Garrett Wilson may finally be walking into the kind of setup that makes life a lot easier for a No. 1 receiver.
For most of his time with the Jets, the game plan against him has been blunt and obvious: take away No. 5 at all costs. Wilson has rarely had the kind of help around him that forces defenses to pick their poison instead of loading up on one target.
That could look different this season. The Jets added first-rounder Omar Cooper Jr. and brought in Adonai Mitchell, who is entering his first full season with the team and has already shown the kind of elite separation ability that can stress a defense. Aaron Glenn made it clear that those two, along with the rest of the pass-catching group, can change how opponents approach Wilson.
“Well, it really opens us up to any time you want to try to double Garrett. We have other, I would say high-level players that can go out there and make plays, and you just named two of them [Adonai Mitchell, Omar Cooper Jr.] that I think are going to do a good job for us this year,” he said.
The help doesn’t stop at wide receiver. The Jets’ tight ends could also make defenses think twice about tilting coverage toward Wilson. Mason Taylor is coming off a rookie season in which he posted the second-highest contested catch rate among qualified tight ends at 78.6%, and he looks like a candidate for a breakout year.
Kenyon Sadiq, the rookie first-round pick, is expected to have a major role right away as well. If he sharpens his route-running and cuts down on drops, he could become an all-around weapon for the offense.
And if Geno Smith is at his peak, he would be by far the best quarterback Wilson has played with since the Jets drafted him in 2022.
In Other News...
Breece Hall Just Reignited The Robert Saleh Debate For Jets Fans
Breece Halls comments offered a familiar kind of Jets fuel, the sort that instantly pulls fans back into the debate over Robert Salehs run as head coach. Saleh spent more than three seasons on the sideline before being let go, and his 20-36 record still hangs over the franchise as a reminder of how quickly things unraveled during that stretch. Hall, meanwhile, pointed to the current organizational stability and suggested the team feels better positioned now than it did then.
For Jets fans, that is where the conversation gets tricky, because it is hard to separate the promise of what comes next from the frustration of what came before. Halls optimism gives the front office and the locker room something to build on, but it also invites a fresh look at how much of the teams recent dysfunction was tied to coaching, how much was structural, and how much of the old argument still lingers even after Saleh is gone. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Receiver Battle Already Took An Early Camp Turn
The Jets second practice of preseason brought more than just another look at Aaron Glenns defense, which flashed the kind of speed and energy the staff has been talking about in non-padded drills. It also nudged the receiver competition in a new direction, because the group lost some early camp depth when Gee Scott and Jalen Walthall both went down with injuries.
Walthalls move to waived with an injury designation opened the door for the Jets to add Quincy Skinner, a former Vanderbilt wideout who had previously been with the Falcons as an undrafted free agent. For a position group that is already trying to sort out roles and carve out opportunity, every practice rep matters, and the personnel churn this early suggests the battle for spots may be changing almost as quickly as the lineup on the field. [Read more 🡒]