Have you been thinking about buying a Zach Wilson rookie card? They are actually really popular, with more than 2k Zach Wilson cards having been purchased on eBay in the first 6 months of 2021 alone. They have only climbed since!
Collectors have been interested in Zach Wilson and it makes sense. The New York Jets drafted Wilson in 2021 as the 2nd overall pick after his college career at BYU impressed everyone.
As well as this, his Preseason week in 2021 against the Green Bay Packers showed he was more than ready for a pro football career. Of course, in the seasons since, we have seen him play well, and this draws in even more interest, righteously.
So, if you fancy getting a Zach Wilson rookie card, which one should you get?
Sadly, we cannot give you a simple answer, there are so many cards to choose from, and this is exactly why we have decided to put together this thorough list of the best cards you should consider.
Before we delve into the details, however, let’s check out our 6 favorite overall Zach Wilson rookie cards!
- Prizm Draft Picks #105: Most Popular Card Choice.
- Score #304: Budget Card.
- Prizm Draft Picks Autograph: Autographed Card.
- Chronicles Draft Picks Relic: Relic Card Choice.
- Immaculate Collegiate RPA: RPA Card Choice.
- Prizm Draft Picks Color Blast: Rare Insert.
The Top Zach Wilson Rookie Cards
The top card includes cards that are most looked for on Google and most often bought online. These are most likely the best long-term collector cards as they are very popular among collectors and investors.
#105 Prizm Draft Picks
This card, the Zach Wilson Prizm Draft Picks card, was one of the most popular cards in 2021. It comes from the 2021 Prizm Draft Picks Hobby Box from Panini, and it features all the drafted rookies in college uniforms.
Therefore, all the Zach Wilson cards in his set have him in a BYU Cougars uniform.
Collectors of this should also be aware that the Prizm Draft Picks set is the collegiate variation of the NFL Prizm set. The NFL Prizm has also been released, but collectors had to stick with only this set for a few months after its release.
Much like any other Prizm set, the 2021 Prizm Draft Picks shows many parallels to the Zach Wilson rookie card, these include:
- #105 Silver Prizm Draft Picks.
- #105 Red, White, and Blue Prizm Draft Picks.
- #105 Gold Ice Prizm Draft Picks.
The price of this card will vary based on the condition and its rarity. However, sellers usually list the base card for less than 410 and rare parallels can go for a couple of hundred dollars.
Chronicles Draft Picks
The Chronicles Draft Picks is well known for including a collection of different brands that comes from Panini. Much like the Prizm Draft Picks, this set will contain newly drafted rookies in the NFL in college uniform, so Zach Wilson is in his BYU Cougars uniform.
The serial number of this card will vary based on the brand of the card, and Panini features around 15 different varieties. Here are four you may find:
- #4 Chronicles Draft.
- #204 Donruss Rated Rookie.
- #261 Select.
- #282 Spectra.
As you may already have guessed, the price point for these will vary depending on the rarity and condition. Sellers tend to list the base card for less than $5, however, there are also ultra-rare versions that can go for more than $1,000.
#102 Gold Standard
The Gold Standard is among the more popular of Zach Wilson’s cards as it is one of the few that is available that showed Wilson in his NY Jets Uniform. This changed eventually, as the season moved on and Panini released more.
However, there are still plenty of these out there and they are worthwhile.
The 2021 Gold Standard Hobby Box includes just 7 cards. On average, five of these seven cards are autographed or/and memorabilia cards. As well as this, the base cards, like the Zach Wilson Gold Standard #102 cards are often numbered 99.
The base card also has parallels, with the opportunity to find platinum #75, White Gold #49, Rose Gold #25, and Black #1.
#2 Mosaic Draft Picks
There is also the Mosaic Draft Picks Football which has very few releases in mid-late 2021. Panini released NFL Mosaic in 2020 for the very first time, and it was likely reasoned that a Mosaic Collegiate line would probably be received well by collectors.
However, much like the Prizm Draft Picks and Chronicles Draft Picks, Mosaic Draft Picks features rookies in their college uniforms, so once again Wilson is wearing his BYU Cougars uniform.
