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Sometimes it seems people can be impacted by outside noise.
In the fantasy football world we live in there is often an obsession with how much the #1 receiver gets the ball.
In the first four games, Garrett Wilson had 20 catches, so an average of five per game. To some, that was the end of the word – oh, the humanity.
To me, five catches a game might be a tad low for your #1 receiver, but not a crisis, especially if it’s leading to opportunities for other players thanks to double teams, and an example of that was tight end Tyler Conklin against New England, with five receptions, including three for 22 yards.
But obviously some fans and reporters don’t share my view, so they were pounding the drum all week about how the Jets need to get Wilson the ball more, including pestering the OC in his press conference about this.
They got their wish. The Jets lost, but they got their wish.
Wilson was targeted an eye-popping 22 times. Rogers threw 54 passes, so that means Wilson was targeted on 40.7 of Rodgers’ passes.
How does that make any sense with all the weapons the Jets have?
And here is the kicker, yes, he had 13 catches, which probably made the fantasy football crowd happy, but he averaged just 7.8 yards per catch, which is low, especially for a player with his speed.
Just to give you a little perspective on yards per catch, the NFL’s leading receiver, Houston’s Nico Collins, is averaging 17.7 yards per catch on the season.
Wilson is a hell of a player, and should get the ball a lot, but ignore the outside noise, and just throw to the open guy. If that is Wilson 22 times, then Wilson, but the Jets only scored 17 points, so forcing the ball to Wilson to silence the noise, might not have been the way to go.
The pick-six to Minnesota linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel was on a pass to Wilson. If you throw to one guy too much, a cerebral defender like Van Ginkel is going to read your mail.
Ignore the noise. Just do whatever you have to do to win games. Stats don’t matter.
This isn’t fantasy football . . .
The Jets have some things to clean up on the interior of their offensive line.
Not only are they struggling running up the middle, but teams are also getting too much pressure on Rodgers up the gut.
In the fourth quarter, linebacker Ivan Pace beat guard Alijah Vera-Tucker for a sack. On the next series, defensive tackle Harrison Phillips beat guard John Simpson for a sack.
There might be some slight concern about Simpson, who’s play has been a little up and down.
Remember, before landing in Baltimore last year and having a solid season for the Ravens, he was with the Las Vegas Raiders where he was benched by Josh McDaniels during the 2022 season, and then waived in December, 2022.
So while he has a lot of talent, there has been a little inconsistency on the NFL level.
Not blaming Simpson for all the Jets protection issues. There is plenty of blame to go around, but after Aaron Rodgers got sacked eight times and hit 26 times over the last two games, Woody Johnson, Christopher Johnson and Ira Axselrad must demand that this protection issue be fixed. They must demand that Jets OC Nate Hackett and offensive line coach Keith Carter get on the same page. This has to come from the top. Rodgers is too important to the Jets chances to allow this to continue . . .
A couple of weeks ago, Bill Belichick took a shot at the Jets about Sam Darnold, who is having a resurgence or sorts in Minnesota.
“Everybody has liked Darnold except the Jets,” Belichick said on ESPN. “The people in Carolina that I talked to, they really liked him. He was with the [49ers] not for very long, they liked him, I think they wanted to re-sign him. I know that Kevin and some of the coaches in Minnesota, they really like this guy, too. It seemed like the only people who didn’t like Darnold were the Jets.”
Belichick is a great coach, but that is a gratuitous shot, and not entirely on target. First of all, how did Carolina like him when they gave up second and fourth-round picks for him, picked up his fifth-year option, and then moved on after two years?
And Darnold was not just liked at 1 Jets Drive but loved. A lot of hugs after the game in London from Jets staffers. The Jets did nothing wrong moving on from Darnold after three years and a 13-25 starting record. Both sides needed a fresh start. It happens.
And we saw in London, while they are 5-0, let’s not put Darnold in Canton just yet fellas.
October 7, 2024
Premium will return by 9:30 pm (or sooner) on Wednesday. When there is a Sunday game, there are no Tuesday Whispers. We do Sunday Whispers instead after Sunday games. Still five days.
