The need is huge
We continue with our assessments of the New York Jets roster in determining what plan of action to take during the 2025 NFL Draft. This is the outside part of the building process that is vital to the success of the offense. We now turn our attention to the tight ends and wide receivers on the Jets roster. These two positions need a lot of work. I foresee the Jets making multiple draft picks in these areas.
Wide Receiver
The Jets currently have 11 wide receivers on the roster but few playmakers. When a position group has a lot of question marks it means the team has few answers.
Garrett Wilson is the lynchpin of the receiving group as the only quality receiver on the team. He is best when used as a #2 receiver, as he doesn’t have great size or speed. He makes his bones with quick cuts, timing routes and great toughness. In three years he has had 469 targets, with 279 receptions and more than 1,000 yards each season. He averaged the same yards per game as a rookie (64.9) with Zach Wilson at quarterback as he did in 2024 with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. Wilson is in dire need of a splash play receiver who can take away coverage to give him some room. You have to marvel at Wilson’s fortitude and perseverance, but he takes a beating, he’s not that big and he can’t keep getting hammered game after game as he will wear down.
Alan Lazard was re-signed at a lower rate this season, but he still has a whopping nearly $9 million cap hit over the next two years for a receiver with stone hands. The fact that he is the #2 receiver on the Jets is testament to the fact the Jets need a viable threat in their offense. Lazard led the NFL with six dropped passes in 2024 while only catching 37 passes. That’s a 14% drop rate, which is horrific, yet better than his 2023 numbers when he dropped 5 passes with only 23 receptions for a horrible 17.9% drop rate.
Tyler Johnson is listed as the Jets #3 receiver, which is sad. Johnson is entering his sixth NFL season and the Jets will be his fourth team. He has 76 career receptions but only 28 in the last three seasons, with 26 coming on the Los Angeles Rams, who were bereft of receivers for long portions of the season. No disrespect but he’s a bottom of the roster type of receiver.
Malachi Corley was the 4th best receiver ranked in Joe Douglas’ 2024 draft class. That gives you an indication on why Joe Douglas is no longer here. Corley needs to grow up. He is lucky to have Aaron Glenn as his coach because he will need to mature quickly or he’ll be out the door. If Corley didn’t impress Glenn at Jets mini-camp you could see him traded for a low round draft pick in this draft. Corley had three receptions for 16 yards and a fumble when he dropped the ball while in the clear at the goal line.
Xavier Gipson is more of a special teams maven than a receiver, but he had problems fumbling punts in 2025. Gipson has only 27 receptions in two seasons, usually coming late in the season when players are out injured. He started his career with a bang but he will need to show more splash play ability to make Aaron Glenn’s roster.
Josh Reynolds is only here due to the lack of quality receivers and his connection to Aaron Glenn and the Detroit Lions. He has 233 career receptions but only 13 last year with two different teams. I could see him making the roster as the 4th or 5th receiver depending on who the Jets draft or bring in. This will be Reynolds’ 9th season in the NFL. He doesn’t have a long shelf life in the NFL anymore.
Irving Charles has exactly zero receptions (on 1 target) in two seasons with the Jets, but he does have 14 tackles on special teams in 25 games. He tore his ACL on December 11th last year and was placed on the injured reserve list. He will not be ready to start the year.
Brandon Smith was on the practice squad in 2025.
Easop Winston had one reception for 5 yards for the New Orleans Saints in 2024.
Pokey Wilson went undrafted out of Florida State. He played in Canada in 2024.
Marcus Riley was waived with an injury settlement in 2024, he has yet to play a down.
The Jets need to draft multiple receivers AND sign a viable veteran receiver in the coming months. The Jets could surprise and take a wide receiver at #7, or trade down and pick up a quality player while adding draft capital.
If the Jets trade down they could get my #2 receiver on the board (Travis Hunter is #1) and take Matthew Golden out of Texas. Golden is a speedy, quick, big play receiving prospect with good hands, position flexibility and a splash play maker. He played two seasons with his hometown Houston Cougars until a foot injury ended his season in 2023. The injury didn’t hurt him in 2024 as he moved to play for the Longhorns of Texas. There he showed world class speed with tremendous acceleration. He has great hips that allow him to make quick breaks at near top speed. He has no fear. He will run any route, anywhere. He doesn’t run out of bounds, and he gets every yard. He is a not a big receiver but he is feisty. He caught 11 of 18 passes (61.1%) in contested situations.
