Zach Wilson got his turn Tuesday, and it was rough at times

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Now pitching — footballs, at least — Zach Wilson.

It was the 2021 No. 2 overall pick’s turn in the quarterback rotation on Tuesday as the Denver Broncos plowed ahead with OTAs, and for him — and the offense — it was a day of missed opportunities, including deep passes that were just off-target. It also saw Wilson throw an interception under duress, as he faded back and flung an errant short toss into double coverage that safety P.J. Locke intercepted.

It’s always important to remember that it was a practice, but Wilson appeared to struggle with and against the No. 1 units in a way that Bo Nix did not during the two open-to-media practices that the 2024 first-round pick had leading the first team in recent weeks.

For those who know the NFL oeuvre of Zach Wilson, his work during the three open practices of OTAs looks quite familiar. His decision-making in the pocket is a tick slower than that of Bo Nix and Jarrett Stidham.

He has mobility, but has also struggled with accuracy. That also reflects a quarterback who has a career completion percentage below the 60-percent baseline.

Nevertheless, it’s practice. And Wilson will have chances to improve in the next two months. But for the moment, Wilson looks like he has some ground to close on Stidham and Nix.

Based on the rotation, Nix would get the first-team work Wednesday. But Thursday’s practice — the 10th and final session of OTAs before next week’s three-day minicamp — remains up in the air.

“I haven’t even thought about it,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “Meaning they’re all getting reps, the work and the walkthrough reps. This is to better prepare us for the competition in training camp. So honestly, I haven’t thought about it.”

SEAN PAYTON WANTED ZACH WILSON

As the weeks in March passed without the Broncos adding a quarterback, consternation flowed through Broncos Country. Sam Darnold, Sam Howell and other veteran quarterbacks with different first names tumbled from the available list, one by one.

But inside the main building at the facility now known as Broncos Park powered by CommonSpirit, the work had already begun on making a deal for Zach Wilson, rendered unneeded by the New York Jets after they added Tyrod Taylor to back up Aaron Rodgers, returning from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

“It took a while,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “We spent the better part of a month and a half working on that trade.”

Sean Payton on Zach Wilson: "We just felt like, man, we'd love to work with this guy. It wasn't too long ago; we remember grading him & we felt the investment was worth it relative to his skillset & his talent…We spent the better part of a month & a half working on that trade." pic.twitter.com/QfahENi12l

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) June 5, 2024

“It was longer than the Russell Wilson trade,” general manager George Paton said on April 27.

But it got Payton a quarterback he wanted — and, by one definition, a quarterback who fit his reclamation template. Payton has worked with former first-round picks Kerry Collins, Drew Bledsoe, Teddy Bridgewater and Jameis Winston to varying degrees of success in his coaching career. Collins even took a Payton-led offense — with the New York Giants in 2000 — to a Super Bowl.

It’s that CV that made the Broncos’ addition of Wilson not a complete surprise, even though he has yet to approach being worthy of the No. 2 overall pick.

“We just felt like, man, we’d love to work with this guy,” Payton said. “It wasn’t too long ago we remember grading him, and we felt the investment was worth it relative to his skillset and his talent.”

The investment was minimal, of course. The Broncos sent a sixth-round choice to the Jets in exchange for Wilson and a seventh-rounder.

The Broncos’ season is unlikely to pivot on the degree to which Zach Wilson progresses in the coming months. But if he wants to be in the mix for the starting spot, he’ll need to stack better days than the ones witnessed in recent weeks.

Related

Broncos Camp Day 2: Three big things from the dayBo Nix on extension talk: ‘You got to go out there and continue to earn it’The Broncos have a real battle for backup quarterbackBroncos president admits ‘frustration’ as 2031 stadium timeline tightensBroncos hire the architect behind the Raiders’ stadium — the same firm designing the Chiefs’Bo Nix asked if he’ll take off less after ankle surgeries, ‘absolutely not’