Wide Receiver Woes

[JetNation]

Wide receiver is a position that most Jets fans are concerned about as the team prepares for the 2013 season.  Rex said today that http://forums.jetnation.com/topic/110935-holmes-may-start-camp-on-pup/.  Jeremy Kerley seems ready to break out under new offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.  The depth beyond Holmes and Kerley is a big concern; unless you believe that Stephen Hill or Clyde Gates is ready to produce immediately.

Rex Ryan addressed the media after an open OTA session on Wednesday and spoke about his wide receivers.

On the status of the wide receivers…
Stephen [Hill] should be back. You know him and (Clyde) Gates I think will both be back next week. You know Stephen actually had some swelling in his knee. It’s kind of a precaution, he dove for a ball. Sometimes we talk about taking care of each other. You have to take care of yourself too. (There is) sense in him doing that. So he kind of had some swelling in the knee. We’ll bring him back and Clyde Gates had a little hamstring. He tried to come back but we’ll bring him along and hopefully get him out there next week. And then as far as Jeremy [Kerley], Jeremy hasn’t missed anything. Today, he had a little bit of a heel issue. We ended up backing him down. And of course Santonio [Holmes], he’s doing a decent job, we’ll see how he’s doing for training camp. Maybe there’s a possibility he starts out on PUP, I am not sure but he seems to be doing well here.

On the difficulty in accessing the wide receivers due to injuries…
Well I mean that’s brutal. If we had to play, again, there would be major concerns. If we had to play this week, now some of those guys would probably be able to play. But again, obviously you’re going to look a lot different when your top four guys are out there than you would right now.

On evaluating the wide receivers…
They haven’t been hurt the whole time. We had some guys that were really making strides, I thought. I really liked the way Gates was progressing and Stephen Hill was really progressing, I thought. That was really encouraging to see. Obviously both those two guys have top-end speed with anybody in the league. You’re looking at two guys (we) really want to take a jump, those two we want them to take a big jump and we need them to. That hasn’t changed. We saw some of it coming and then obviously with them having to back down through OTAs it’s been disappointing.

With all these concerns at wide receiver, the question remains, how come Braylon Edwards isn’t on the New York Jets roster?

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[GREENBEAN]

THe fact that this is still a major issue bothers me.

[SayNoToDMC]

THe fact that this is still a major issue bothers me.

 

I think you just need to get used to it until Rex is gone. The one high pick we've used on a receiver he actually came out and complained about. Presumably because there was a DT he liked on the board. Meanwhile he's naming Santonio Captain, to say he's completely out of touch with the offense would be an understatement. I find it strange because being the defensive genius he's supposed to be how does he not see tape of our offense and realize that Jeremy Kerley is the top weapon he'd have had Revis shutting down? How does that not make him think to himself something is wrong?

[T0mShane]

I think you just need to get used to it until Rex is gone. The one high pick we've used on a receiver he actually came out and complained about. Presumably because there was a DT he liked on the board. Meanwhile he's naming Santonio Captain, to say he's completely out of touch with the offense would be an understatement. I find it strange because being the defensive genius he's supposed to be how does he not see tape of our offense and realize that Jeremy Kerley is the top weapon he'd have had Revis shutting down? How does that not make him think to himself something is wrong?

Why would a defensive coordinator trouble himself with something as silly as who's playing wide receiver? NMP, baby.

[FloridaJetsFan]

You can't just lay this all on Rex simply because he's defensive-minded. Idzik saw the what was on the roster prior to the draft. He's the one responsible for filling needs. Rex coaches what he's got, Idzik gives him the talent, or lack thereof.

[BurnleyJet]

It's Braylon time, plus we will be rummaging through all the trash that the other NFL Teams cut. It will be a W.R mini Draft.

[bitonti]

keep in mind this team probably would have taken Tavon Austin if he fell to 9.  and we wouldn't be making threads about the CB corp without Dee. 

[Smashmouth]

keep in mind this team probably would have taken Tavon Austin if he fell to 9.  and we wouldn't be making threads about the CB corp without Dee. 

