© Rick Bowmer | 2020 Oct 31
It’s no surprise that Steve Young is a fan of Zach Wilson, but the former 49ers quarterback was heaping praise on the BYU quarterback when he joined Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks on Wednesday
“The kid is a really good player,” Young said Wednesday on KNBR. “I mean, I’m not going to say he’s Patrick Mahomes, but I’m saying he plays like Patrick Mahomes. There’s no throw he can’t make, and he’s just intuitive and really present when he’s playing. Every week, you’re like, ‘Wow. This is something good.’”
Young, a BYU product himself years ago, also said that he thinks Wilson would be a good fit in Kyle Shanahan’s system, should the 49ers be willing and able to draft him this offseason. As Young put it, a guy who doesn’t have any flaws will work in any system.
“There’s no question that he’s capable (of running it),” Young declared. “The more they ask of him, the better he gets. A good buddy of mine was coaching the kid in high school, and he was telling me there’s something special about this kid. He can do things that no one else can do.
“He’s a kid that Friday practice would end at noon and then during COVID, and then he would drive down to get special tutoring from John Beck in San Diego, he’d drive down every weekend and come back on Sunday night for like six, seven, eight weeks.
“He’s the kind of kid the more you watch him, you think why is he not the first guy? I get that Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields are phenomenal football players, but the more I watch this kid I’m like I don’t see flaws, I don’t see problems.”
At 6-foot-3, 210-pounds, Wilson is both big and mobile, fitting the profile of what is becoming the modern QB prototype. Through eight games, Wilson has completed 75 percent of his passes for 2,511 yards, 21 passing touchdowns, eight rushing TDs and just two picks.
Wilson is considered to be the third or fourth best QB in the upcoming draft according to most analysts.
Listen to the full interview below.