JetNation Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 By Glenn Naughton Former New York Jets General Manager John Idzik’s biggest acquisition last off-season was undoubtedly Denver Broncos Wide Receiver Eric Decker who had just established career highs in catches, yards and touchdowns (87/1,288/11) with future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning running the Broncos offense. Decker’s signing was instantly dubbed a desperation move by Gang Green as his production was widely considered a result of having played with Manning. Decker’s outstanding college performance was quickly dismissed as were his statistics in Denver during Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow’s time in the mile-high city. After benching the struggling Orton, Broncos Head Coach John Fox went with an unorthodox run-heavy offense to play to the strengths of Tebow who completed fewer than 50% of his pass attempts as a pro. Tebow however, was able to move the ball with some degree of success using his legs which led to Fox’s decision. Despite limited opportunities in that offense, Decker managed an impressive stat line (44/612/8) one season before Manning’s arrival. Decker had a solid Jets debut in the season opener when he hauled in 5 passes for 74 yards at home against the Oakland Raiders in a 19-14 victory. From there, a nagging hamstring injury and poor QB play from Geno Smith and Michael Vick over the first three quarters of the season severely limited his production. It wasn’t until the first week of December that Decker would break the 70 yard mark again when he managed six receptions for 89 yards on the road against Minnesota. That performance was followed up with a 7 catch 100 yard performance against the Tennessee Titans in his first 100 yard game as a Jet. Decker wasn’t nearly as productive in week sixteen against the New England Patriots when his four targets resulted in just two catches for 21 yards, but it was week 17 in which a healthy Decker showed what he was capable of. Despite playing the Miami Dolphins in a game that was meaningless for both teams, Decker lit up the stat sheet. He hauled in 10 passes on 11 targets from Smith for a career high 221 yards. That total was the most by a Jets receiver since Rich Caster accounted for 204 yards in a 1972 contest against the Baltimore Colts. Decker was just 8 yards shy of breaking Jets great Don Maynard’s team record of 228 yards, set in 1968. While nobody is expecting outbursts like that to be the norm for the 6′ 3” receiver, he did average well over 100 yards per game over the final quarter of the season. His production with improved play from Geno Smith should be enough to show the doubters that Decker is capable of being a highly productive player with quality quarterback play moving forward. View the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larz Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 finnegan couldn't cover me it was nice to see no drops and he didn't fall down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Mostro Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Nothing wrong with Decker's performance this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetdawgg Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Solid WR. Let's get a deep threat who can stay healthy and catch the ball on the other side now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFJF Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 finnegan couldn't cover me it was nice to see no drops and he didn't fall down He was covered pretty well on a few of those catches, he just outplayed the DB. No matter how bad Finnegan is at this point, I'm not sure how many guys have had a day anywhere close to that against Miami this season, but I haven't watched their games so I may be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j4jets Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 I was hoping he'd reach 1k for the season. He needed about 50 yards in the 4th quarter and the way him n Geno were playing, there was a good chance he would've reached it if Zach had just enough yards for a first down on the fake punt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBallhawk Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 He's been great this year. He's strong, great run blocker, impossible to jam at the line. Runs terrific routes, can make circus catches, can stretch the field, he's big...Everything you want in a #1 wideout. If we ever manage to get some type of consistency from our QB position I can see Decker be a weekly 10 catches / 100+ yards kind of guy. His damn hamstring better heal up this offseason though. If he goes through another thing like that we have to get somebody else in to do what he was brought in for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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