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Much has been made about the reunion of former Ohio State teammates Justin Fields and Garrett Wilson with the Jets.
The quarterback and receiver played together for the Buckeyes in 2019 and 2020.
“We’ve picked up right where we left off,” Wilson said recently.
But where is it that they left off?
Keep in mind, Wilson’s best season at Ohio State was in 2021, after Fields left for the NFL, when the receiver amassed 70 catches and 12 touchdowns playing with QB C.J. Stroud, now with the Houston Texans.
During Wilson’s two seasons playing with Fields, he had a total of 73 catches, 30 in 2019 and 43 in 2020.
They were solid together, but it was the season after Fields left when Wilson exploded. Now, he was a junior, so you could argue he moved up the growth curve and perhaps received more playing time.
But whatever you think of their body of work together in Columbus, will they pick up where they left off?
Some might question that a tad.
First of all, it’s an entirely different offense.
And they have been apart for the last four seasons.
You even saw with Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams last season, after the Jets acquired the receiver in a trade with Las Vegas in October, it took a minute for the former Green Bay Packer teammates to get back on the same page. And they played eight years together in Green Bay.
And watching Fields and Wilson in the spring, no special connection is apparent.
In the practices open to the media, the Fields/Wilson connection hasn’t been prolific.
Now, I don’t want to be a hypocrite. I’m not into spring passing stats. They are foolish. Just pointing out that it’s not like this combination is displaying some kind of special synchronicity so far.
This time of year is about learning the playbook and developing chemistry.
And that is exactly what Fields and Wilson are doing now – learning the playbook and developing chemistry.
Look, Fields and Wilson could do some magical work together this season, but the premise that they have some kind of special chemistry because they played together at Ohio State in 2019-20 is a little overblown.
Also, all these people pushing the narrative that Wilson would have wanted to be traded if Rodgers stayed with the team, you need to consider a couple of things.
First of all, he’s under contract, and the Jets likely never would have traded him.
Secondly, speaking of contracts, it sounds like the Jets are working on a long-term extension with Wilson now. The best chance for him to get paid big money now, whether Rodgers was still with the Jets or not, is in Florham Park.
If you watched his press conference recently, he was saying all the right things about being a Jet.
He’s a smart guy and he’s a businessman. The Jets are the best place for him to get paid handsomely right now. If he got traded somewhere else this off-season, first off, the new team might want to wait a year to pay him, or if they did pay him, it would likely not be as much as the Jets will. You get the sense that the Jets are looking to make a big statement to their fans by locking up Wilson and Sauce Gardner long-term.
Look, Wilson might think the Jets are poised for a rough season this year. Who knows what he’s truly thinking? But he’s not going to say anything like that because he’s looking to get his all-important second contract, the megadeal after his rookie contract. That’s what he and his camp have to do right now.
And this idea that Wilson wanted Rodgers out, might fall into the category was “be careful what you wish for.”
Wilson had a career high 101 catches last year playing with Rodgers, who is elite at seeing the field, going through his progressions, and throwing with anticipation, three things Fields needs to work on.
Once again, the Fields-Wilson combo could do some great things this year, but to act like there is a special chemistry right now is a bit Pollyanna. After four years apart, and now in a different system, on a different level of football, that is going to take some time.
June 9, 2025
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