Content available exclusively for subscribers
Good move by the young quarterback.
Talking about Zach Wilson bulking up this off-season to 221 pounds.
Quarterbacks take a lot of hits in the NFL, so it’s good to have some “body armor” as scouts like to call it.
At the Senior Bowl, something Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said about Liberty QB Malik Willis came back to me as I was writing this story – “He’s built better than — from afar you don’t know. That’s why, to see these guys up close, he’s a good-looking player. He’s built right, looks like he’s built to last.”
Willis is 6′ 0 1/2″ and 219 lbs – thickly built through his upper body and legs. He’s built to withstand the punishment.
Russell Wilson is another example. While he missed some games last year with a finger injury, he’s been amazingly durable over the years, and his build has something to do with it – a thickly built 5-11, 215.
One of the issues with Kyle Murray, who’s had problems staying healthy in Arizona, is not his height, but his lean build. He’s not a thickly built guy.
New England QB Mac Jones, like Wilson, has worked hard this off-season in the weight room, to help him deal with the punishment NFL quarterbacks ensure.
“He spent this off-season trying to improve his body,” said former NFL GM Mike Lombardi on VSIN. “To play quarterback in the NFL, your body needs to be ready to ensure the punishment your gonna get. They’ve tried to cut down the punishment by the rules, but you’re still getting a beating and your getting hit.”
So Wilson, who came into the league on the lean side, knew he had to add some cushioning to his frame.
“I just think in the long run, once we get in a game where we’re actually getting hit and tackled, having some more size on me would help,” Wilson said.
“He looks beefy, in a good way,” said Jets coach Robert Saleh.
Now obviously you can still get hurt, even with extra weight, but it certainly helps absorb the hits not being a QB on the skinny side.
One of the reasons Ole Miss QB Matt Corral slipped to the third round, aside from some off-field concerns related to alcohol, is how skinny he is.
“He has a slender frame with size falling below desired NFL mark,” wrote NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zeirlein.
While Ben Roethlisberger wore down at the end of his career, think about how durable he was over the years, taking a lot of hits, but with his thickly built 6-5, 250-pound frame, defenders would bounce off him.
So what Wilson did this off-season, getting thicker, was a smart move.
Now he still has some other things to improve, like accuracy and mechanics, two things he working hard on, but this extra muscle and weight could be good for him.
He had some injury issues in college and as a rookie in the NFL, and now perhaps he’s in a better position to take a licking and keep on ticking.
April 26, 2022
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Friday.