PALM BEACH — Zach Wilson was specifically targeted as a backup for Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Monday.
“I guess you guys wouldn’t know this,” McDaniel said at the NFL owners’ meetings at The Breakers. “I guess you guys are flying blind, so let me help you out. He was a direct, calculated target.”
McDaniel believes in Wilson’s talent. He believed in what he saw when he studied Wilson as a draft prospect at BYU.
“We drafted a quarterback in San Francisco the year he came out,” McDaniel said. “I watched every snap of his collegiate play. He was a phenomenal talent that in my opinion didn’t have reps in an NFL pocket yet. At BYU, he was launching it from about 10-11 yards deep, and you’re not in the phone booth. And so for my estimation, there was going to be some nuance to growth to his game. I think it close to excel that early in that new form of football that he was playing. That’s powerful to me.”
Wilson struggled with the Jets and used last season as a reset season in Denver.
Zach Wilson has supporter in Miami Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel
It’s clear Wilson has a strong arm and mobility.
This is about pure talent and upside.
“There’s very few people that know what it’s like to be drafted high in New York City,” McDaniel said. “And so then to see his resolve, to see where he’s digested the whole situation. It’s like anything for all of us. Okay, if you have adversity in your life, that can be a source of strength and growth or it could be a source of, all right, that’s what defines you and you can’t get over that.
“What I see in Zach is the experience of being the second pick in the draft, being the starter week one, and then not fulfilling the rookie contract, that is behind him. So that, to me, that’s an exciting prospect. Because you can’t put a measurement on that human ability that is huge at the quarterback position.”
While making sure to point out he is not comparing Tagovailoa and Wilson as players, McDaniel believes the support system in Miami will help Wilson as it did Tua.
“Tua found that this environment helped him through that process,” McDaniel said. “As coaches we want to offer literally everything to his game. And I’m excited about about where he’s at based upon him.”
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McDaniel was asked a follow-up about the decision to choose Wilson over an older, more experienced backup player.
“Well, to be quite frank,” McDaniel said, “it’s an inexact science, but we thought that he was the best option for us.”
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Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at [email protected] and follow him on Instagram and on X @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe’s free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today.
