Zach Wilson

Zach Wilson is an American football quarterback who currently plays for the NFL team, the New York Jets. Born as Zachary Kopono Wilson, he has Polynesian roots although he grew up in Utah. Zach Wilson was one of the highest-rated quarterback prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft. The talented quarterback was compared to his current teammate Aaron Rodgers in his combine report.

Wilson is one of the best players to have been selected in the NFL coming out of BYU. Wilson struggled to make a large impact in the NFL in the first two seasons of his game. With the arrival of the seasoned Aaron Rodgers, Zach Wilson is on the way to making progress in his game and moulding into the quarterback he was slated to be during the NFL draft. Read on to know all about Zach Wilson.

Zach Wilson Personal Information

Zach Wilson Early Life

Zach Wilson was born on August 3, 1999, in Draper, Utah. He was born to Lisa and Michael Wilson. He played high school football at Corner Canyon High School in Utah, which he attended. He rushed for 752 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior while also passing for 2,986 yards and 24 scores. Wilson made a commitment to play quarterback at Boise State University in the beginning, but he subsequently changed his mind and decided to enrol at Brigham Young University (BYU) for college.

Wilson started 28 of his 30 games at BYU in his career. Wilson concluded his career going 566-837 for 7,652 yards passing with 56 touchdowns at a 162.91 efficiency rating, making him the youngest rookie quarterback to ever start for the Cougars. The dynamic quarterback adds 212 running attempts, 642 yards, and 15 touchdowns to his resume. During the 2020 season, Wilson was among the most successful quarterbacks in the country.

In the 2020 season, Wilson finished second in the country in terms of points responsible for (264), passing efficiency (196.4), and completion percentage (73.5); third in terms of passing yards (3,692), passing touchdowns (33), yards per pass attempt (10.99), and points responsible for per game (22.0); fourth in terms of quarterback rushing touchdowns (ten); fifth in terms of passing yards per completion (14.95); eighth in terms of total offense (328.8); and tenth in terms of passing yards per game (307.

He was named to the Phil Steele All-America honorable mention team in 2020, Pro Football Focus All-America Second Team, Co-Polynesian College Player of the Year, and Heisman Trophy voting's eighth-place finish. Wilson led the team in 2020 and was a nominee for the Manning Award, Walter Camp Player of the Year, Maxwell Award, and Davey O'Brien Award.

Zach Wilson Personal Life

Zach Wilson was born to Michael Wilson and Lisa Wilson. Lisa Wilson is a native of Utah and grew up there with her parents Gary and Rose Neeleman, and six siblings. Michael Wilson is a Hawaiian native. Zach Wilson is one of six children in the family.

As a child, Wilson was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) which he has managed throughout his life. Although Wilson was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints he was never really an avid churchgoer and concentrated most on football.

Wilson is currently dating a model and Instagram influencer, Nicolette Delano. The pair have been dating since 2022 and have been open about their relationship on social media by often posting pictures of the two of them together.

Zach Wilson NFL Journey

Zach Wilson was drafted by the New York Jets in the 2021 NFL Draft as the overall 2nd pick in the first round of the Draft. He was one of five quarterbacks selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft with the others being Trevor Lawrence, Trey Lance, Justin Fields and Mac Jones.

Wilson is the highest-drafted player ever out of the BYU Cougars. He signed a four-year deal on July 29, 2021, with the Jets. The deal was worth $35.15 million (fully guaranteed), along with a $22.9 million signing bonus and a fifth-year option.

Wilson’s life in the NFL has been full of ups and downs. Wilson made his NFL debut against the Carolina Panthers, going up against Sam Darnold who was his predecessor for the Jets. He ended with 258 passing yards, two touchdowns, and a running 2-point conversion but the Jets fell 19-14 after tossing an interception in the first half. Wilson threw four interceptions, including on his first two throw attempts, in the Jets' home opener against the New England Patriots in Week 2. In a Week 5 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Wilson threw his ninth interception, making him the fourth quarterback in NFL history (after DeShone Kizer, Zach Mettenberger, and Blake Bortles) to have an interception in each of his first five starts. He played in 13 games as a rookie. In his rookie season, Wilson compiled 2,334 passing yards, nine passing touchdowns, and eleven interceptions along with 185 running yards and four rushing scores on 29 carries.

Due to a non-contact bone bruise and meniscus tear, he sustained in the preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, Wilson missed the first three games of the 2022 season. In Week 4's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he made his season debut. Despite throwing two interceptions, he had a 2-yard touchdown reception from wide receiver Braxton Berrios and guided the Jets on a comeback drive to win 24-20. Wilson was subsequently demoted to the third-string backup behind Mike White and second-string backup Joe Flacco and rendered inactive in the latter stages of the 2022-23 NFL season. Wilson played the remainder of the season as a backup to Joe Flacco and Mike White. Wilson still needs to pick up his game in the NFL and will currently serve as the backup to Aaron Rodgers who signed with the Jets in 2023.

