Jets quarterback Zach Wilson may still have some detractors around the football media landscape. But there is one NFL analyst that still has high hopes on the second-year player, and he just happens to be a quarterback that is forever immortalized on Canton, Ohio.
In an interview with ESPN’s Rich Cimini, Hall of Fame quarterback and new color commentator for Monday Night Football Troy Aikman expressed plenty of praise for Wilson and believes he can still be a very good quarterback.
“I like Zach Wilson a lot,” Aikman told Cimini. “From what I saw of him, I liked him a lot. I expected maybe not to see him struggle as much as he did last year, but I think he’s got a chance to be a really good player.
And if anyone knows about struggling in their first year as an NFL quarterback, it’s Aikman. You talk about learning to crawl before you walk, Aikman’s early NFL career is a case in point. Aikman went 0-11 while throwing nine touchdowns and 18 interceptions. His first two NFL seasons saw him with a losing record as a starter and more interceptions than touchdowns.
It wasn’t until Aikman’s third NFL season that his numbers started improving. He of course went on to win three Super Bowls with the Cowboys and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
Now, he has his eye on Wilson, who also struggled as a rookie, but still showed flashes and had a foundation to build on.
Aikman and Wilson have also both dealt with knee surgeries in their career, so there’s another relation between the two.
“You’re able to manage it a little bit better than other positions, but it’s still getting comfortable with people around your leg,” Aikman told ESPN. “I expect he’ll come off of that and, once he slowly gets his trust back, he’ll be fine.”
With the Jets having only one primetime game on a Thursday, Aikman won’t get to see Wilson up close and personal this season. But he sure sounds like he’ll be keeping an eye on Wilson throughout his career to see if he can resurrect his career as Aikman did.
