What are Your Expectations for Jace Amaro?

[CrazyCarl40]

yes cause Jace didn't leave a lot of big plays on the field due his own Drops and bone headed mistakes..  

 

Didn't say he didn't. Rookies tend to leave big plays on the field and have some drops with mistakes. I expect less of those this season.

 

 

Geno'd?  Really? 

 

Forget Geno, this thread is about Amaro, can we PLEASE not go there? 

 

You're right. Tight ends and wide receivers aren't inextricably linked to the play and abilities of the Quarterback. How silly of me to expect the fortunes of an NFL football team and the individual players on that team not to ride on the most important position in professional sports. Carry on with imagining that Amaro is just going to throw passes to himself this season.

[RutgersJetFan]

Extrapolate his 6 game stretch w/Geno into an entire season

ALL THE STATS

[SouthernJet]

Big year for Jake, especially if Fitz is QB. Witrh Marshall/Decker/Kerley/draft pick we will now see Amaro being covered ONLY bu single slow LB.

He will get big#s for that reason AND he will end up most viable safety valve for the Jets QB.

[JetBlue]

Didn't say he didn't. Rookies tend to leave big plays on the field and have some drops with mistakes. I expect less of those this season.

 

 

You're right. Tight ends and wide receivers aren't inextricably linked to the play and abilities of the Quarterback. How silly of me to expect the fortunes of an NFL football team and the individual players on that team not to ride on the most important position in professional sports. Carry on with imagining that Amaro is just going to throw passes to himself this season.

How did Decker do last year with Geno? He was playing with a hamstring injury most of the year and still almost had a 1,000 yards receiving.  Can you please just get the **** over Geno for 10 seconds?  Lets assume Fitz is the quarterback okay?  

[DoubleDown]

In my opinion, Amaro is going to develop in a very good, game changing type of TE in the next couple of years.

 

He needs to improve the consistency of his hands, but overall, I saw a number of very good qualities in his game last year.  He was consistently running open and gaining separation all over the field.  He has the ability to physically dominate an opposing defender.  He was very good at adjusting to the throw and catching the ball at its high point.

 

Tight ends very rarely have good, productive years as rookies in the NFL.  It's one of those positions that has a fairly steep learning curve.  Amaro's head was spinning at times, and he needs the game to slow down for him, but I saw plenty of flashes that indicate he can be an elite player at the position moving forward.

[JetBlue]

In my opinion, Amaro is going to develop in a very good, game changing type of TE in the next couple of years.

 

He needs to improve the consistency of his hands, but overall, I saw a number of very good qualities in his game last year.  He was consistently running open and gaining separation all over the field.  He has the ability to physically dominate an opposing defender.  He was very good at adjusting to the throw and catching the ball at its high point.

 

Tight ends very rarely have good, productive years as rookies in the NFL.  It's one of those positions that has a fairly steep learning curve.  Amaro's head was spinning at times, and he needs the game to slow down for him, but I saw plenty of flashes that indicate he can be an elite player at the position moving forward.

I would agree with that. 

[Shockwave]

You do know his completion per target ratio was one of the highest in the NFL last season, granted he didn't get many targets but he has hands.

 

 

He had 345 yards as a rookie with the worst QB in the NFL. Not suggesting he will become a superstar but in Tony Gonzalez' rookie year he played 16 games and had 368 yards receiving (2nd year was 621 yards receiving). Jimmy Grahams first year, playing with Drew Brees, was 31 rec for 356 yards. I know this is the twitter age, when success is expected immediately  or you suck, but some guys actually take a year or two before they breakout. 

 

This isn't Madden and Amaro is not Jimmy Graham. I like to keep things realistic. I am projecting him to be a 50 catch, 600 yard player eventually. There is ZERO hate in that projection and its actually somewhat optimistic. 

 

A few factors going into that projection:

 

Amaro has always and will always drop passes: 

 

 

 

Jace Amaro dropped six passes on 52 targets last year, the second-highest percentage in the NFL.

 

Yes, Read that again. The Second Highest percentage in the NFL. He dropped OVER 10 percent of his passes last year which is ridiculous. 

 

 

While I was writing the reasons for my projection I actually found this article which probably states things better then I could.....

 

Coming into the 2014 season, not much was expected out of New York Jets rookie tight end Jace Amaro, who was coming out of a Texas Tech offense that was the antithesis of a pro-style unit. 38 receptions for 345 yards isn’t a bad haul for a rookie tight end, especially since it’s easily one of the most difficult positions to translate to. The Jets invested a second-round pick in Amaro, so they are expecting big things at some point the near future, and there’s a good chance Chan Gailey can give him a significant boost by taking advantage of his size and athletic ability as a hybrid tight end.

Amaro clearly isn’t an in-line tight end and fits the “move” profile, though he does have the size, toughness, and upside to become a quality in-line blocker if asked. That said, the Jets took him high for his pass-catching potential, and all eyes will be on him in 2015 to see if he can make strides in that department. Due to the Jets issues at quarterback and his own issues with transitioning to the NFL, Amaro was something of a glorified safety valve with just 9.1 yards per reception.

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Of course, Amaro wasn’t exactly “safe” either, as he dropped, per Pro Football Focus, six passes in his first season for a catch rate that bettered just six other tight ends. One of those TEs was fellow rookie Eric Ebron, whom the Detroit Lions believe will make a big second-year leap.