Zach Wilson Family Background

Zach Wilson is of Polynesian descent due to his father Michael Wilson who is from Hawaii. His mother Lisa Wilson was a native of Utah itself and she grew up in Salt Lake City. Zach Wilson’s father Michael Wilson is the owner of several gas stations. Wilson’s father also coached him in football and basketball when he was growing up and has been a huge influence on Zach.

His mother Lisa Wilson runs a successful health business called ‘Live Life Legit’. Lisa is a self-described workout enthusiast and offers dance lessons at various gyms in Utah. She has a large number of followers on Instagram like her son Zach. Zach Wilson has three brothers and two sisters. His parents have been married to each other for over two decades.

Zach’s family are devout Mormon Christians although he is not a very frequent churchgoer.

Read more about Zach Wilson's parents.

Zach Wilson Girlfriend

Zach Wilson is currently dating social media influencer and model Nicolette Delano. The pair have been reportedly dating each other since the summer of 2022. Nicolette and Zach spend a lot of time with each other and have been spotted holidaying around and posting pictures. They have been often spotted at Mets and Yankees baseball games. His relationship with Nicolette started amidst a host of rumors where Zach was under scrutiny for apparently being engaged in an affair with his mother’s best friend.

Zach Wilson earlier used to date his childhood sweetheart Abbey Gile. Both of them used to attend BYU together and separated from each other at the beginning of 2022.

Read more about Zach Wilson's girlfriend.

Zach Wilson Social Media

Zach Wilson is fairly active on social media, especially on the social media website Instagram. Zach Wilson’s Instagram page has more than 380,000 followers and his bio reads “Work in silence and let success be your noise”.

Zach Wilson reportedly removed all of his social media applications from his phone before training camp. He wanted to remove all distractions other than football which is why removing himself from all social media platforms was important to him.

Zach Wilson Net Worth

Zach Wilson has a net worth of approximately $12 million. The majority of Wilson’s net worth has been earned from his four-year contract with the New York Jets which he signed in 2021. The $35 million contract is fully guaranteed to Zach Wilson. Wilson has also signed endorsement deals with brands which add to his net worth too.

It is reported that Zach Wilson’s family has a considerable amount of net worth too. His uncle has a massive net worth which is estimated to be around $400 million.

Zach Wilson Brand Ambassador

Zach Wilson was one of the highest-rated quarterback prospects of the 2021 NFL Draft class and when he was drafted as the overall 2nd quarterback in the Draft he attracted a lot of brand endorsement deals.

Currently, Zach Wilson is signed to several lucrative endorsement deals. He is signed to many lucrative brand endorsement deals as an ambassador with the most notable being Giorgio Armani, Verizon, Bose, Nike and BMW. Here is the full list of Zach Wilson’s endorsement deals:

• Giorgio Armani

• Verizon

• Aptive

• Bose

• Traeger Grill

• Nike

• Bird

• Chipotle

• BMW

• JetBlue

Zach Wilson Career Stats

Zach Wilson Achievements

Wilson is still a relatively new player in the NFL and has had a tough start to his career. The young quarterback came off a very good collegiate career with his name on the list for Heisman trophy voting too.

• Polynesian Football Player of the Year (College) (2020)

Zach Wilson Contract

Zach Wilson signed a 4-year rookie contract with the New York Jets when he signed for them in 2021. The quarterback is earning around $8.7 million on average annually. His contract worth $35.15 million is fully guaranteed. In 2023, Wilson will be earning a base salary of $940,000 and a roster bonus of $2,915,516, while carrying a cap hit of $9,586,549. The contract also has a dead cap value of $20,770,856 in 2023.

Zach Wilson Diet

Zach Wilson follows a very healthy diet being one of the top athletes in the nation. The young quarterback, however, only started taking a precise focus on his nutrition at the end of his first NFL season. The quarterback who was concentrated more on working out and lifting also understood the importance of a great diet and along with the New York Jets’ help, formulated something which worked out for him.

The major challenge for Wilson was to control his sweet tooth as he loves sweet treats. Following a nutritious diet formulated along with the New York Jets helped Wilson gain his ideal weight to compete in the NFL.

Zach Wilson Cars

Zach Wilson has quite an array of cars in his collection. He received a Maserati Levante as a Draft gift.

He also got a BMW M3 for himself in 2022 which also flaunts the colors of his team, the New York Jets.