‘The Bills Don’t Put This Much Weight on Josh Allen’ — Jason Whitlock Takes Shot at Deion Sanders and Co. Over Colorado’s Plan for QB Isaac Wilson
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Isaac Wilson’s first start for the Colorado Buffaloes came with a crowded job description: Throw the ball, run the ball, and even catch it, too.
Jason Whitlock had a pretty obvious follow-up question: Was anybody else going to help?
After Colorado’s 29-7 loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Whitlock took aim at head coach Deion Sanders and an offensive approach that asked a quarterback making his first Colorado start to do just about everything.
Jason Whitlock Questions Deion Sanders’ Plan for Colorado QB Isaac Wilson
Wilson finished Saturday’s game with 44 passing attempts, 17 credited carries, and 2 receptions. Those plays accounted for 63 of Colorado’s 80 offensive snaps, giving Whitlock plenty of ammunition for his criticism.
“Imagine being (Isaac) Wilson, first-time starter at Colorado. Fourty-four passing attempts. Seventeen rushing attempts. Two receptions. Sixty-three of 80 offensive plays feature you. The Go Go offense is run by dummies. They put all the weight on a brand new QB,”Whitlock tweeted.
Whitlock didn’t mince words about Sanders andoffensive coordinator Brennan Marion, whose Go-Go offense was supposed to get Colorado moving.
Wilson completed 26 of 44 passes for 290 yards and a touchdown, while adding a team-high 42 rushing yards and 7 receiving yards. He also threw 3 interceptions.
His 17 credited carries included a sack, an important distinction when assessing how often Colorado actually designed runs for him.
Wilson was replacing Julian “JuJu” Lewis, who had started Colorado’s first four games, and stepped into an offense that put him at the center of nearly everything.
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The Utah transfer had barely settled into his new role before the responsibilities started piling up. Whitlock followed his initial criticism with a comparison involving two of the NFL’s biggest stars.
“The Buffalo Bills don’t put this much weight on Josh Allen. The [Baltimore] Ravens don’t do it to Lamar Jackson. Coach Prime. Lol,”Whitlock added.
Whitlock has a point when you consider that Wilson had just one passing attempt last season before being thrust into a starting role with this kind of workload.
Colorado’s Opening Drive Offered Hope That Quickly Disappeared
For one possession, the quarterback change looked promising.
Wilson capped Colorado’s opening 9-play, 75-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Williams. The score gave the Buffaloes an early lead and offered some hope that the change under center could provide the offense with a spark.
They never scored again.
Colorado led 7–3 at halftime and remained within 12–7 entering the fourth quarter before Texas Tech pulled away. The loss dropped the Buffaloes to 2–3 overall and 0–2 in Big 12 play.
The defense had given the offense some room to work. Following the weekend’s games, Colorado ranked No. 44 in the PFN College Team Defense Impact Score, with an 81.7 grade.
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Wilson’s interceptions deserve scrutiny, but so does an offense that produced one scoring drive while asking its new starter to contribute in three different ways.
Whitlock’s wording left little room for diplomacy, but his underlying question gives Colorado’s coaches something concrete to address: How do they make Wilson’s next start easier?
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.
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