Gordon Monson: BYU’s Zach Wilson is spinning footballs and NFL scouts’ heads

Looking all of 13 years old, Zach Wilson took the field, dropped into the pocket, drilled a perfect spinner into the open arms of Aliva Hifo, to the roars of fans in the stadium surrounding the freshman’s personal show of precocious promise.

That was a couple of years ago, back at the beginning, when Wilson, having that appearance of a kid who’d just stepped out of a Clearasil commercial, wowed his coaches at BYU enough for them to promote him as their starter at quarterback, the youngest ever at the school. He teased those coaches and fans, gave them a glimpse of what might come next. In that first start, he helped the Cougars crush a bad Hawaii team, but, just like now, the caliber of competition was a mere detail, mattering little.

What did matter was this: The fresh-faced teenager could play.

But what also mattered was the aforementioned: He was, in the rugged terms of football, a mere baby. A neophyte. A novice.

He had much to learn, much to experience, much to overcome, including losses, injuries, frustrations that come by way of playing with an eager mind, sometimes overeager, blind swagger and a compromised body.

What Wilson had an abundance of — despite his less-than-ample list of suitors/recruiters — was talent. Still, in his second year, he battled, beating teams like Tennessee and USC, but losing to teams his Corner Canyon High School squad might have defeated, as the Cougars finished 7-6. Worst of all, he contributed to those losses, making costly mistakes, burping up turnovers.

He, indeed, had seen a little bit of everything in his early career, from jubilation to anger, glory to blame, potential to poor play, rehab to realization.

But he had only dreamed … this.

A stellar season, an undefeated season, a season during which he’s pitched the ball all over the yard with uncommon accuracy, dealing touchdowns galore, with only a couple of interceptions, gaining all kinds of accolades, spurring talk of him being a legitimate Heisman candidate, and now multiple projections of him as a rising darling in the coming NFL Draft.

That last one is a doozy — and very much the real thing.

One pro talent evaluator recently whispered an unusual observation about the Cougar QB, at least for someone in his profession: “He looks like he’s having fun.”

Here’s what’s most fun for Wilson: He is, in fact, rocketing up NFL Draft boards.

Scouting reports from pro personnel people have him ascending, impressed by his playmaking, his quick release, his mobility, his arm talent, his creativity, his confidence. Yeah, there are times when he bails out of the pocket too soon, or commits an error of judgment, but the highs are canceling out the lows.

And creators of mock drafts have bought in, big time. In many of those projections, Wilson has moved into the third slot of available quarterbacks, behind everybody’s favorites, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State’s Justin…