Arian Smith’s biggest problem has never been getting open. It’s been finishing the play.
That issue showed up again for the New York Jets on Wednesday, when the second-year receiver let an easy pass from rookie quarterback Cade Klubnik slip through his hands during practice. Smith was reportedly wide open, which only made the miss stand out more. For a player whose career has already been dogged by questions about his hands, it was the kind of rep that can stick with a coaching staff.
Smith has built his reputation on speed. At 6-foot and 179 pounds, he blazed a 4.36-second 40-yard dash at the 2025 scouting combine and averaged 36.5 yards on his 10 college touchdowns. He also ran track at Georgia and competed in both SEC and NCAA events, which helped make him an intriguing developmental target when the Jets used a fourth-round pick on him last year.
But the concerns have always followed him. NFL Media’s Lance Zierlein projected Smith as a seventh-round pick or even an undrafted player, pointing to his “unreliable” hands and the risk that quarterbacks would lose confidence in him. Zierlein wrote, “He could be a tantalizing option for teams looking to take a chance on his speed late in the draft, but his ball skills are unlikely to improve enough for him to become a long-term option,”
That kind of evaluation is rough for any receiver, and it looks even tougher when you remember Stanford’s Elic Ayomanor was still available. Ayomanor, who went to the Titans nearly 30 picks after Smith, was one of only six rookie receivers with at least 40 catches.
Smith’s rookie season didn’t do much to quiet the doubts. He finished with seven catches for 52 yards, and now the roster math is getting tighter.
The offseason additions of Omar Cooper Jr. and Kenyon Sadiq have made the path more crowded, even with Sadiq listed as a tight end. The Jets are likely to carry at least three tight ends, which could squeeze the number of receivers they keep on the active roster.
For now, Smith still has a place in the mix. The Jets haven’t said how much Garrett Wilson or Adonai Mitchell will play in the preseason, so there’s time for the depth chart to sort itself out.
Still, after one practice and one costly drop, Smith already knows the margin for error is thin. For his sake, Wednesday needs to be the last time he puts the ball on the turf before Labor Day.
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 🡒]
Aaron Glenn Sees A Different Reality Ahead For Garrett Wilson
The Jets have spent the offseason trying to make life easier for Garrett Wilson, and Aaron Glenn sees the lineup around him shifting in a way that could finally change the way defenses play the passing game. With Omar Cooper Jr. and Adonai Mitchell added at receiver, plus tight ends Mason Taylor and Kenyon Sadiq in the mix, New York has more bodies to stress coverage and create the kind of spacing Wilson has rarely enjoyed since arriving in 2022.
There is also the quarterback piece, which matters just as much for a pass-catcher with Wilsons profile. Geno Smith gives him the best chance he has had at stability and production since entering the league, and Glenns point is simple: if the new pieces command attention the way the Jets hope, Wilson should see more favorable matchups and more room to work in the middle of the field and down the sideline. [Read more 🡒]