Boosted Tight End Room Has Potential To Help Turbo-Charge Wilson's Development, Jets Offense
For years, the primary excuse offered for the substandard play from Jets quarterbacks centered around the dearth of weapons at their disposal. From Mark Sanchez all the way through to current QB Zach Wilson, it was easy to dismiss their glaring shortcomings because Gang Green rarely supported them with a cast that could maximize their development.
The good news is that change appears to be afoot. While General Manager Joe Douglas failed in his attempts to attract a true game-breaking wide receiver this offseason, he has put together some promising pieces that actually fit in Offensive Coordinator Mike LaFleur’s scheme, which in turn could lead to a noticeable improvement in Wilson’s performance following a lousy rookie season.
The most significant upgrades have been at the tight end position, a crucial unit since LaFleur has a fetish for “12” personnel packages, which utilizes two tight ends along with two receivers and a running back. In the first five weeks of last season, the Jets lined up in 12 personnel on 36% of their offensive snaps, the third-highest percentage in the league, per Sharp Football Stats. Since the team’s tight end room at the time consisted of the underwhelming Tyler Kroft, Ryan Griffin and Trevon Wesco, it’s no wonder that the offense struggled in those sets, averaging a lowly 3.6 yards per carry on runs and 4.8 yards per pass attempt, with the trio combining for a measly 14 catches for 95 yards over the five games.
To be fair, LaFleur adjusted a bit in the second half of the season, dropping his 12 personnel usage to 14% from Week 8 forward. Still, the way the Jets, particularly Head Coach Robert Saleh, have been talking this preseason, you get the sense that the offense intends to revert to its heavy personnel group preferences on a larger than league average number of plays.
For that philosophy to be successful, though, you can’t waste two of the five non-QB skill positions on players with little skill like last season. Fortunately, help has arrived in the form of free agent acquisitions Tyler Conklin and C.J. Uzomah. Both tight ends are smooth enough receivers to keep defenses honest, with Conklin already appearing to develop a chemistry with Wilson, as evidenced by his performance in Saturday’s Green/White scrimmage, where he unofficially reeled in four passes for 39 yards and a touchdown.
Conklin’s blocking in the run game has been an issue—ProFootballFocus.com graded him as below average in that area during all four of his pro seasons with Minnesota since his fifth-round selection in the 2018 Draft. However, the guy gets open and can catch the ball—he snared 61 receptions in 83 targets with just one drop last season, per PFF. For comparison purposes, Jets tight ends as a group registered 50 catches in 75 targets with eight drops last season.
While both tight ends should be effective in the red zone, where Wilson reportedly continues to struggle, Uzomah has the potential to be even more dynamic if Wilson can ever develop to a point where he can be trusted to take more than a couple of deep shots per game. Uzomah is not just a lumbering receiver who can sit down in the middle of a zone defense. He may be 6-foot 6 and 260 pounds, but the man can move, posting a 4.64 second 40-yard dash time at the 2015 NFL Combine prior to his fifth-round selection by the Bengals. Jets fans might actually witness Uzomah deliver chunk plays at a rate that haven’t been seen around these parts since perhaps Dustin Keller a decade ago.
Of course, we won’t know for sure how this new tight end pairing will play out for another month until the regular season opener versus visiting Baltimore on September 11. Variables exist, from injuries to the offensive line’s performance to LaFleur’s play-calling. If the Jets intend to start games grounded with early-down handoffs as expected, the ensuing third-and-long situations will make it that much harder to unleash the full passing game arsenal.
But the most material variable when it comes to the tight ends’ impact will be Wilson’s progression. He’ll have to do better with his accuracy and take fewer sacks for the Jets offense to move the ball consistently. Among the 32 QBs with at least 150 dropbacks, Wilson ranked 28th in completion percentage when passing from a clean pocket at 67%, per PFF. Drops cost him some, but simply put, he missed too many guys. As for getting rid of the ball, only Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield had a higher percentage of pressure situations turned into sacks than Wilson (26.3%, minimum 150 dropbacks). That occurred despite Wilson sporting the fifth-highest average time to throw (3.05 seconds).
The hope is that the Jets will be able to get a clearer read on what they have in Wilson this season because his weapons, particularly at the tight end position, are known to be capable NFL players. No more excuses.