You did not have to be Vince Lombardi to figure out the Jets needed to seriously upgrade the wide receiver position this offseason.
The team finished 31st in passing offense in 2013, and that was not all on quarterback Geno Smith. The position had deteriorated consistently on the Jets since the end of the 2010 season, bottoming out last year when they were starting guys they had signed days earlier.
Now, the Jets hope that is behind them. They signed free agent Eric Decker, who was the top wide receiver on the market at the time, in March along with speedster Jacoby Ford. Though they didn’t add any receivers early in the draft, they took three on Day 3. They also drafted tight end Jace Amaro in the second round to give the passing game a boost.
“We have to play better at that position, there’s no doubt,” coach Rex Ryan said of the wide receivers. “But I think from top to bottom we’re in much better shape than we were at any point last year.”
The rookies had a rough day Saturday on the second day of rookie minicamp. Fourth-round picks Jalen Saunders and Shaq Evans and sixth-rounder Quincy Enunwa all had drops. Even the sure-handed Amaro had a drop.
Ryan excused the drops as just rookies being overwhelmed.
It will be interesting to watch what kind of role any of the rookies can have on offense this year. Besides Decker and Ford, the Jets already have Jeremy Kerley, Stephen Hill, Clyde Gates and David Nelson. Santonio Holmes is just a memory now after four seasons as the Jets’ No. 1 receiver.
Decker is sure to start in one outside spot and Kerley has proven to be a capable slot receiver, but the other outside spot would appear to be up for grabs.
“I’m excited to see this group,” Ryan said. “I think the competition is going to be great.”
The rookies are not worrying about starting right now. They are just trying to figure out what is expected of them and trying to hold onto passes. Wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal kept them after practice Saturday for some extra work after the drop-heavy session.
“I think the feeling with us is that we’re just coming in here to work,” Evans said. “We don’t want to make any predictions or anything, we’re rookies and we don’t want to make any predictions and feel like we can just come in and take over a team. We’re just coming in and working hard and trying to improve every day and help the team win whether it’s on special teams [or] receiver, whatever you have to do to help the team win.”
The three rookies have different styles. Saunders is a tiny (5-foot-9, 165-pound) speedster. Enunwa is a 6-foot-2 physical receiver and Evans (6-1) is somewhere in between.
Ryan said he likes that his receivers as a whole, not just the rookies, are faster than what the Jets have had in recent years.
“We have speed,” Ryan said. “We’d have a heck of a relay team. We’ll see what kind of receivers we have. But you could put out an unbelievable 4×4, whatever that thing is. We can run probably with almost anybody if you take our first four.”