Gang Green Nation
The New York Jets have an incredibly easy schedule down the stretch. One that could lead to two or even three wins. And if the Jets finish with four or five wins this year, that’ll likely take them out of the range to draft a top quarterback. In a draft class with only two first-round graded quarterbacks, Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson, it’s likely both will be gone in the top five picks at the latest.
If the Jets manage to get some wins and finish just outside the top five picks (the Jets have had the sixth pick in the draft more than any other position in franchise history), what are they going to do? I wanted to look at some players who are likely to be picked just outside the top five picks so that we can talk about the options that would be available.
Jordyn Tyson is one of my personal favorites in this draft class. The clear-cut WR1 in this class, there’s very little that Tyson can’t do.
We’ll start with the physical stats. Tyson stands 6 foot 2 and 200 pounds, prototypical size for a wide receiver. He’s expected to run a 40 in the 4.45-4.50 time, an average time for a WR. Nothing special here, though Tyson is very athletic and is likely going to test well. Speed’s just not his game.
Tyson plays both inside and out. So far this season, Tyson has taken 25% of his snaps in the slot and 75% out wide. But last year, those numbers were closer when Tyson played 42.6% in the slot and 56.3% out wide. Much like Garrett Wilson, Tyson has the versatility to line up anywhere on the field.
Now let’s talk numbers. In just 9 games this year, Tyson has been targeted 97 times, caught 61 passes, had 711 receiving yards, and 8 TDs. He has 2.37 yards per route run this season, which would be the worst of any top-10 drafted WR since PFF began tracking WR stats in 2014.
So why, despite the bad yards per route run numbers, is Tyson in consideration in the top-10? A lot of it has to do with the Arizona State offense. Tyson isn’t really being used properly. For example, against Utah, Tyson had eight receptions, but only 40 yards. In no world should your WR1 be averaging five yards per reception. And that’s not the only time that’s happened. Against Baylor, it was seven receptions for 43 yards. As for his quality, he’s only faced 16 contested targets all year despite getting more than 10 targets a game; his 16.5% contested target rate is phenomenal. He has only one drop this season.
Now, there are two other important things to talk about here. First, Tyson is a possession receiver. He’s not going to create much after the catch, nor is he going to create big plays on his own. Very similar to the likes of Drake London, Tyson’s...
