Peyton Manning pinpoints what ‘drove him crazy’ about Zach Wilson’s ill-fated Jets tenure
Peyton Manning spent four glorious years with the Denver Broncos, culminating in winning Super Bowl 50. Now, the former QB has taken up the issue of new quarterback arrival Zach Wilson’s previous coaching at the New York Jets.
Wilson was the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Jets. However, things didn’t pan out well for the 24-year-old with the New Jersey-based franchise. Nonetheless, his arrival at the Broncos was welcomed by Manning despite his previous underperformance, which the Hall of Famer chalked up to coaching mistakes.
On the ‘Stokely and Josh’ show on Denver Sports 104.3 FM, Manning spoke about Wilson’s track record:
“The change of scenario for Zach Wilson, I think, is going to be a good one. The best way to really screw a young quarterback up is to change coordinators on him every single year, and it drives me crazy.”
Manning referred to the revolving door policy at the Jets concerning offensive coordinators. In his three seasons with the Jets, Wilson worked with two different OCs: Mike LaFleur from 2021-22 and former Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett from 2023-24.
Despite the previous baggage, Manning believes Wilson can thrive under HC Sean Payton and shared a message with the QB:
“Let’s just sort of start over, right? And let’s just let Sean Payton and his staff coach you and kind of start from ground zero, which I think might be just what Zach needs.”
Even though the Broncos traded their sixth-round pick to receive Wilson and a seventh-round pick in the upcoming draft, they are still looking to draft another QB.
Peyton Manning on his Colts OC
While discussing the role of an OC in a QB’s career, Peyton Manning went down memory lane to talk about his success. On the radio show, Manning said:
“I was very fortunate. I had an old-school coach named Tom Moore, who was the coordinator the entire time I was there in Indianapolis.”
Peyton Manning spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, winning Super Bowl XLI with the Colts.