Will Jets Add Juice to Inexperienced Receivers' Room?
The New York Jets' wide receiver depth is severely lacking experience.
Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb have all proven that they can move the chains for an NFL offense, but that's where the team's battle-tested options end.
While Wilson continues to produce in his second season as the Jets' WR1, tight end Tyler Conklin is again the team's second leading pass-catcher. As the NFL trade deadline approaches, Gang Green seemingly has a need for more juice in the receivers' room.
With veteran Corey Davis stepping away from the game in August, and the subsequent trade of Mecole Hardman, the Jets' depth chart looks drastically different from how it did at the start of training camp. Three of the six receivers on Gang Green's 53-man roster joined the team as undrafted free agents.
Xavier Gipson and Jason Brownlee are rookies while Irvin Charles is a second-year player who spent the 2022 campaign on the Jets' Practice Squad. The three men have combined for eight NFL appearances and only Gipson has made a catch during regular season play. Brownlee has yet to make his NFL debut and Charles is primarily a special teamer.
Head coach Robert Saleh suggested that Gipson's emergence made Hardman expendable, but he didn't address the rookie's extremely limited role on offense.
"It’s just an opportunity for us to develop a young guy, and it’s nothing against Mecole," said Saleh on Monday. "He [Gipson] was able to get some reps because Mecole was still recovering from his injury, and he took it and ran with it, and he’s doing a heck of a job."
Gipson has been a difference-maker in the return game, but the small-school product averages fewer than seven offensive snaps per game. He has gained 31 yards on three rushing attempts to go along with one four-yard catch.
With the bottom half of the depth chart comprised of unknowns, the Jets have received less than substantial statistical production from veterans Lazard and Cobb. In his first six games in Green & White, Lazard has totaled 14 catches on 23 targets. Despite playing nearly 50 percent of offensive snaps, the 33-year-old Cobb has totaled three receptions.
In terms of external options that the Jets may, or may not, choose to pursue, DeAndre Hopkins appears to be the most appetizing. The Tennessee Titans, who just traded away safety Kevin Byard, may be willing to deal Hopkins, a former All-Pro, to a contending team.
It's also worth checking in with the winless Carolina Panthers to see if they're interested in shopping Adam Thielen or keeping the veteran to help aid the development rookie quarterback Bryce Young.
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