Denzel Mims Route Running Has Impressed New York Jets Heach Coach Adam Gase

Coming into the NFL Draft, one weak point of the assessment on Denzel Mims was his route running. Turns out, the Jets are pleased with his growth in that area.

The one knock against Denzel Mims coming out of college was his route-running ability, something that New York Jets head coach Adam Gase has been impressed with this week.

The team’s second round pick in April’s NFL Draft, Mims is expected to play a significant role in the Jets offense this upcoming year. Mims returned to the practice field on Wednesday after missing almost the entirety of training camp up to that point with a hamstring injury.

He said he expects to be ready come Week 1 at the Buffalo Bills. Gase, now getting his first real look at his rookie wide receiver, likes what he sees.

“I will say this, I’ve been impressed with his route running so far and now that’s on air now when we’re doing basically routes versus air,” Gase said Thursday in his virtual press conference. “So, I mean, I’ve been impressed with the fact that it looks smoother, and I was thinking the same thing, ‘All right, we have to open up his route tree and see what we can do with him.’ It’s looked a lot better than anticipated, I think a lot of him watching and learning, and now when he gets out there, he has a picture in his brain of what he wants it to look like and paying attention to what the other guys have been doing.”

Last season at Baylor, Mims had 66 catches for 1,020 yards and 12 receiving touchdowns. He has a rare blend of size with good length and speed.

He is an instant upgrade at a position where the Jets need help. He slots into the starting wide receivers alongside Jamison Crowder, who led the team in receptions and receiving yards last year. Also projected to complete the trio is Breshad Perriman, signed in the offseason to offset the loss of Robby Anderson in free agency.

Mims represents quite the coup for the Jets. Originally sitting at No. 48 in the draft, the Jets moved back with the Seattle Seahawks to accrue more draft capital.

Projections had Mims off the board late in the first round or early in the second round, was then taken by the Jets at No. 59 overall.

He has impressive physical attributes but Gase does acknowledge that there is still work to be done.

“For us, it’s going to be when we get him involved in practice, how’s it going to look versus press? What are your adjustments going to be? And we’re just going to have to work throughout the season and make sure that we can get him better,” Gase said. “This is not going to be a situation where in game one, all right, we’re going to walk out there and expect him to have the full gamut down and be able to do all these different things. We’re going to have to progress him the right way and hopefully as we get going throughout the season, he gets better and better and better.”