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A big theme early in camp in training camp press conferences so far is how all these new weapons (Omar Cooper, Kenyon Sadiq, and so forth) will finally provide Garrett Wilson the support he needs.
Once again, like I said the other day, this is total BS.
They had plenty of other weapons during Wilson’s first four years with the team. The problem wasn’t related to weapons; it was related to quarterbacks. Aside from Aaron Rodgers in 2024, the Jets have had a cotorie of QBs who weren’t full field-readers and not great at going through progressions – one, two, three, checkdown.
In 2024, they had plenty of weapons to complement Wilson, like early-season addition WR Davante Adams (67 catches and seven TDs in 11 games), TE Tyler Conklin (51 catches and four TDs), and WR Allen Lazard, who played well in 10 starts with 37 catches and six touchdowns before getting hurt. Breece Hall was also terrific, catching the ball out of the backfield.
Rodgers sees the whole field and gets everyone involved. There were no issues with complementary weapons for Wilson in 2024 because Rodgers is a full-field reader. He was the only one that Wilson played with in his first four years.
Other QBs forcing the ball to him when he wasn’t open was not a byproduct of nobody else to throw to, but instead forcing the ball to the first read.
Will guys like Cooper and Sadiq help Wilson? Absolutely, but a lack of weapons narrative about Wilson over his first four years is fantasy football-driven pablum that isn’t steeped in reality.
So the key here is QB Geno Smith spreading the ball around to all the weapons.
If a QB is mainly looking at his first read, it’s hard for the other weapons to be productive. As Santonio Holmes once famously said when his production was down – “I can’t throw the ball to myself.”
The lack of weapons around Wilson the last few years narrative is BS.
That was not the problem.
It was more QBs in love with their first reads, and a lot of bad play-calling along the way…
In his Thursday press conference, Aaron Glenn was asked by somebody from the team’s in-house production department, “You and Demario (Davis) have had a relationship for a long time. Now as his defensive signal caller, how advantageous is that going to be for you to have him relaying your calls out there and then seeing things progress pre-snap?”
Here is part of Glenn’s response:
“Demario knows exactly how I’m going to call a game. Listen, I know we’ve been away from each other for a while, but he still understands that foundation that I’ve always talked about when it comes to playing defense, so he can be able to relay that to the players. Again, I’m glad I have him.”
This angle might require a little more digging.
Yes, Davis is very smart and a great leader, but he’s never played under Glenn as a defensive play-caller.
From 2016-20, Glenn was the secondary coach in New Orleans. Davis arrived in New Orleans in 2018 and played with the Saints for eight seasons. So Glenn and Davis worked together for three seasons. But Dennis Allen was the defensive coordinator for those three seasons.
Allen is known for having a 4-3 base. It looks like Glenn is going to play a lot of 3-4 fronts.
Now, Allen does switch up his fronts at times, but he’s mainly been known as a 4-3 guy, and that is his base scheme in his current job as Chicago Bears defensive coordinator.
So while Davis is a very smart, instinctive veteran player who always picks things up fast, which surely he has with the Jets, some might pick some holes in the narrative that he is an aficionado in Glenn’s defense.
Unless Glenn is using Allen’s scheme.
Let’s put it this way: this isn’t like Rex Ryan signing Bart Scott in 2009, who played in his defense in Baltimore, to help teach it and lead it.
Look, Davis should do a heck of a job leading the Jets defense and calling the signals for Glenn, but let’s be clear here: he never played under him, per se.
During their crossover in New Orleans from 2018-20, Glenn coached the DBs, Davis played linebacker, and Allen called the defense.
July 31, 2026
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