In 2023, the New York Jets had one of their worst seasons. Although the Jets finished the season 7-10, what makes this season worse than all the others is the potential the Jets had heading into it. With Allen Lazard, Aaron Rodgers, and a few others coming to New York, there was a lot of excitement for the Jets to finally end their playoff drought. Then, four plays into the season that all came to an end.
With the quarterback carousel taking place again this season, Zach Wilson and Trevor Siemien seemingly made matters worse. However, there were a few things that not even Aaron Rodgers could have fixed. Aside from the offensive line issues, the Jets wide receiver group was just dreadful. Aside from Garrett Wilson who finished the season with 1,042 yards, the closest wide receiver to him in yards was Allen Lazard with 311.
This is simply unacceptable. Tyler Conklin and Breece Hall each had more receiving yards than Lazard. Simply put, the Jets were massively let down by the likes of Lazard and Randall Cobb who couldn’t catch anything this past season. So, the Jets had a big wide receiver issue to fix this offseason, and they may have just found their new guy.
How does new NY Jets WR Mike Williams fit into the team?
On March 19th, it was reported by Ian Rapoport, that the Jets were signing former Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams to a one-year deal worth $10 million. Even though Williams is currently coming off a torn ACL injury, many fans would still roll the dice with him over being stuck with just Lazard and Cobb.
The recruitment of Williams to the Jets was hot and heavy since the beginning. One fan even went as far as to send a sandwich to the team facility for Williams to enjoy. Despite the comedy in this situation, it all seemed to work. Williams signed with the Jets shortly after eating the great New York breakfast sandwich.
How will Williams perform coming off a torn ACL?
Even though Williams is coming off a rough torn ACL injury, when he’s healthy, Williams is truly one of the best receivers in the game. He finished the 2022 season with a drop rate of only 1.6% and totaled 895 yards and four touchdowns. He is a reliable wide receiver who can catch just about anything that’s thrown at him. With Rodgers throwing him the ball, too, he shouldn’t have many issues with bad passes.
Williams will open up the offense for other Jets playmakers
Perhaps the positive for the Jets in signing Williams is the pressure it will take off of Garrett Wilson. Wilson has been the Jets’ star wide receiver, and pretty much their only receiving threat for a while now. Defenses would focus mainly on covering Wilson on plays through the air because, with the big drop issue Lazard and Cobb had, there wasn’t much worry about them catching anything.
Williams is going to be a very valuable asset to the Jets. Not only has he shown he can be a reliable wide receiver, but he continues to show he’s one of the best contested-catch receivers in the league.
Now should the Jets stop there as far as receivers go? No. Maybe they can get lucky and draft someone who turns out to be a stud like Wilson. However, one thing we know for sure is the Jets are off to a great start acquiring Williams.
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