College Football

Wide Receiver Conundrum : New York Jets

February 16, 2022
5 mins read

Look around the National Football League and you see superstar receivers in every direction. Now narrow your vision to the final eight teams in the playoffs.

Rams: Cooper Kupp, Odell Beckham Jr., Robert Woods*

Bengals: Ja’Mar Chase, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd

Chiefs: Tyreek Hill

49ers: Deebo Samuel

Packers: Davante Adams

Titans: AJ Brown, Julio Jones

Buccaneers: Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown**

Bills: Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis***

*- Injured

**- Released due to off field

***- Historic Playoff performance

Even if you take out the three players with asterisks, every single team in that group had at least one superstar wide receiver. Yes, throughout this list you will find players that were drafted outside of the first round. Heck, only three were actually drafted in the first round (Jones, Evans and Chase). While the receiver position may be a little “easier” to find in the draft than most positions, what that list still shows is how important it has become across the league. Enter the New York Jets.

They come into the offseason with roughly 40 million available to spend, before cap casualties. They also enter with arguably the best draft capital in the league, holding four selections in the top 38, as well as another five picks in the following three rounds. If Joe Douglas and company want to change to receiver room this offseason, it’s safe to say they can. Honestly though, it is not a matter of “if” they will, it’s when. 

Of the five leading wide receivers from the 2021 team, only two (Elijah Moore and Corey Davis) are under contract for 2022. Jamison Crowder, Braxton Berrios and Keelan Cole are all unrestricted free agents once free agency hits and none of them are expected to return. Berrios may be the most likely due to his skillset as a return man and his relationship/chemistry with Zach Wilson. However, he may demand too much on the open market for a backup receiver.

There will be some debate about how the Jets decide to attack this problem of theirs. If they decide to go the veteran route, they’ll see an abundance of talented players that are slated to hit the open market; Davante Adams, Chris Godwin, Michael Gallup, Mike Williams, Allen Robinson and Odell Beckham. Not to mention some of the second/third tier names; Juju Smith-Schuster, Will Fuller, Christian Kirk and DJ Chark. And then the young guys that have shown some potential despite limited playing time; Cedrick Wilson, Byron Pringle and James Washington.

So as you see, Douglas will have options if the organization wants to spend money to fix this issue. However, as we have seen in the past, money does not cure everything. Which brings us to option number two, hitting the trade market. 

Now this one is all up for debate but from people around the league, it appears as if there are some potential big name weapons that could be available for the right asking price. The big three being Calvin Ridley, Amari Cooper and DK Metcalf. The last of the three does not seem very likely, but it has still been put out there. Ridley and Cooper on the other hand could absolutely see their time with their respective teams come to an end.

The caveat with Ridley is his mental health. In the 2021 season, Ridley only played in five games, missing the other 12 for “personal” reasons. He wanted to focus on his mental health and I give him all the credit in the world for doing so. With that being said, no team will trade for and/or extend him if he does not intend to play anytime soon. Hopefully for Ridley’s sake he feels better and can get back out onto the field because he is an instant number one receiver in this league.

As for Cooper, he already comes with a huge cap number attached to him. With a 22 million dollar cap hit, it may not cost as much to acquire him from Dallas but it ties the team up quite a bit for a guy that will be 28 and coming off a year with under 900 yards in a heavy passing offense. Numbers aside, Cooper would still provide this offense of a number one receiver who has proven it for two separate teams in his seven NFL seasons.

If they decide to go the trade route, you easily get a great weapon for your young quarterback, which is the ultimate goal. It would just be a matter of how much of their very important draft capital they would want to give up. Being in possession of four picks (4, 10, 35, 38) in the first two rounds is something nobody would have guessed entering the ‘21 season. With the Seahawks and Panthers being as bad as they were, the Jets lucked out and now have the ammunition to take practically any receiver they want. 

We can officially rule out seeing one taken with the fourth pick since there is no Ja’Mar Chase or even Jaylen Waddle for that matter. But 10 is where it gets interesting with names like Treylon Burks, Garrett Wilson, Drake London, Jameson Williams and Chris Olave to a lesser extent.

What’s great about this group is that they are all different types of receiver. While they all play the same position, it is not an apples to apples comparison between any of the five. Ultimately, it comes down to Douglas, Lafleur and the scouts about who best fits what they want to do and how to help Zach Wilson become their franchise quarterback.

Treylon Burks – To be completely honest, he scares me, literally and figuratively. He’s a monster on the field who can do just about anything with the ball in his hands and at his size, there are not many receivers in the league that compare. But he is a receiver who needs to be schemed up to be successful, in my opinion. He will not beat NFL defensive backs in 50/50’s like he did in college. The route running could stand to improve as he is not one to get open quickly, which was a drastic need this past season. By putting him in positions like the slot or H-back where he doesn’t have to line up against guys in press and has some room to move, he could explode any given play. Burks is likely the most exciting option but also comes with arguably the most risk.

Garrett Wilson – Maybe the best fit for what the team would be looking for, opposite Moore and Davis. Wilson is the best route runner of the group and knows how to get open, which was an issue for the Jets receivers this past season. He has reliable hands, is aggressive at the catch point and can make defenders miss post-catch. The issue here may be his long speed. Not being a burner will have some people question his ability to breakaway but that has become severely overrated. No, he won’t run sub 4.40 and will likely be closer to 4.50. But neither did Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Stefan Diggs or Debo Samuel. What he does bring to the table is something the Jets covet and need.

Drake London – If you want to talk about a beast, London is your man. Standing at approximately 6’5 220, he instantly becomes a guy you can just chuck the ball up to and with his ball skills, I mean it. I love the way he attacks the ball in the air, never letting it come to him. Unfortunately there are some concerns with separation and health (season ending foot injury in 2021), but not many bring what he can to an offense. The lack of separation is a fallacy. London may not be the best in this department but he is better than most at his size. He shows positives in his route running to where it 

Jameson Williams – Before suffering an ACL injury in the National Championship game, Jameson Williams was in the running for WR1 and from the outside, it seemed that he was the favorite. It turns out… it was for good reason. Not only is Williams easily the fastest of the bunch, but he does not seem to have much of his game that needs nitpicking. He is a refined route runner, abuses blind spots, can get yards in bunches after the catch and can be used all over the field. You see how much speed can kill a defense and having a receiver like this along with Elijah Moore’s 4.35 can create havoc for a defense, just ask Sean McDermott and the Bills. The biggest concern here is the fact that Williams would likely miss a good portion of his rookie season and when you are looking for results, especially offensively, this may not be a selection the Jets could afford to take at 10.

All in all, the Jets do stand in a pretty good place when you think of it. For only having two NFL receivers on the roster come mid-March, they have more than a solid enough two to get started. Adding one of these four with their second pick in the first round could be the ultimate game changer for their young quarterback. As mentioned before, the team has all the money and draft capital needed to put together the finishing touches for this receiving corps, now it’s just a matter of execution.

Let us know which receiver(s) you want the Jets to bring in this offseason!