David Pollack’s player comps for Zach Wilson are out of this world

Zach Wilson 2021 NFL draft

Oh, those player comps. Those dangerous comparisons NFL draft analysts and scouts make to help describe who and what a player is as they jump from the college ranks to the NFL. It’s a very slippery slope that can result in unrealistic expectations.

Just don’t tell that to ESPN college football analyst David Pollack, whose assessment of BYU quarterback Zach Wilson on Friday’s episode of Get Up included comparisons to two of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game.

“He scares the crap out of me because my comparisons that keep coming to mind when I watch him are too good,” Pollack said. “Man, I keep looking at him and he’s got such a smooth, natural ability. He just floats off his back foot and flips it like Aaron Rodgers. He just runs to his left and throws it 60 yards downfield like Patrick Mahomes.”

Aaron Rodgers? Patrick Mahomes? Seriously?

Ok, I get it. Wilson does have a special quality about his arm and maybe, just maybe, he does conjure images of Rodgers and Mahomes when he’s slinging it downfield. But if Pollack is being honest, and if he really believes Wilson has Rodgers and Mahomes qualities, then there’s no way he can rank him anywhere but QB1 and as the best player in the class.

Regardless of the player comps, Wilson is a legitimate franchise quarterback prospect who has top-tier arm strength and the kind of playmaking ability outside of structure that is required from quarterbacks to be successful in today’s NFL. He’s jockeying with Ohio State’s Justin Fields for QB2 status. Whoever ends up with that ranking will likely be the second overall pick to the New York Jets (or whichever team they trade out with).

Bryan Perez

Bryan is the founder of Pro Football Draft. His work has been featured on The Draft Network, NBC Sports and USA Today. Former CFL scout.

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