Not making a move was the right move

They did the right thing not moving on

Now then again, they might have had no offers.

But not trading Chris Herndon was the right way to go.

I told somebody when the trade rumors were out there, “I’m telling you, if they trade that guy, he will be become a star someplace else.”

Yes, he’s had a couple of fumbles and bad drops. There is no way around that.

But we saw how talented he was as a rookie. The guy is a difference-maker. The Jets don’t have enough of them, and Joe Douglas was not rush to send him packing.

“I feel Chris has been a little snake-bitten since his car accident, with his injury last year, the suspension, and this year, it hasn’t gone the way he’s envisioned for sure. nobody cares more than Chris,” said Douglas. “Chris comes out to practice and gives it his all every day. Like for most of our team, practice hasn’t translated into Sundays.”

I’m not here to make excuses for Herndon, who hasn’t made much of an impact in the passing game this year, and has had a couple bad drops and fumbles, but he’s being thrown to so infrequently, it’s clearly been hard for him to get into a flow.

He was such a big focal point of the Jets’ passing attack during his rookie year in 2018, and he shined. Last year was a wash-out due to a suspension and injuries. This year, they rarely throw to him.

And I think what happens sometimes with receiver or tight ends, who are thrown to once in a blue moon, is that when they get a rare opportunity, they press.

I know the alibi is that they need him to stay in and block more with the offensive line struggles, but still, this player has not be featured enough in the passing game.

There are two issues here:

1)They aren’t throwing to him enough in the passing game.

2)Sam Darnold isn’t seeing the field great this year, so there have been times he was open, and the quarterback didn’t see him.

To Herndon’s credit, he hasn’t let his struggles/lack of involvement in the passing game impact his blocking. He’s actually have a very good year as a blocker, and has had key blocks on many nice runs by Jets tailbacks.

And Douglas made a good point about Herndon’s work ethic. He’s a very hard worker, takes his job very seriously and wants to be great.

When the Jets played Atlanta in the 2019 preseason, I had a chance to meet Herndon’s parents, who seem like highly-quality people.

I know he had that unfortunate DUI, but he’s not a bad kid.

So to me, the Jets made the right move not getting rid of this player.

If the Jets make a coaching change next year, perhaps the new staff will get this guy more involved. He should be a focal point of a passing attack, not a once-in-a-while afterthought target.

While he deserves criticism for some of his bad plays, it’s quite obvious he hasn’t been used enough this year, and has never gotten into any kind of rhythm as a pass-catcher.

November 12, 2020

Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Friday.