Jets Offense; Skill Players are Tough Evaluation Given Disastrous 2022 Circumstances
Trying to fairly and accurately evaluate the play of many players on the Jets offense from last season is akin to writing a yelp review in which you try to rate the food on The Titanic. For a unit that was plagued with countless injuries up front while dealing with some of the most inaccurate quarterback play you’ll ever see, Jets offensive skill players were collectively fighting an uphill battle.
Take Michael Carter for example. The running back who averaged 4.19 yards per carry through his first 20 NFL games, only to see that average drop by almost a full yard per attempt over his next 10 contests, all the way down to 3.3 yard per run. Was Carter banged up? Possibly. But was the support around him wildly inconsistent? Certainly.
Dealing with some of the same issues up front, rooking running back Zonovan “Bam” Knight took some teams by surprise, running for 230 yards on 46 carries through his first three career games, an average of 5 yards per carry. Once teams saw that Knight was a threat, the running lanes closed up and he was often bottled up in the backfield before he could even get going. The result? An average of 1.79 yards per carry on his final 39 attempts of the season.
But it wasn’t just the offensive line that was to blame, especially in the case of Knight. Knight’s first three games featured quarterback Mike White under center who isn’t exactly what anyone would call an elite quarterback, but he was certainly better than Zach Wilson. It was upon Wilson’s return in week 15 against Buffalo that Knight’s production fell off a cliff.
Fans can only wonder what the Jets receivers and tight ends may have been able to do with more accurate QB play throughout the season.
One of the more telling stats in regard to star receiver Garrett Wilson came from Scott Spratt who says Wilson’s 57.8% catchable target rate was bottom five among WR’s with over 100 targets. Even with this being the case, Wilson put up over 1,100 yards. It’s not often you can call that kind of production deceptively low, but it may apply in this case.
Garrett Wilson saw a 57.8% catchable target rate in 2022 that was bottom five among WRs with 100 or more targets per @FTNData.
He could threaten Davante Adams numbers with the Aaron Rodgers quarterback upgrade.pic.twitter.com/9d7Gcctszl
— Scott Spratt (@Scott_Spratt) June 13, 2023
So it’s fair to say that if the Jets offensive line can stay relatively healthy and Aaron Rodgers stays on the field, Jets fans will get a chance to more accurately assess just how good or bad the skill players on their roster are. No more stacked boxes, wildly inaccurate passes or prematurely closing running lanes if all goes to plan.
What that could mean for the Jets is a possible re-writing of many team records on offense.
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