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Ranking the best situations for the rookie quarterbacks: Start with Michael Penix in Atlanta at No. 1

NFL teams break talented quarterbacks. They systematically destroy them. Rarely do we ever place the appropriate amount of blame where it belongs.

I think about that reality when I look at Zach Wilson and recall a conversation that I had with a key member of the New York Jets’ braintrust last summer.

“Zach never should have played as a rookie,” the Jets official said. “We should have redshirted him.”

Quarterback hindsight is cruel like that. In Wilson’s case, it was hard to know how deeply his confidence would be shaken as the mistakes piled up.