He runs every route but he also has the ability to take the top off of the defense. 22.4% of his catches traveled over 20 yards in the air. He is a deep ball threat anytime he is on the field. He also had seven screen catches and 16 receptions while playing in the slot. Those slot catches averaged 20.4 yards per catch. He has the ability to be a deep threat while at the same time being a highly targeted receiver. Cornerbacks pressing him fear that if he gets by them they will never catch up. He is usually given a cushion.
Golden has small hands and short arms but he secures the ball. In 134 touches he has zero fumbles. He will adjust his speed to gain separation or make breaks. He will slow during his route, then accelerate away from the defender. His presence will force a defense to play someone over the top in man coverage, which helps the running game. He has developed better hands and made some acrobatic catches and one-handed grabs in 2024. He is very physical for a receiver under six feet tall. He explodes out of breaks when he sinks his hips with good technique. He has great body control to contort his body to make catches. He also can contribute on special teams. He had two kickoff returns for touchdowns at Houston.
If the Jets wait until the second round of the draft or pick back-to-back receivers they could take Tre Harris, who would be a great complement to Garrett Wilson. Harris is a tall, lean, physical wide receiver prospect with athleticism, good speed and a big play element to his game. He averaged 13.6 yards per target in 2024 with seven touchdowns in just eight games. He’s an above the rim type prospect with his good height, leaping ability and the capacity to high point the ball. He’s a long strider who eats up turf downfield or across the field on a deep cross. He’s a natural hands catcher who excels at catching the ball outside the framework of his body. He ran a lot of hitches and slants which are tough to defend since he can “box out” cornerbacks with his size, then extend his arms toward the coming pass. That gives the cornerback no chance to defend.
Harris had over 1,000 yards in just eight games in 2024. He has tremendous body control to contort his body as he goes up in the air to catch the pass. He has very good contact balance for a taller receiver. He is not an easy tackle. He tracks the ball well downfield and can make an over the shoulder catch or spin to make a leaping catch. He can stack a cornerback once he has a step. Harris caught eight of 13 balls in contested situations (61.5%) in 2024. He would be a tough cover as a Z receiver. He played just 11.7% of his snaps from the slot yet had seven receptions for 133 yards. His ability on deep routes make him very effective on stop routes or back shoulder throws. Harris finds the soft spot in zone coverage and will settle down and give his quarterback a big target to throw to. He had at least 925 yards receiving in each of the past three seasons.
Another receiver I really like is Jaylin Noel from Iowa State. Noel is a fast, quick, intelligent wide receiver prospect with amazing athleticism, solid hands and position flexibility. He worked hard to get better, which he did every season. He was a special teams maven each year with 51 punt returns and 37 kickoff returns during his four years in Ames, Iowa. He averaged 15.3 yards per punt return on 13 attempts in 2024. In 2024 he had four 50+ yard receptions, two 50+ yard kick returns, and two 30+ yard punt returns. He has very quick/light feet that can leave a pressing cornerback in catchup mode off the snap.
He has very oily hips that allow him to sink his hips into breaks, then explode out to gain separation from even the best cornerbacks. He has great acceleration off the snap to quickly close the gap in off coverage. By doing so he makes a defender flip his hips before Noel gives an indication where he is going. It allows him to break the opposite direction into the clear. He lined up 73.3% of the time in the slot, which gives him a free release, 24.5% of the time out wide, and 2.2% of the time in the backfield in the past three seasons. Noel is a smart kid who can read the defensive coverages so he can adjust routes to find open, soft spots in the defense. He was on the All-Big 12 academic honors list in multiple seasons. He was a well-respected, high character player who was voted a team captain for two seasons. He had 146 receptions and more than 2,000 yards and 15 touchdowns in his last 26 games. He’s a feisty, tough kid who, although he’s not real big, caught 13 of 25 passes in contested situations. He was used in motion to back off defenders as it made him more explosive off the snap. He can work all three defensive zones.