 

yeah but we didnt, and we are still bottom five in the NFL at the position in a passing league. Pretty hilarious if you ask me, all while having a QB competition.

[Matt39]

We need to install some plays were Stephen HIll is open 40 yards down the field.

[Smashmouth]

We need to install some plays were Stephen HIll is open 40 yards down the field.

 

Ok so then he gets to watch the ball float in, over think the position of his hands, and drop the football.

[jack48]

yeah but we didnt, and we are still bottom five in the NFL at the position in a passing league. Pretty hilarious if you ask me, all while having a QB competition.

whoever throws the best screen and swing pass will be the starter.  That rules Sanchez out.

[faba]

Think creative lets run the wishbone attack

[#27TheDominator]

I love the fact that a fan base that truly seems to believe that Braylon Edwards is the be all end all of receiving
options cannot possibly imagine Stephen Hill making any progress.  Once a stone handed pass dropper, always a
stone handed pass dropper? 

[faba]

It is more to the fact can we get decent QB play -to be accurate and efficient

[SayNoToDMC]

keep in mind this team probably would have taken Tavon Austin if he fell to 9.  and we wouldn't be making threads about the CB corp without Dee. 

 

Rex's lack of discretion didn't help here, everyone and their mother knew we where going Austin at 9. I want to play poker with Rex

[bitonti]

building on that the team might have gone WR at 39 (robert woods and aaron dobson were picked in that area) but if not for Geno. I didn't agree with all the picks but they definitely stuck to their board. 

[T0mShane]

I love the fact that a fan base that truly seems to believe that Braylon Edwards is the be all end all of receiving

options cannot possibly imagine Stephen Hill making any progress. Once a stone handed pass dropper, always a

stone handed pass dropper?

Hill's hands are, maybe, fifth on the list of his issues.

[stugotz81]

Obamanu will be a impact player for us. I'm more than confident in that statement too.

[peebag]

Hill's hands are, maybe, fifth on the list of his issues.

what's the other 4?

[flgreen]

Injuries leave Jets with bunch of no-name receivers
By BRIAN COSTELLO
Last Updated: 9:39 AM, June 6, 2013
Posted:  3:06 AM, June 6, 2013
Jets Blog

     
Remember the No-Name Defense? The Jets are trying No-Name Receivers.

With their four top wide receivers injured, the Jets offense looked brutal in practice yesterday. Church picnics have more weapons than the Jets do right now.

 

 

Quarterback Mark Sanchez sometimes looks around the huddle and wonders who these guys are.

 

“We’ve come up with some funny nicknames for some of them because you don’t even know their names and they’re just in there,” Sanchez said.

 

Santonio Holmes (foot), Stephen Hill (knee), Jeremy Kerley (heel) and Clyde Gates (hamstring) are all sitting out some or all of the team’s OTAs. That leaves an inexperienced group to catch the passes of Sanchez and Geno Smith in the great quarterback competition.
 

The Jets have been snakebitten at wide receiver for the last calendar year. A rash of hamstring injuries hurt the group last spring and into training camp. Then Holmes injured his ribs in camp and suffered a season-ending foot injury in Week 4. Hill spent his rookie year in and out of the lineup with injuries until a knee injury ended his season with three games left.

 

“Looking back on the whole season, we didn’t have a healthy receiver from the beginning of the offseason to the very last game we played,” Sanchez said. “We never had everybody out on the field that was, on paper, a starter.”

 

Wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal was hired last year and has had one of the toughest coaching jobs in the building. Last season, he was asked to coach guys signed on Tuesday in games on Sunday. Now he has a group of no names with barely any experience.

 

“It’s hard in the sense that these reps are invaluable right now, especially with a developing group,” Lal said. “They’ll never get these reps back. It’s very hard in the sense that you could have been coaching these guys to a different level and you never got the opportunity. But the only way to look at it is you’re building some other guy up that maybe wouldn’t have had the quality reps that they’re getting now.

 

“You just channel your energy into who’s there. Otherwise, you’ll drive yourself crazy thinking, ‘what if?’ ’’

Jets coach Rex Ryan said he expects Hill, Kerley and Gates to be ready for next week’s minicamp. He said Holmes could begin training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, meaning it could be deep into camp before the Jets see their starting receivers on the field together.