Amaro excelled when lining up in the slot, because he did a great job of moving the chains despite his six drops on just 53 targets. He caught an excellent 71.1% of everything thrown at him, though he put up just 6.5 yards per target because of his low amount of yards per reception. Per PFF, Amaro had the tenth-best catch rate among all tight ends when lined up in the slot, so that’s something for Gailey and the Jets to look forward to in 2015, whether it’s Geno Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Marcus Mariota, or even somebody else starting at quarterback.

The Jets upcoming spread offense should have concepts that Amaro will be much more familiar with, as he was dominant in the Red Raiders spread attack. In all fairness to the previous coaching staff, the Jets did a great job of limiting Amaro to his strengths as a rookie, as he barely spent any time blocking. According to PFF, Amaro ran 244 routes but stayed in as a blocker just 126 times in the passing and running game.

Moreover, 59.4% of Amaro’s routes last season came when he was lined up in the slot, so we’ll see if that’s a number that increases in his second season. While Amaro has become more comfortable with playing the position in the NFL, his versatile skill-set and greater comfort when aligned in the slot will be more valuable in the New York Jets new offense. And if the Jets do bring in Mariota, then that could be a nice boost for him down-the-road, as Mariota excels at making the quick reads necessary in a spread attack.

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While Amaro’s numbers as a rookie were mediocre on the surface, he did outproduce both Ebron and Austin Seferian-Jenkins. The caveat here is that I didn’t have him ranked above either of those two TE as a draft prospect, and, more importantly, he received more targets than those guys. Neither of those notes matter much, though, because Amaro was supposed to be even more raw than Ebron as a rookie. Instead, he out-produced those two tight ends, which means that he’s further along than initially expected.

It’s hard to predict how a new offense will look, and that becomes just about impossible if we don’t know who the quarterback will be yet. That said, Jace Amaro is in a favorable position with Gailey at the helm and both Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker forming an excellent partnership on the outside. Amaro will have to compete with Jeremy Kerley for reps over the middle of the field, but I don’t expect that to be a big issue.

He’s currently locked in as “the guy” at tight end and could be third on the totem pole in targets, as he was third on the Jets in targets last season behind Decker and Kerley. I could see he and Kerley flipping spots behind the established duo of Marshall and Decker, and, if that’s the case, we could see Amaro flirt with 70 targets (Kerley had 75 last season).

A lot depends on how often the Jets pass the ball, but Amaro should see an increase in targets and yards per reception.The increase in YPR will lead to a decrease in catch rate, but he should have more yards per target and better numbers as a whole, though, again, that also assumes the Jets QB play will be better.

I like what I saw from Amaro as a rookie as compared to what I expected from him, but he still has plenty of work to do in the hands and learning department.

He’s on the right track, and I think we could see a 50-catch sophomore season, though his red zone role will depend on how often the Jets starting QB chucks it in Marshall’s general direction inside the 20 (in most cases, that’s a fine strategy).

It’s hard to buy into Amaro fully as a future breakout candidate after he had a drop rate over 13% and a yards per reception average under ten, but it’s important to keep expectations for a rookie TE without any pro-style experience in perspective.

Gailey seems like the perfect OC to take advantage of Amaro’s mis-match making potential in the slot, and it will be exciting to see how he develops in 2015 after flashing enough ability in his first year.

Ultimately, I’m not expecting anything big from Amaro next season, but I would be disappointed if he can’t come close to 50 catches and five TDs with over seven yards per target and a drop rate under 10%. Of course, he has the upside for more than that, but I think it would be unwise to expect more than that.

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[Jetster]

I hope the strength trainers have got a hold of him. Sure he's big but he's not nearly in the best shape he can be. I thought he looked "clunky" last year or maybe pudgy is a better description.

My nephew actually worked as a trainer for the Jets last year in Cortland & he didn't think Amaro does enough work in the weight room & has to do a better job with his diet (which by the way is true for many prospects coming out of college).

If Amaro WANTS to be great & work at it, I think he'll be a matchup NIGHTMARE, now that we have Decker, Marshall, Kerley & Devin Smith. That's a lot of fire power & a mix of abilities.

That's one of the things that makes Gronk unstoppable, he is a known workout warrior.

[Scoop24]

I'm just curious has Fitz Ever helped any TE light it up ?

I know he lit up with Stevie Johnson. But has there been any TEs.

[SenorGato]

Brent Celek.

Something like that, yeah. If things go REALLY well, maybe their own Jason Witten. He was way bigger and more physical than I expected as a rookie.

Amaro, Dozier, Richardson....hopefully one of those CBs...Idzik hopefully didn't actually completely **** up his drafts. We know Richardson is an elite player. From there I think they can pull out another couple of 5+ year starters between those other guys and even Pryor.

[SonnyJet]

I hope he gets 500 yards and a decent number of TDs. 

 

 

 

When?  I'm pretty sure Amaro was faster than Kelce coming out.

Kelce actually ran a 4.4 at his proday...on tape it's not even close. In fact, I think Amaro should drop 10 pounds to be more explosive. 265 is too big for him, really Looks very stiff.

[#27TheDominator]

Kelce actually ran a 4.4 at his proday...on tape it's not even close. In fact, I think Amaro should drop 10 pounds to be more explosive. 265 is too big for him, really Looks very stiff.

4.4, 4.61, what's the difference?

 

@https://twitter.com/FSOGoGo/status/319844250932105216

[Il Mostro]

I expect Amaro to improve this season.  He'll be a nice counterpart to the studly, fast and uber-athletic TE we draft next year.