Zach Wilson made his preseason debut for the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, and much like the 24-24 tie with the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field that the debut came in, the performance wasn’t terribly memorable, though it had its moments.
Wilson, the former No. 2 overall pick who’s on his third NFL team in as many seasons, took over the Dolphins offense on Miami’s second drive.
This came after Tua Tagovailoa led the Dolphins on a nearly 10-minute opening possession that ended without any points when Chicago linebacker Noah Sewell, a former Orem High star, stuffed a run for a 3-yard loss on fourth and goal.
Wilson ended the day completing 5 of 9 passes for a team-high 96 yards while also rushing twice for 16 yards. While he didn’t turn the ball over, he took four sacks, including one that led to a turnover on downs.
Wilson ended up with a 92.8 QB rating, the best on Miami’s team, as fellow Dolphins quarterbacks Tagovailoa and Quinn Ewers had QB ratings of 85.4 and 48.1, respectively.
What stood out about Zach Wilson’s first preseason game with Miami?
There was a mixed bag of both good and bad things that the five-year veteran showed on Sunday.
The good
Wilson led a pair of touchdown drives. Those drives covered 51 and 58 yards and gave Miami a 14-7 lead at one point in the second quarter, as the former BYU and Corner Canyon High quarterback led his team to scores on half of his four possessions on the day.
He used his arm to convert third downs twice on the second TD drive. Wilson converted third-down situations of 10 and 5 yards on the drive that gave the Dolphins the 14-7 lead.
The first of those conversions was his best pass of the day, as he showed nice touch in hitting wide receiver Tahj Washington on a third-and-10 situation for a 34-yard gain.
Wilson not only delivered the pass cleanly with a pair of defenders closing in on him, but he hit Washington in stride, allowing the receiver to pick up some critical yards after the catch to move the ball to the Bears 24.
Later on the drive, Wilson converted a third-and-5 with a 12-yard completion to Erik Ezukanma to move the ball to the Chicago 7 and set up a Jaylen Wright touchdown run on the next play.
He extended drives with his arm and his legs. On Wilson’s first drive, he had an incompletion on his first pass attempt but he followed that up nicely with a 35-yard pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine that moved the Dolphins down to the Chicago 16.
Wilson also had a pair of 8-yard runs that helped extend drives by putting the Miami offense in more favorable down-and-distance situations.
The bad
Wilson was sacked four times. Too often, Wilson wasn’t quick enough in his reads and hurt his team by taking sacks, none more damaging than the one he took on a fourth-down play just before halftime.
The Dolphins were setup in Chicago territory with a chance to add to their 14-7 lead after an interception in the final minute of the first half. Wilson, though, was sacked for a 4-yard loss on first down to move the ball to midfield, and though he gained 8 yards on a run on second down, that first-down sack put Miami in poor position for the rest of the possession.
The Dolphins chose to go for it on fourth-and-6 with 10 seconds left in the half later in the drive, but Wilson again was sacked, this time with six seconds in the quarter.
Chicago capitalized on the mistake, kicking a 57-yard field goal as time expired after a quick pass got them in scoring position.
Wilson’s final possession of the day, Miami’s first of the second half, was also undone by a sack, this time on third down.
He had an up-and-down passing day, missing a golden opportunity for a passing TD. While Wilson did have the best passing day of any Dolphins quarterback, he wasn’t as decisive or accurate as one would hope out of a fifth-year player against non-starters.
The biggest negative was when Wilson missed the chance to throw a touchdown on his first possession of the game.
With Miami facing a second-and-goal from the Chicago 1, Wilson faked a handoff and rolled out to his left. As Wilson had a Chicago defender closing in on him, he threw out in the flat to a wide-open Tanner Conner, but the pass was well short and one-hopped to the tight end.
It would have been a walk-in touchdown.
What stood out about Quinn Ewers’ first preseason game with Miami?
During training camp, Ewers, a seventh-round draft pick rookie out of Texas, has grabbed attention for his strong play, and on Sunday, he took over for Wilson in the third quarter.
Unfortunately for Ewers, it was largely a rough first performance.
He did lead a pair of scoring drives — a touchdown drive and another that netted a field goal — but otherwise struggled to acclimate to the speed of the NFL.
Ewers lost two fumbles and misfired on his first five passes, though he had a 21-yard screen pass that helped set up a short touchdown run.
Ewers took a 13-yard sack on fourth-and-15 with under a minute to play as Miami tried to get in scoring position, and he lost the ball in the process.
That gave Chicago a chance to win the game, but four straight incompletions stifled that scoring opportunity, and the preseason contest ended in a tie.
“At least on Sunday, it became clear why the Dolphins have Wilson slotted as their No. 2 quarterback,” Dolphins Wire’s Josh Helmer wrote. “... It’s one preseason game, but it’s a reminder that there is value in Wilson as the Dolphins’ backup quarterback. Wilson is a former No. 2 overall pick that has played in 34 NFL games and started 33 of them.”