Mosaic is also known for having many parallels, here are some that you may enjoy:
- #2 Silver Mosaic Draft Picks.
- #2 Red Mosaic Draft Picks.
Collectors have many cards and price points from which they can choose in this set. A collector purchased a Gold Wave variation numbered #10 in mid-2021 for $380! However, the base card is often listed for $10.
Budget Zach Wilson Rookie Cards
The Budget rookie cards we will look at are popular and often less expensive than cards that are included in the category of being most popular. These budget cards are often good ‘entry level’ cards that provide great investment options for beginners at collecting.
#304 Score
Score is one of the earliest sets that gets released annually by Panini. This is also a very affordable set, in spite of how popular it is throughout the season of football card collections.
This is what makes it such a good budget-friendly option, and one of our favorites!
This rookie card is probably one of the most popular cards from the set of the 2021 Score Football set. However, it also has some parallels such as the following;
- #304 Gold Score.
- #304 Purple Score.
The Zach Wilson #304 shows Wilson in his BYU Cougars all-white uniform. He is also holding the football in his right hand as he goes to pass downfield.
This card is generally fairly affordable. The Gold and Purple tend to go for less than $10, however, the base cards are even cheaper than this!
#143 Legacy
A fairly popular set is Legacy, another release by Panini. Thankfully, a vast majority of the rookie cards found in this set are affordable all throughout the collecting season, and Panini released Legacy 3 times in 2021.
Much like their previous releases, the hobby set shows a traditional and saloon-style design. Thanks to it having an early season release date, all the rookies in the pack are in their colleague uniforms for the cards.
There are over 20 parallels of the base cards in this set, so there are quite a lot of Zach Wilson rookie cards available. However, two we like include the following:
- #143 Halo Silver Legacy.
- #143 Red Legacy
#143 shows Zach Wilson in his all-white BYU uniform, with the football in his right hand.
Autographed Zach Wilson Cards
Autographed rookie cards include signed cards from unique and popular football card releases alike. This does exclude RPA cards as we will look into these momentarily.
#DPAZWL Prizm Draft Picks
This Zach Wilson Prizm Draft Picks Autograph rookie card comes from the same set as the first card featured on this list. This card is also among the most popular and wanted Zach Wilson autograph rookie cards that have been released.
Collectors should also be aware that the relative popularity of this card has been decreasing as Panini released more and more NFL football sets, however, it is still collectible.
Much like the base Prizm Draft Picks card this autographed version can include multiple parallels. You can find Red #199, Orange Pulsar #50, Blue Ice #75, and Blue Shimmer #13 among others.
The Prizm Draft Picks autograph is one of the more expensive cards that has been up for grabs.
Sellers have listed PSA Zach Wilson Prizm Draft Picks Autograph #13 Blue Shimmer at nearly $4,0000, however, in July 2021 a collector purchased an ungraded Black Prizm version for $4,245.
Leaf Metal Draft Autograph
In May 2021, Leaf released Metal Draft, which was around a month after the draft that year. This set is a premium set from Leaf and it features only cards that have an autograph. You can buy the cards from the 2021 Leaf Metal Draft Hobby Box, or eBay.
The Zach Wilson Leaf Metal Draft Autograph is one of the most popular cards from this set. It has a close-up shot of Xach Wilson in his Cougars gear as well as a sticker autograph at the base of the card.
It differs from cards from Panini as Leaf cards never have the team logos as they don’t have the license to do this.
Collectors purchased variations of this card back (see also “Does Anyone Read The Back Of The Cards?“) in 2021 for any price between $70 to $735. Back in June 2021, a collector bought the Leaf Metal Draft Black Crystal #1 for $735!
Relic Rookie Cards Zach Wilson
These cards include jersey/ relic/ patch cards from popular football card releases. This excludes RPA cards as we will focus on that in a moment.
Chronicles Draft Picks
The 2021 Chronicles Draft Picks features many sub-brands so you can find a wide variety of relic rookie cards for Zach Wilson in this set. And like all draft pick cards we have looked at thus far, this set also shows the NFL rookies in their college uniform.