 

“That’s brutal,” Ryan said of the receiver situation. “If we had to play [this week], obviously there would be major concerns.”

 

Without the top four receivers, the Jets have only one experienced receiver on the roster. Ben Obomanu, signed last week, has played 66 games in the NFL. Other than Obomanu, only Jordan White (two games) has seen time. At one point yesterday, Joseph Collins, Zach Rogers and Thomas Mayo — with zero games’ experience among them — were the team’s first-team receivers.

 

The biggest concern at the position has to be Hill, the 22-year-old entering his second season. Both Ryan and Lal said Hill was showing great strides this offseason before his surgically repaired knee swelled in early-May and the trainers sat him down.

“It’s not frustrating,” Hill said. “Just as a competitor you want to get out there and compete.”

 

Lal said Hill had his worst game last year against the Rams [zero catches]. Hill was limited in practice that week because of an illness.

 

“Right there we learned that Stephen needs reps at this stage of his career,” Lal said.

 

For Lal, he is entering his second season with the same problems that plagued his first. He can only hope at some point he has more receivers on the field than in the trainer’s room.

 

“I would love for the time when we just have our guys and we can build a group,” Lal said.

 

brian.costello@nypost.com
 

[shawn306]

Add to the fact that Jets have no good TE's and maybe 1 good running back would be a concern as well but...

 

 

 

I have no worries, afterall the QB should make anybody look great.

 

14-2 baby here it comes

[SayNoToDMC]

Add to the fact that Jets have no good TE's and maybe 1 good running back would be a concern as well but...

 

 

 

I have no worries, afterall the QB should make anybody look great.

 

14-2 baby here it comes

 

#GatoLogic

[flgreen]

" Joseph Collins, Zach Rogers and Thomas Mayo — with zero games’ experience among them — were the team’s first-team receivers."

 

Even for early June, this is scary.  Particularly if you consider Holmes might not be ready at all this year. As the article said    more then anything Hill needs reps, or he is going to be the same player we saw last year.

 

I know this drum has been beaten for a couple of years now, but the Jets need to sign Braylon now.  If for no other reason then if Smith wins the QB job, he'll need some reps with him.  Sadly I don't think it is going to happen.  Idzik was with Seattle when Edwards was cut mid season.  he probably doesn't like the guy. 

 

Like him or not, right now he would be the #1 WR

[shhwagah]

Move Jeremy Kerley to the outside and stick McKnight in the slot.

[JiFtheOracle]

You can't just lay this all on Rex simply because he's defensive-minded. Idzik saw the what was on the roster prior to the draft. He's the one responsible for filling needs. Rex coaches what he's got, Idzik gives him the talent, or lack thereof.

 

pffffft, its all Rex's fault silly.  

[Matt39]

Hills hands are the least of his problems.

[#27TheDominator]

..and by #1 receiver, you mean #5 receiver. 

[bitonti]

" Joseph Collins, Zach Rogers and Thomas Mayo — with zero games’ experience among them — were the team’s first-team receivers."

 

Even for early June, this is scary.  Particularly if you consider Holmes might not be ready at all this year. As the article said    more then anything Hill needs reps, or he is going to be the same player we saw last year.

 

I know this drum has been beaten for a couple of years now, but the Jets need to sign Braylon now.  If for no other reason then if Smith wins the QB job, he'll need some reps with him.  Sadly I don't think it is going to happen.  Idzik was with Seattle when Edwards was cut mid season.  he probably doesn't like the guy. 

 

Like him or not, right now he would be the #1 WR

 

yeah and if they resigned Brandon Moore he'd be the best guard on the roster. and if they resigned Pouha he'd be the best NT on the roster.

 

none of these moves are happening. 

[SayNoToDMC]

yeah and if they resigned Brandon Moore he'd be the best guard on the roster. and if they resigned Pouha he'd be the best NT on the roster.

 

none of these moves are happening. 

