The Time Is Now For Joe Douglas And The Jets To Give Sam Darnold His Number One Receiver

We are now TEN mere days away from the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft and the most important day of the Jets off-season. As essential as all eight draft picks that general manager Joe Douglas has at his disposal, the Jets lone first round pick (11th overall) is obviously his best chance to acquire a much needed game-breaking player on offense.

True to his word, Douglas' priority in free agency was providing better protection for our young franchise quarterback and he did just that in acquiring Conor McGovern (C), Greg Van Roten (G), George Fant (T), and re-signing Alex Lewis (G). A VERY strong argument can and has been made by draft experts and Jets fans alike, that the team should use the 11th pick on taking one of the top four consensus stud offensive tackles. This year's draft marks the 14th anniversary of the Jets drafting both tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson (4th) and center Nick Mangold (29th) in the first round of the '06 Draft and establishing the foundation for what would turn out to be an above-average offensive line for the next decade. Insanely enough, the Jets haven't drafted an offensive lineman in the first round since (tied for the longest drought at that position with the Bucs). Darnold was sacked and hurried way too much his first two seasons and I'd reluctantly be fine if Douglas drafted one of the stud tackles to provide a cornerstone for his revamped line.

(ESPN's Jets beat reporter Rich Cimini has the team selecting 6-foot-7, 370 pound athletic and nimble tackle from Louisville in his latest mock draft)

BUT, you know what else Sam Darnold has been lacking his first two professional seasons?! Explosive, game-changing play-makers, that's what! And that glaring need only got accentuated in free agency when his number one receiver and biggest play-maker for two years in Robbie Anderson, signed with the Carolina Panthers. Now I liked the signing of Breshad Perriman for one year, $6.5 million but let's be real, outside of the final five games of last season when he broke out with the Bucs, he had been to that point a first round bust who is now on his fifth team since being drafted in 2015. Jamison Crowder is a solid and reliable slot receiver but he's exactly that; a dependable slot receiver. Outside of that? You're looking at a current receiver depth chart that features the likes of Braxton Berrios, Vyncint Smith, and Quincy Enunwa (coming off a second serious neck injury). A very strong argument can be made that as rosters stand today, following free agency and on the eve of the draft, the Jets have the weakest wide receiver depth chart in the whole league. That's not exactly ideal for your 22 year old franchise quarterback about to enter his third season. The Bills for example, who happen to be the current Vegas favorite to win the AFC East this season, have been the antithesis to the Jets when it comes to providing their young quarterback with legitimate weapons on the outside. Prior to last season they inked John Brown in free agency (who rewarded them with a 1,000 yard, 6 touchdown season) and this off-season they gave up very significant draft assets to give Josh Allen a bonafide number one receiver to go along with Brown, in Stefon Diggs.

My hope for Joe Douglas and the Jets front office ahead of his first draft next Thursday night? Make the commitment to providing Darnold with the number-one wide out target he's starving for and a guy he can rely on and build with for many years to come.

Earlier I detailed the Jets 14 year drought in drafting an offensive lineman in the first round. Well if I get my way and Roger Goodell reads a wide receiver's name when he announces the 11th pick in the first round, it'll be the first time since Santana Moss in 2001 that the Jets would have done so. The point of this blog is more to make my case for drafting a receiver more than it is to break down the game film between the top two consensus guys in Oklahoma's Ceedee Lamb and Alabama's Jerry Jeudy. Because let me be clear, I'll be doing back flips in my living room if Goodell reads EITHER Lamb or Jeudy's name on April 23rd.

Let's be honest picking between them is like picking the most attractive girl at a Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, it's a matter of preference and there are no wrong answers. Jeudy is an insane route runner whose separation skills jump off the screen when you watch them and his shiftiness combined with his breakaway speed with the ball is pretty impressive too.

But Jeudy was known to have some issues with drops over the course of his Crimson Tide career and they predominantly came with passes over the middle of the field and contested catches. Lamb on the other hand, excels at high-pointing the football and making those difficult contested catches. And maybe he can't quite separate off the line or juke a defender as explosively as Jeudy can, but Lamb is equally dangerous after the catch because of the physical way he runs through defenders and fights for every last yard almost like a running back.

The problem for corner-backs and safeties is just beginning when Ceedee Lamb catches the football. What I also loved about Lamb and his career playing under Lincoln Riley is that he was a difference maker and a play-making receiver from the moment he stepped on the field in Norman as a freshman to his final snap last season. He also has a nose for the end zone and an ability to excel under different quarterbacks with different skill sets. He scored 7 touchdowns from Baker Mayfield in 2017, 11 from Kyler Murray in 2018, and 14 in 2019 from Jalen Hurts. Hey Joe Douglas, I'm ready to watch Darnold connect with Lamb on touchdowns and big plays for the next decade to come. Get it done. #TakeFlight