If you are interested in buying a Zach Wilson Chronicles rookie card there are several, but we suggest looking at these:
- Down & Dirty Relic.
- Plates & Patches Relic.
The Zach Wilson rookie card investors and collectors out there are sure to be happy to learn these are affordable (see also “Most Valuable Aaron Judge Rookie Card“). The Down & Dirty is often less than $10 and the Plates & Patches is often less than $50, however, prices can fluctuate.
RPA Cards Zach Wilson
These are now the RPA cards, which include autographed rookie patch cards from many football card releases. We will look at some of the most popular and expensive cards here (see also “Most Expensive Babe Ruth Baseball Cards“).
Immaculate Collegiate RPA
The 2021 Immaculate Collegiate RPA set is the first super premium football hobby set to release for the season 2021-2022. The NCAA-focused set contains established stars and rookies in their collegiate uniforms.
Collectors who choose to purchase this box will get 6 cards. Four of these are autograph cards, one is a base card, and another is a memorabilia card.
Any Zach Wilson rookie card collectors will usually find many different versions of the RPA’s, but most will be numbered at #99 or fewer.
Zach Wilson’s RPA will feature him in his BYU Cougars uniform. The card also features a jersey patch and an 0n-card autograph too!
Gold Standard RPA
The Gold Standard RPA for Zach Wilson is one of the fewer early cards to feature Wilson in his Jets uniform. This is why we have included this.
There are only 7 cards in the Gold Standard 2021 hobby box, however, 5 of these are memorabilia or autographed cards. Additionally, all of Zach Wilson’s RPA cards are #75 or below.
The Gold Standard Zach Wilson RPA cards show Wilson in his Jets uniform and also have a sticker autograph and show a Jets’ jersey patch!
Collectors have purchased variations of these cards from $300 to $700. One collector purchased a Zach Wilson RPA #75 in 2021 for $380!
Rare Insert Zach Wilson Cards
The rare inserts category shows any highly sought-after or rare rookie cards. Some of these are the most expensive rookie cards you can get, especially when it includes a reputable high grade!
#16 Prizm Draft Picks Color Blast
This card, the Zach Wilson Prizm Draft Picks Color Blast is one of the most valued Zach Wilson cards released in 2021. Prizm DP Color Blast is a 1 per 10 case hit, making it so rare and hard to come across.
There have only been a good 2 sellers of this card online at any one time for the most part.
Collectors who show interest in this card will probably need to spend over $1,000 to get it, although it may be available for slightly less as time goes on. Back in 2021, a collector purchased one of these PSA 10 Zach Wilson DP Color Blast cards for $2,201”
Rookie Card Preview (2021-2022) Zach Wilson
Football card manufacturers are always releasing a vast variety of football card sets both during and after each NFL season.
Of course, this staggered release schedule allows them to maximize on their sales by taking advantage of different levels of football card demand throughout the yearly happenings.
Resulting of this, many collectors will have more rookie card options for a player like Zach Wilson, each year.
While we cannot list absolutely every release, as we would be here all day, we will highlight some of the ones which we find to be the best and top choices.
This should help you to get an idea of what you want.
Sets Released In 2021.
Donruss Football: This set was released in the fall of 2021, Collectors tend to have interest in the “Rated Rookie” cards from this set.
Mosaic Football: This set was released in the fall of 2021. While Mosaic is fairly new to football card collections, many collectors tend to like this set.
Prizm Football: This set was released in the winter of 2021. This is probably the flagship of the football card set released every year. With a very loaded rookie class, it is wise to expect demand for a set like this to be fairly high.
Immaculate Football: Panini released this set in winter, 2021. They are known for releasing super-premium RPA’s, so this is an ideal choice for any collectors who prefer to go for higher value cards.
Sets Released In 2022
Donruss Optic Football: Panini released this set in late winter 2022. Donruss Optic cards have a chrome finish and are considered to be a higher quality, and more high-end version than the base card Donruss set.
