Early Returns Show Skewed Effect Of Jets’ WR2 Miscalculation
With about seven minutes remaining in the Jets’ season opener versus Pittsburgh, New York lined up for a crucial two-point conversion. Success meant that the Jets would bump their lead to three points, which would put them at no worse than tied if the Steelers drove for a late field goal.
Never mind that the two-point attempt became necessary because Nick Folk missed an earlier extra point or that Head Coach Aaron Glenn wasted a timeout that would come back to haunt him to reexamine the appropriate play call. The ultimate call was a corner route to star receiver Garrett Wilson. Three Steelers were in the area to force an incompletion. I think they knew what was coming and we all know what happened next.
During the CBS broadcast, Tony Romo took aim at Jets Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks for doing a poor job disguising his schemes. He could have said the same thing about the equally predictable Offensive Coordinator Tanner Engstrand.
Except Engstrand is more limited at what his side of the ball can do, particularly within the passing game.
In the first two games of the season, Wilson was targeted by Jets quarterbacks 17 times. The rest of the receivers and tight ends combined for 14 targets. If you exclude New York’s garbage time touchdown drive on the final possession of last Sunday’s 30-10 walloping by Buffalo, the ratio becomes more lopsided at 16:11.
I’m all for putting the ball in the hands of your best players, but this skewed allocation just doesn’t happen in the NFL, at least among the teams that have featured a top ten receiver in yards.
This is not a knock on Wilson, who earned a contract extension that makes him one of the NFL’s five highest-paid receivers. Though he is said to sometimes dance and freelance off the line of scrimmage, he remains one of the league’s best in gaining separation. Cover him one-on-one at your own risk, as Pittsburgh’s Darius Slay discovered in the first quarter of Week 1 when Wilson flat out left him in the dust while sprinting across the field to reel in a Justin Fields pass for a 33-yard touchdown.
Only those opportunities are few and far between because opponents have little to fear from the rest of the receiver/tight end room. Running back Breece Hall has been targeted seven times, but no one else has seen more than three, and that’s because receiver Tyler Johnson and tight ends Mason Taylor and Jeremy Ruckert each got one from backup Tyrod Taylor on Sunday’s meaningless final possession.
Veteran free agent acquisition Josh Reynolds, the de facto WR2, caught two balls for 18 yards on three targets in Week 1, but sat out the Bills game with a hamstring injury. In his place, Allen Lazard, who was thought to be on the roster bubble this preseason given his contract and overall performance in Jets green, was purely a decoy in ten routes run, per ProFootballFocus.com.
Neither player should have been an acceptable starting option anyway. Maybe rookie fourth round pick Arian Smith will eventually develop into that role; for now, he doesn’t appear to be ready to handle a full load.
The WR2 blank slate is a problematic issue Jets fans could pinpoint coming at them from a mile away. Once Davante Adams was sent packing after last season, the Jets never entertained a real solution, hoping to fill the hole on the cheap. New General Manager Darren Mougey and Glenn touted the signing of the 30-year old Reynolds based solely on familiarity with the former Lion and Bronco. The Jaguars didn’t want him back even on the 1-year, $2.75 million contract he got from the Jets. It’s perhaps only because of that low commitment that Reynolds’ deal wasn’t panned as loudly as that of cornerback Brandon Stephens.
I think Reynolds would have been fine in the Johnson depth role, but his presence as the only other receiver in 12 personnel just draws more attention to Wilson. Even his supposedly highly regarded run blocking is overrated, at least according to PFF’s grading.
Unfortunately, it’s a little late in the day to expect the Jets to shop for a boost. Miami’s electric wide receiver Tyreek Hill is the biggest name bandied about in trade rumors, and such chatter may increase if the Dolphins don’t turn things around after their 0-2 start. If not for his troubled off-the-field history, including accusations of domestic violence, I’d say the Jets should make the inquiry—the Dolphins have already paid Hill about $17 million of his 2025 compensation, leaving just the prorated portion of his $10 million base salary and some per game bonuses. None of Hill’s $36 million due in 2026 is guaranteed, making him ripe for a renegotiation. If you recall, Hill chose Miami over the Jets at the 2022 free agency market mainly because of the hometown lure. The Fins, should they plunder further, might look to eat the dead money in a lost season to just remove the headache.
Unfortunately, I don’t see this Jets administration signing off on another Adams-type transaction but with problematic baggage to boot, certainly not when this season looks unsalvageable anyway given the team’s QB deficiency. Fields’ chronicled inconsistency has been on full display in just two weeks as a Jet, following up one of the best games of his four-plus year career with one of his worst. Fields (concussion) has already been declared out for Sunday’s contest at Tampa Bay, putting the ball in Taylor’s nearly decrepit hands.
As of this writing, Reynolds’ status for Sunday also remains up in the air. Perhaps whoever lines up in that slot will be more productive with Taylor’s superior processing. They’ll have to be, because any knowledgeable defensive coach (and I count former Jets HC Todd Bowles of Tampa Bay among them) will always game plan to limit Wilson’s explosive capabilities and force the Jets to go to their lesser lights to beat them.
Prediction: Bucs 22 Jets 13 (2025 record: 1-1 versus spread, 2-0 money line)