Help Wanted: WR

Jets fans, the Jets have a WR problem.

Yes they still have Jamison Crowder manning the Slot, but the two starting outside WR's today were Josh Malone & Chris Hogan. If that doesn't make you want to throw up your lunch then you have quite a strong stomach.

So where are all the WR's? Well projected starting WR's Denzel Mims and Breshad Perriman have been out with injures, Mims with a hamstring & Perriman with a knee. Mims has yet to practice, which is not good, especially for a rookie. Perriman was supposedly looking great at the start of camp, but this injury is a major setback. To add on to the walking wounded that is the Jets WR corp, projected 3rd outside WR, Vyncint Smith, is going to be out for an extended time due to core muscle surgery. Not good with Week 1 just around the corner.

So what could have been done differently? First off, Joe Douglas should have made more of an attempt to re-sign Robby Anderson. I sort of get why Douglas did not want to sign him long term, but he easily could have matched the 1yr-12mil contract that he signed with the Panthers. Robby & Sam Darnold had a very good QB-WR connection & losing him is a major blow for Darnold. Yes, Perriman is similar to Robby with his speed, but JD could have easily re-signed Robby & still signed Perriman to his 1yr-10mil deal.

JD also made a mistake in only drafting 1 WR in the draft. This was a very deep WR class & teams got WR's in the middle rounds that will be starting Week 1 this year. Again, Mims was a great choice, but JD should not have stopped there. Picks like Jabari Zuninga, La'Mical Perine, & James Morgan could have been used to draft another WR. Guys like Bryan Edwards, Lynn Bowden, Tyler Johnson, & Devin Duvernay were available at some point between those picks & drafting one of those WR's instead of the players JD ended up drafting wold have been more beneficial. I'll admit, I was left scratching my head with the Perine & Morgan picks because I was certain JD was going to use one of his three 4th round picks on another WR. Like I said before, I'm not going to write off a rookie yet, but Perine is at best the 3rd RB this year, Morgan is a project backup QB, & Zuninga has yet to practice. Also, I'm still not over the last Florida EDGE the Jets have drafted so that's probably why I'm so sour on him.

It's not just last draft though. Horrendous former GM Mike Maccagnan did not do Darnold any favors by not addressing the WR position in the drafts either. Maccagnan was more focused on drafting defensive players early rather than trying to get his Franchise QB a play making WR. I do not want to get more into that because I don't want to give Maccagnan anymore time. Like always, I hope someone spit in his coffee today.

So what can the Jets do to fix those? Well they already brought in Chris Hogan & just signed Donte Moncrief today but neither of those really move the needle. Right now the only way the Jets can really address the WR position is via trade. Two guys that JD should look into are JuJu Smith-Schuster & Allen Robinson. There are rumblings that both WR's won't be re-signed by their respective teams & will hit the free agent market next year. If true, JD needs to strike now & use his surplus of picks to get one of these WR's. Smith & Darnold already have a connection from their year together at USC, & I just think Robinson is a very good WR. Either of these two would help Darnold & the offense in a big way.

What bothers me about all of this is that the Jets have failed miserably to surround Sam Darnold with play making WR's. Now I am not writing off Denzel Mims already, I was actually jumping for joy when they drafted him, but his rookie year may be slow to develop because of this injury. With Perriman, he was known as an injury prone WR who hadn't done much except that 5 game stretch at the end of last season. Hopefully that stretch wasn't a fluke & he can continue to build off that, but that's a lot to ask. Again, the Jets do have a solid Slot WR in Crowder, good pass catching TE's in Chris Herndon & Ryan Griffin, & when used correctly, one of the better pass catching RB's in the league in Lev Bell. Even with that, they need more from the outside WR position & right now, they're just not getting it. When a team has a young QB, the key is to surround them with plenty of pass catchers to help them develop. Look at the young QB's around the league & you see that they have elite/very good WR's to throw to. You haven't been able to say that yet with Darnold. Even Mark Sanchez was surrounded by play making WR's his first two season with the likes of Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes, & Jerricho Cotchery. It's all about making a young QB's life easier his first few years & the Jets continue to do the exact opposite with Darnold.

**Side Note: If Darnold was the QB instead of Sanchez in '09 & '10 the Jets would have won one if not both Super Bowls.

I do not want anyone reading this article & thinking that t I think JD is doing a horrendous job, I actually think the complete opposite. However, I am not going to think he does no wrong & I think that's apparent with how the WR position is being handled. Hopefully JD pulls a stunner & lands a WR before Week 1. Until then, the "Help Wanted" sign is hanging high for WR's. #TakeFlight