Select Football: Panini released this set in spring 2022. Select is best known for having various card levels. Much like Donruss, Select also has a chrome finish and is considered to be quite a high end, so is better for high-end collectors.
National Treasures Football: Panini released this set in spring 2022. This set is probably one of our favorites to come from Panini. They have a wide range of RPA’s, autographs, and relics, it is fully expected for collectors to be enamored with a set like this.
Flawless Football: Panini released this set in Spring 2022. This is yet again, another super-premium set that came from Panini. It is best for high-end collectors, as most collectors will pay high premiums for an RPA from this set.
Rookie Card Risks & Upsides
Note that you should always independently research the cards you are looking for, especially when making an investment decision, as things can change very quickly, so research can keep you updated.
Zach Wilson was drafted into the New York Jets as the 2nd overall pick in the NFL Draft in 2021. While the Jets have lost more games than won in recent years, Zach Wilson proved very well in his rookie season.
It is hopeful that with practice he would move the team forward, however, 2022-2023 still saw the jets struggle with a 7-10 win-loss rate.
If Wilson can turn things around in the coming seasons, his rookie card value will surely go up, and if he can take the Jets to a Super Bowl, they will skyrocket in value.
However, there is still room for improvement, so his cards are both high-risk but also have high potential. While he has not yet shown the NFL glory for the Jets, we are not giving up yet, we still have hope!
Why Might These Cards Be High Risk?
We know that Zach Wilson has the tools available to be very successful in the NFL, however, it is best to exercise caution.
Wilson has not made things change much for the Jets, their recent season was a bit of a flunk, and while he still gives it his best, there is still room to see him make some changes.
The Jets have not been a great team, even before Wilson, and as much as Wilson can try to make an impact, the truth is the whole team needs to shake things up.
The Jets have not seen a winning season since 2015 when they went 10-6, however, in recent years these numbers have flipped.
The Jets need to do better overall for collectors to be eyeing up Zach Wilson’s rookie cards.
Why Might These Cards Have A High Upside Potential?
Collectors love quarterbacks, those who win games and championships. Just consider Brady or Mahomes.
Zach Wilson has a very long road ahead, he will only be going into his 3rd year soon, however, there is nothing to say that he might not be the next Brady! Brady took a few years to get his game going after all, and Wilson could well do the same.
Who knows, maybe Wilson will become the next superstar quarterback, and if he does, the prices of his cards will skyrocket to the moon and back1
So, even though his cards are high risk as an investment, the potential for high upsides is also worth considering. It is best to buy them cheaper now, because in the future if Wilson impresses us all, then you will have an incredible opportunity!
How Do Zach Wilson’s Rookie Cards Compare To QBs In The Same Draft Class?
The NFL Draft of 2021 has oodles of quarterback talent, unlike this year where we are seeing a lot more wide receiver talent. In the draft last year the first 3 picks were ALL quarterbacks, and in the first round, five quarterbacks were selected.
All quarterbacks were drafted in the hope of making them full-time starters for their teams.
But, wondering who’s the best?
Well, the first pick was Trevor Lawrence for the Jaguars, then it was Zach Wilson, and Trey Lance was third.
In the 2022 season, Lawrence made 4,113 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions and got an overall rating of 95.2
Wilson made 1,688 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions, and got an overall rating of 72.8.
Trey Lance made 194 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception, and got an overall rating of 55.
So, we think that while Wilson has not got the potential Lawrence does, he does have potential. Maybe Wilson and the collectors of his rookie cards may benefit if he got traded.
What do you think?
Overall
Zach Wilson’s rookie cards are not worth an arm and a leg like some rookie cards are, however, considering he is still young in the game, and has yet to unlock his true potential, they are still worth a lot.
We suggest buying them now, just in case, he peaks soon!
He bought me my first baseball mitt, and taught me everything I know about baseball. When he came over one day with my first ever baseball card, I was absolutely elated. We started collecting them together, and getting excited whenever we went somewhere that sold them.
Here, I hope you find all of the information that you need to build your own amazing baseball card collection with friends, family and loved ones, and you too can find happiness in getting all of your favorite cards!
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