The Zach Wilson era is over in New York after the Jets traded him to the Broncos for a late-round pick swap. New York sent Wilson and the No. 256 pick to Denver for the No. 207 pick Tuesday, mercilessly ending the former 2021 No. 2 overall pick's tenure with the Jets.
Wilson finished his Jets career with a 12-21 record, a 57% completion rate, 6,293 passing yards (185.1 per game), 23 touchdowns and 25 interceptions. He was also sacked 113 times and lost nine of 17 career fumbles.
It's hard not to look at those stats — and the accompanying highlights — and not compare Wilson with some other first-round busts by the Jets over the past four decades. But how does Wilson rank among the team's worst first-round draft picks?
The Sporting News looked at the Jets' 13 worst first-round draft picks since 1980 and ranked them by Pro Football Reference's weighted career approximate value. This gives a clearer — albeit, imperfect — representation of where Wilson sits among the biggest busts in franchise history. Eight of the 13 players on this list were picked with a top-10 selection, which paints a larger picture of how badly the Jets have fumbled important decisions in their franchise's history
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Worst Jets draft picks
| Player | Position | Year drafted | Pick drafted | Career AV | Games played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Faurot | DL | 1985 | 15 | 6 | 20 |
| Dee Milliner | DB | 2013 | 9 | 6 | 21 |
| Vernon Gholston | DE | 2008 | 6 | 6 | 45 |
| Zach Wilson | QB | 2021 | 2 | 13 | 34 |
| Calvin Pryor | DB | 2014 | 18 | 13 | 46 |
| Kyle Wilson | DB | 2010 | 29 | 16 | 95 |
| Quinton Coples | DE | 2012 | 16 | 17 | 62 |
| Darron Lee | OLB | 2016 | 20 | 19 | 58 |
| Blair Thomas | RB | 1990 | 2 | 20 | 64 |
| Lam Jones | WR | 1980 | 2 | 21 | 62 |
| Kyle Brady | TE | 1995 | 9 | 26 | 197 |
| Dave Cadigan | OLB | 1988 | 8 | 28 | 82 |
| Dewayne Robertson | DT | 2003 | 4 | 34 | 92 |
Is Zach Wilson the biggest Jets draft bust?
The Jets draft bust list can be interpreted in a few different ways depending on the position, which pick a player was drafted and their production.
Three players tied for the worst career AV as a Jet with six: Ron Faurot, Dee Milliner and Vernon Gholston. However, Gholston never recorded an NFL sack in three seasons while Faurot had two and Milliner had three interceptions. Milliner also suffered a lot of injuries during his career, while Faurot played on a line with Mark Gastineau, Marty Lyons and Joe Flecko before the team moved him to linebacker.
Wilson, meanwhile, tied with Calvin Pryor in AV, but played the third-fewest games on the list, was the No. 2 overall pick and was a quarterback.
Other fellow No. 2 overall picks Blair Thomas and Lam Jones had higher AVs but overall flopped as skill positions players during their time with the Jets in 80s and 90s.
Holistically speaking, Wilson should at least be the second-worst pick in Jets draft history behind Gholston when considering production relative to position and pick drafted. Wilson had moments of excitement but otherwise dwindled under the bright lights that came with being the quarterback of the Jets. Some of that can be attributed to coaching and roster talent, but Wilson's inability to shine can be pinned to his ability as well.
