As if he didn’t already have enough on his plate – starting with the fate of his head coach and the direction of the franchise – Sam Darnold could throw passes to his postman through week 2 of this season.
Just two drills in training camp, the receiving situation of the Jets is difficult, to say the least. And the person who directly affects it is Darnold, the Jets’ quarterback of the year, accused of leading them for the first time in a decade after the playoffs.
On Friday, in the Jets’ first full-team, 11-on-11 drill of training camp, one of the first-team receivers was Vyncint Smith, who has played in 20 NFL games and won all 22 passes for 316 yards and scored one touchdown.
Denzel Mims, the team’s second-round pick and a die-hard fan have high hopes for becoming a major rookie contestant in 2020, has yet to put on his helmet for an exercise, sidelined with a hamstring injury before camp began.
On Sunday in the opening 11-on-11 of the second training camp practice, Jeff Smith was paired on the outside with free agent signing Breshad Perriman with the first group. Jeff Smith was on the Jets practice team last season, coming in one game and picking up one pass for 12 yards.
Vyncint Smith, considered one of the culprits on the Jets’ receiving roster as he played all 16 games for them last season and scored 17 passes, set out Sunday’s practice with what head coach Adam Gase described as a core injury.
So, to check: Thanks to a Jets receiving corps that started out with alarmingly thin, thanks in part to offseason-free agent Signee Josh Doctson, who provided him with COVID-19, the team is already two recipients two days in training camp.
For those who score at home, that leaves the top slot receiver Jamison Crowder, Perriman, who came from Tampa Bay, Braxton Berrios, who has played in 16 NFL games and has six career catches, Jehu Chesson, who has played in 12 NFL games and has three career catches, and Josh Malone, who has seven career catches in 22 games.
This early crisis forced the Jets on Sunday to sign free agent receiver Chris Hogan, who had productive seasons for the Bills (2013-15) and Patriots (2016-18) before catching eight passes for the Panthers last season. while hampered by a knee injury.
All this leads to an unnecessary and unfair stacking for Darnold, who has enormous pressure to produce in his second season in the Gase system.
But when does honesty come into play when you’re a quarterback for the star-studded Jets?
The alarming lack of receiving depth, experience and career production not only threatens the Jets’ chances of success this season, it can also significantly hinder the team’s ability to evaluate Darnold properly as his third season says it all. is done.
Darnold has a poor offensive line and questionable talent position for his first two seasons, not to mention that he has played for two different head coaches.
This had to be the season, his second year in Gase’s system, that the Jets surrounded him with what he needed to be successful. General manager Joe Douglas seems to have done that with a whole new offensive line. However, he appears to have had his quarterback short on receiving talent, an issue that is exacerbated by these early injuries.
The downside to this, of course, is the potential for Darnold to help make these unproven receivers better – the way Tom Brady has made such an impressive practice of doing in All of England for all those years, and making mediocre receivers in household names.
Sunday’s practice was marked by a 50-yard TD connection between Darnold and Perriman, which erupted in the last five games of 2019 with 25 catches for 506 yards and five TDs for the Buccaneers.
The Jets hope this was a glimpse of what is to come when the season begins.
“It looks like he and Perriman have found a way to hook up pretty quickly,” Gase said. “It was great to connect those guys with a few things.” ‘
Gase then added, “A lot of the guys we work with [receiving] group have been here, so [Darnold] knows a lot of the guys we work with who are not very new. People may not know who they are right now, but we had a few good young players last year who are developing them and giving themselves a shot to carry with us this year. ”
It all feels like too much reliance on unproven talent, though.
Under normal, non-COVID-19 conditions, we were able to pass on these problems so early. But the season starts in a month. So, to borrow from Yogi Berra, it’s too early for the Jets receiving corps and, most importantly, for Darnold.
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