Zach Wilson vs. Trevor Lawrence? Jets QB can't even compare to replacement

Zach Wilson didn’t need Trevor Lawrence on the same field as him Thursday night to look awful. He managed that all by himself. But having the quarterback with whom he forever will be linked served as a stark contrast between the top two picks in the 2021 draft and the latest indicator of Wilson’s shortcomings.

While Lawrence looked like the enticingly wrapped present under the tree with ribbons and bows that everyone hopes has their name on the tag, Wilson was the last-minute gift no one even bothered to take out of its brown Amazon box.

After just short of two seasons and only two head-to-head meetings, their relationship is teetering toward the cautionary tales that circulate around each quarterback-thick draft: RGIII and Andrew Luck, Mitchell Trubisky and Patrick Mahomes, and the most egregious of them all, Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning.

Arrested development? Wilson’s development should be locked up with the key thrown away. Of course, if that were his job to toss it, it probably would be incomplete.

Wilson, playing in his first career prime-time game, completed 9 of 18 passes for 92 yards with an interception in the Jets’ 19-3 loss to the Jaguars at MetLife Stadium.

He was replaced by practice-squadder Chris Streveler late in the third quarter, and while the result didn’t change much, the switch at least gave the Jets fans who stuck around something to cheer about. The Jets had three first downs on their first seven drives with Wilson; they had four in Streveler’s first drive, which eventually resulted in a turnover on downs at the Jaguars’ 13.

Forget about Lawrence for a moment; Wilson can’t even measure up to his own otherwise anonymous teammates with pedigrees that could be found in a puppy pound.

Whether Mike White recovers from his rib injuries or Streveler remains on the fringes of the active roster, there is no way Robert Saleh can in good conscience put Wilson back on the field this season. In fact, there now will have to be serious conversations this offseason about whether Wilson will ever play for the Jets again.

Lawrence, meanwhile, was 20-for-31 for 229 yards and ran for 51 yards and a touchdown.

“You never want to compare,” Saleh said of young quarterbacks earlier in the week. “Everyone’s situation is different. The styles and system might be different. How they got to where they are is different. To me, it’s not fair to compare.”

Let’s do it anyway — if for no other reason than to get Wilson used to it. Because for the rest of his career, however long that lasts and wherever that takes him, the Jets’ second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft will be tethered to the first.

They were in such close proximity to each other in this game — in a spatial sense, at the very least — that it was impossible to ignore their rare relationship with each other, two quarterbacks who couldn’t be more different in playing styles, physical traits and intangible qualities.

Wilson wasn’t the only reason the Jets lost this game. His offensive line had trouble protecting him and the defense was less dominant than one with three Pro Bowl starters should be.

This was a significant game for two teams clinging to postseason dreams and in dire need of a victory to make their final two weeks of the regular season watchable.

But this is the NFL. It’s a league driven by quarterback play, quarterback personalities, quarterback debates. The big takeaway on Friday morning will be about the two signal-callers, not their teams.

They denied that coming into their duel, of course. At least it gave them something to possibly talk about when they chatted at midfield about two hours before kickoff of the soggy, wind-swept contest.

“I would just say it’s the Jets versus the Jaguars,” Wilson told reporters earlier this week. “We’re just trying to go against those guys. It’s interesting because it’s almost like it’s two separate things when you’re sitting there watching the other quarterback, it’s not even the same kind of game. We’re going against their defense. It is separate, of course, but you’re always trying to go out there and get that win.”

Said Lawrence in Jacksonville: “It’s annoying when people always compare [quarterbacks] and all that.”

Imagine how annoying it is to be on the wrong side of those comparisons.

The Jets certainly don’t have to.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.