 

We've heavily invested in both lines. We did nothing about receiver and I don't see how bringing in Braylon can hurt anything. Our group of receivers is in no way adequate, especially if we're throwing a rookie back there but we don't have any better options right now. Braylon has always played his ass off in a Jets uniform which is more then you can say about some of the other guys, I'd rather have Braylon at half his prime giving 100% then Holmes at 150% giving his usual half assed effort and attitude. If you can get him for the minimum just get him in camp and you can always cut him post mini draft if he sucks but our QB's obviously need something to work with right now.

[bitonti]

We've heavily invested in both lines. We did nothing about receiver and I don't see how bringing in Braylon can hurt anything. Our group of receivers is in no way adequate, especially if we're throwing a rookie back there but we don't have any better options right now. Braylon has always played his ass off in a Jets uniform which is more then you can say about some of the other guys, I'd rather have Braylon at half his prime giving 100% then Holmes at 150% giving his usual half assed effort and attitude. If you can get him for the minimum just get him in camp and you can always cut him post mini draft if he sucks but our QB's obviously need something to work with right now.

 

Brandon Lloyd is arguably better than Braylon and they aren't interested in him either. Even at the vet minimum the Jets don't want any holdovers from the last regime.

 

btw signing Peterman (who sucks), Colon (who ended the last 3 years on IR) and drafting Winters in rd 3 is not a heavy investment. it's throwing bodies at a problem. None of these guys are as good as Moore. they are cheaper tho. 

[SayNoToDMC]

Brandon Lloyd is arguably better than Braylon and they aren't interested in him either. Even at the vet minimum the Jets don't want any holdovers from the last regime.

 

btw signing Peterman (who sucks), Colon (who ended the last 3 years on IR) and drafting Winters in rd 3 is not a heavy investment. it's throwing bodies at a problem. None of these guys are as good as Moore. they are cheaper tho. 

 

We took multiple lineman in the draft and added depth(Something we've never had) in FA. Winters was a 3 that's investment for a guard, don't let the fact we ******* whiffed completely on Vlad earlier undermine that fact. Rex is the only holdover we should be worried about. There is actually unknown talent on the roster Brandon Moore could take away from, who's sitting at receiver right now we have to worry about undercutting? Zack Rodgers? The only one we're hurting by not addressing WR is our rookie QB if he's going to be playing this year

[bitonti]

We took multiple lineman in the draft and added depth(Something we've never had) in FA. Winters was a 3 that's investment for a guard, don't let the fact we ******* whiffed completely on Vlad earlier undermine that fact. Rex is the only holdover we should be worried about. There is actually unknown talent on the roster Brandon Moore could take away from, who's sitting at receiver right now we have to worry about undercutting? Zack Rodgers? The only one we're hurting by not addressing WR is our rookie QB if he's going to be playing this year

 

Why would you want to sign Sanchez' favorite receiver, to benefit Geno?

 

speaking on Winters, rd 3 was where all the WR went. Stedman Bailey would have been a Geno-friendly addition. 

[SayNoToDMC]

Why would you want to sign Sanchez' favorite receiver, to benefit Geno?

 

speaking on Winters, rd 3 was where all the WR went. Stedman Bailey would have been a Geno-friendly addition. 

 

I don't care who we sign, Braylon played hard here and probably comes at the league minimum. I already said cut his ass come mini draft if he's garbage but we do not have a NFL level receiving corps right now. Forget talking about Winters, you want to talk about Bailey? Tell me Geno literally didn't have better receivers at one of 130 D-I schools than we have at one of 32 Pro Franchises. That should be unfathomable

[Smashmouth]

I love the fact that a fan base that truly seems to believe that Braylon Edwards is the be all end all of receiving

options cannot possibly imagine Stephen Hill making any progress.  Once a stone handed pass dropper, always a

stone handed pass dropper? 

 

nope not in the least. Braylon of all people showed us that in 2010. Thing is Hill is Raw in a lot of ways not just catching the football. The kid has elite potential lets hope he can live up to it. As of right now he is what he is until he shows us different.

[Drums]

I know you guys debate this in every WR thread but seriously, at least if Braylon is on the team it makes watching Sanchez a little more exciting.  Can't deny their chemistry.