity of pressured plays will drop as the OLine continues to gel together but one thing he is going to need to do is learn how to calm down under pressure.
I think part of the problem is that we're working with an OC who is only on his second year of the job trying to develop a QB who is only in his second year as a starter. We're going to experience a lot of growing pains with both of them but as of right now with both LaFleur and Zach Wilson we're 4-2, Wilson has no turnovers in the last two games, and our third and fourth quarter performance is getting better. I'm not thrilled with the offense right now but I can see that there are improvements being made and I don't have any reason to believe that we're going to stall here. One thing I think LaFleur is shooting himself in the foot with is that he's trying to call the game like he has a more experienced QB in the game and just wants to keep going until Zach gets it. LaFleur needs to make it easier for Zach earlier in the game but Zach needs to calm down and see the whole field in the first two quarters.
