Advanced Stats Suggest Zach Wilson Is Second Best QB Out West In 2019
Jun 17, 2019, 10:13 AM
BYU Photo
PROVO, Utah – There are high expectations for BYU’s sophomore quarterback Zach Wilson heading into the 2019 season.
Pro Football Focus’ college division might give you a reason to have even higher expectations for Wilson.
PFF’s Jordan Plocher joined me and Matt Baiamonte on Cougar Sports Saturday to discuss the advanced stats on Wilson.
Zach Wilson was a solid and productive QB during his first-year at BYU despite being a freshman. pic.twitter.com/j5dk1dJfs8
— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 11, 2019
Plocher had this to say on the advanced stats within the above tweet.
“On that tweet reference, Zach Wilson has an 82.6 overall grade and that’s going to take everything into account. He’s got a separate passing grade, running grade, a fumble grade, penalty grade, things like that. Everything he does and every snap gets quantified and turned into these grades,” said Plocher.
Plocher continued, “Wilson had an 82.6 overall grade and when I did a filter on that and just combined all the QB’s returning in the Pac-12, all the returning QBs in the Mountain West and the Independents. Basically taking the 26 teams out west and Zach Wilson’s overall grade at 82.6 ranks number two among returning quarterbacks (out west) only after Stanford’s K.J. Costello.”
That’s an impressive stat when you consider some of the talented quarterbacks returning out west in 2019, most notably Oregon’s Justin Herbert who’s considered a top-10 NFL Draft pick next year. Also, Utah’s Tyler Huntley who helped lead the Utes to a Pac-12 South title.
Where does Wilson’s overall grade rank nationally? Plocher discussed that as well.
“If we take that (overall grade) across the whole country, Wilson’s grade ranks number 18 among returning FBS starters. A really strong start for him.”
Listen to the entire interview with Plocher from Cougar Sports Saturday and subscribe to the CSS Podcast.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
