Colin Cowherd Views ‘Clever’ Zach Wilson As Future NFL Quarterback

PROVO, Utah – Sports radio giant Colin Cowherd every once in a while finds a way to work in a BYU angle to his show, “The Herd.” It’s easy to work in the Cougars as a talking point on a national show these days with BYU football off to its best start since 2001 and nationally-ranked at No. 8 in the polls.

But anyone that’s listened to Cowherd knows the man loves talking quarterback play. So naturally, BYU signal-caller Zach Wilson was recently discussed on his show.

"Carson Wentz & Aaron Rodgers get banged up, but there is a wow factor… There's no wow factor with Jimmy Garoppolo." — @ColinCowherd

Who should the 49ers target at QB? pic.twitter.com/OVkmLeJyoj

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) November 12, 2020

Wilson is rising NFL Mock Drafts with the way he has played in 2020. The junior BYU quarterback has made significant leaps forward in his game both physically and mentally. Arm angles, accuracy, decision-making, ability to run, it’s all attributes Wilson continues to show every week. Wilson is making a case to be in the same conversation as Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State’s Justin Fields to be one of the top QBs taken off the 2021 NFL Draft board.

The San Francisco 49ers reportedly are interested in Wilson. San Francisco’s VP of Player of Personnel Adam Peters was in Idaho last week to watch Wilson in person against Boise State. Could the 49ers move on from Jimmy Garroppolo and turn to Zach Wilson in the 2021 NFL Draft?

Colin Cowherd wouldn’t rule out that possibility.

Colin Cowherd weighs in on Zach Wilson 

“This feels legit that they (49ers) are looking at quarterbacks, and they like Zach Wilson of BYU. Who by the way, I saw a couple of years ago, he’s a very clever player. You know, he’s got the height, got the arm, moves around, a little light; he’s about 210 pounds. But if you watch him play, especially with Kyler Murray and all this stuff, you look at him, and you’re like, that works somewhere.” Cowherd said.

Last year, Cowherd said he saw “a lot of Russell Wilson” in Zach Wilson. Now he’s drawing comps to Arizona Cardinals star Kyler Murray.

“I’ve watched him play for the last couple of years and my takeaway is, he does a lot of these little clever [things]. He’s got a little point guard in him. He’s 6’3, so he’s got some Kyler (Murray) –not Kyler, the runner– but he’s got some Kyler with a big arm. He looks like an NFL quarterback to me. This past weekend he played very, very well.”

On the season, Wilson is number one among college football quarterbacks with 22 passing touchdowns this year. He’s only thrown two interceptions, and he’s completing 75 percent of his passes. Those are the type of numbers that NFL teams love. Wilson’s accuracy isn’t just coming in short to immediate throws. He’s taking the ball downfield as he is no. 3 nationally in passer rating on throws 20+ yards downfield.

Wilson and No. 8 BYU return to action on Nov. 21 to take on North Alabama in Provo before closing out the regular season on Dec. 12 against San Diego State.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m., KSL Newsradio). Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper and the KSL Sports app.