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New Jersey – New York Jets wide receiver Stephen Hill isn’t a bust – too early to say that. Let’s take a closer look.
In today’s New York Daily News, Jets co-beat writer Seth Walder (he and Manish Mehta essentially share the beat) wrote the following . . .
“The highlights of the group currently are Jeremy Kerley and David Nelson, two adequate pieces but nothing special,” wrote Walder. “Santonio Holmes will surely be cut at some point this month, Stephen Hill has turned out to be a bust, and the rest of the wide receivers are bunch of misfits who offer little value to Gang Green.”
First of all, to call players you cover, and see on a daily basis, a “bunch of misfits” is a little strong.
I’m sure guys like Greg Salas wouldn’t appreciate that.
But let’s stay focused on Hill.
To say a player is “a bust” after two seasons, is absolutely, positively, unfair.
I’ve talked about this before – it’s a myth that Hill had a lot of drops last season. It’s not true.
And I constantly point to the game in Buffalo. The stat sheet said he was targeted seven times, and had no catches. That looks terrible. I didn’t see any drops from Hill in that game. I saw a bunch of uncatchable passes and defensed passes.
Instead of focusing on Geno Smith here, let’s look at Matt Simms in relation to Hill.
Smith had a rough day in Ralph Wilson Stadium, and was pulled in the second half.
There were two plays in the second half where Simms didn’t give Hill a chance to make a play down the field.
In the third quarter, Simms had Hill in the back of the end zone, but under-threw him.
“Simms didn’t get enough elevation on this throw – he had Hill in the back of the end zone,” said Dan Fouts.
On the Jets’ last possession, Simms had a terrible throw to the right side of the end zone. He threw into double coverage, and it was nearly picked by cornerback Leodis McKelvin. The play ended up not counting because of a hold on Willie Colon, but the Bills would have declined the penalty if McKelvin held on.
Against Miami, in MetLife Stadium, Simms replaced Smith again, in another lopsided game.
Here are two more plays that weren’t the fault of the receiver.
Late in the third quarter, Simms threw a pass down the deep right seam, towards the goal-line, to Hill, and it was nearly picked off by safety Chris Clemons. Also drawn to the area because Simms didn’t look anywhere else where linebacker Phillip Wheeler and safety Rashad Jones. So the pass essentially went into triple-coverage.
In the fourth quarter, Simms rolled right and threw a pick to cornerback Brent Grimes in the end zone. Hill was the intended receiver, and in back of Grimes, but the pass was a line drive, and Grimes picked it off.
What happened on this last play, is a common problem for Simms. He throws too many line drives, often not putting enough arc under passes.
What do people want from Hill, and other Jets receivers, to throw the ball to themselves?
Hill has been on the Jets’ two years, in two different offenses (not good for a young player to throw new playbooks at them two years in a row), playing with two different quarterbacks, and neither had a particularly good year.
As the old coach once told me, “Quarterbacks make receivers, receivers don’t make quarterbacks.”
Look, I know Hill needs to step up this year and have a statement season. I’m not naïve.
But this idea he’s a bust, as we speak, is ridiculous.
Aside from shaky QB play, he was injured most of last year, basically with concussion and knee issues all season, and was shut down for the last month of the season.
And he’s only 22.
Hold your horses on this bust stuff.
That is premature.
March 4, 2014
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