Peter King: Jacksonville Jaguars Have Had Multiple Zoom Calls With Zach Wilson

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Jacksonville Jaguars have had multiple Zoom calls with former BYU quarterback Zach Wilson, according NBC Sports’ Peter King.

The Jaguars currently own the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

King discussed Jacksonville’s research on Wilson during an interview with ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio.

“I’ll tell you two things. Brian Schottenheimer, the offensive coordinator of the Jaguars, called John Beck (former BYU quarterback and a trainer of Wilson’s) recently and had an extended conversation with Beck about Zach Wilson,” King told Florio.

“(Beck) was very bullish on, in fact, that Coastal Carolina tape that I talked about a minute ago,” King continued. “Here’s the other interesting thing — teams get to spend no more than five zoom sessions with any prospect. The Jacksonville Jaguars have already had two Zoom sessions with Zach Wilson. Now, I don’t want that to be, you know, I don’t want you to say, ‘Whoa what does that mean?’ Because they’ve also had two with Justin Fields. And they’ve had, I’m sure, at least that many with Trevor Lawrence. I still think Mike, it’s highly, highly doubtful that they don’t pick Trevor Lawrence.”

Wilson’s talk with King

In addition to King’s interview with Florio, the NFL insider wrote about Wilson following a discussion with the BYU quarterback himself.

“Recently, Jaguars offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer called Beck to discuss Wilson. (Jacksonville is widely expected to take Trevor Lawrence with the first overall pick in April, but Schottenheimer was doing his homework here.),” King wrote. “‘We talked about that Coastal Carolina drive,’ Beck said. ‘He loved it. He said there were so many throws on that drive he loved—including that throw when he was backed up.'”

Part of Wilson’s discussion with King involved reading a book about fellow BYU great Steve Young. The former BYU star also detailed his career path from recruitment out of high school to competing for BYU’s starting quarterback job in 2020.

“I think that’s what’s interesting about my career as well. I wasn’t a big recruit. I didn’t have a lot of offers. I went to BYU as just a normal three-star recruit. Nothing special. Nobody expected me to play early. I ended up having a chance to play as a freshman, something that I had to work for—nine quarterbacks in the quarterback room at the time. And then I was nobody last year and I was fighting for my starting job back and having shoulder surgery. Things didn’t go as well as we wanted to and the coaches opened up a competition to try and win the starting spot back. I was so determined to try and win that job back and prove that it was mine.”

Number one pick?

Although Lawrence is widely projected as the top selection in April, Wilson has become a hot topic in NFL circles in recent weeks.

Multiple NFL experts have recently stated that they’d draft Wilson ahead of Lawrence. Some of those people include former NFL players in Chris Simms, Mark Schlereth, and Joe Theismann.

'@CSimmsQB loves Trevor Lawrence, but explains why he'd pick BYU's Zach Wilson over him in the draft.

Full 2021 NFL Draft QB rankings from Chris Simms here: https://t.co/yckF6gO4qJ pic.twitter.com/H2PLoFQJ7x

— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) March 3, 2021

About Zach Wilson

After leading the Cougars to an 11-1 with an impressive junior campaign. Wilson declared for the NFL Draft on January 1.

During his final year with BYU, the Draper, Utah native threw for 3,692 yards, 33 touchdowns, and three interceptions with a completion rate of 74 percent. He also had 254 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.

Zach Wilson earned a 95.5 passing grade in 2020.

The highest grade we’ve ever given to a QB in a single season. pic.twitter.com/q4ixUxw2qH

— PFF Draft (@PFF_College) March 3, 2021

Wilson ended his career (2018-20) in Provo passing for 7,652 yards, 56 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions with a 68 percent completion rate.

2021 NFL Draft

The 2021 NFL Draft is scheduled to take place in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 until May 1.