The last wide receiver I’ll highlight is a sturdy, tough player from Illinois, Pat Bryant. Bryant is a lean, well-muscled, clutch wide receiver prospect. He has superior hands, is super versatile and has great character. He has big play ability. He was often called on when they needed long yards on third down and he delivered. He runs any route from any offensive location. Bryant 76.8 % as a boundary receiver, 21.4% of the time in the slot and 1.8% of his pass snaps in the backfield while catching at least one touchdown pass from each location. He also ran the ball out of the backfield on occasion. He has great hands. He caught 98.2% of the catchable passes thrown to him in 2024. Many of his catches were spectacular. He also caught nine of 13 passes in contested situations (69.2%) with defenders draped all over him. He high points the ball very well. With Bryant’s height and reach, combined with his leaping ability, he makes catches that a cornerback can’t touch. He has big play ability despite the lack of elite speed, as he caught 12 passes that traveled over 20 air yards that averaged 32.2 yards a catch. He does a great job when leaping for the ball to clear the hands of the defender out of the way, without interfering, then reaching up to high point the ball. He adjusts his routes in zone coverage to find soft spots in a zone, then motors down while giving his quarterback a huge target. He also has great contact balance for a big receiver. He doesn’t go down easily and churns for extra yards. He’s a very high character guy who has the respect of teammates. They voted him team captain for the 2024 season. He had a team record-tying 10 touchdowns in 2024.
The Jets need receivers in a bad way. Fortunately, there are many quality prospects in 2025.
Tight End
The Jets have basically no one at the tight end position currently. The best player they have is Jeremy Ruckert, who has 35 receptions in 41 games played. He has averaged 7.5 yards a reception with zero career touchdowns. He’s not exactly a guy who is going to challenge the seam.
Stone Smartt is entering his fourth NFL season after three seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers. He is rail thin as tight ends go, standing 6’ 4” and weighing 226 lbs. He’s more of a move tight end or jumbo wide receiver than a traditional Y tight end. He gives you little as a blocker. He has 31 receptions in 38 career games with one touchdown.
Zack Kuntz was drafted by the Jets in the seventh round of 2023. He has yet to make a reception. He’s 6’ 8” and gives little to nothing as a blocker.
Neal Johnson is an athletic kid who has decent size (6’ 4” 250 lbs), but he has yet to appear in a game with any team.
With Tyler Conklin signing with the Chargers the Jets have few free agent tight ends they can sign worthy of a contract. Irv Smith, who played with the Houston Texans last year, might be worth a flyer. If the Jets want to draft a tight end early, they will need to stay in the top 15 to get Tyler Warren or Colston Loveland.
If the Jets wish, they can wait until the second round and pick up Mason Taylor from LSU. Taylor is a long, tall, athletic tight end prospect with good, not great, speed. He has good hands and great growth potential. He is the son of Hall of Fame defensive end Jason Taylor, so he has great bloodlines. He was productive all three seasons at LSU, averaging about 10 yards a catch. He’s doesn’t turn 21 years old until after the NFL draft. He has excellent hands as he caught 55 of 56 catchable passes in 2024 for a catch rate of over 98%.
Taylor is tall, lean, and very athletic. He looks like a jumbo wide receiver rather than a tight end. He was productive at a position in Baton Rouge where there wasn’t much before. He is the first tight end in LSU history to eclipse both 100 catches and 1,000 yards. He beat those marks handily with 129 receptions and 1,308 yards. He’s a natural hands catcher who regularly catches the ball outside the framework of his body. He is very good at finding soft spots in zones, then giving his quarterback a huge target to throw to. Has the size to run the seam but was not asked to do so at LSU that much. He glides in space. He’s a long strider who eats up yardage. Taylor does a good job of hiding from coverage on short routes only to pop up wide open for a catch. He is not overly fast, but he made over half his receiving yards due to YAC. He had a very limited route tree at LSU but his physical profile shows a player who can do much more given coaching. He tracks the ball naturally and adjusts his speed to allow an easy catch.
The Jets could also draft two tight ends, one coming early and one late. I like CJ Dippre out of Alabama. Dippre is a highly athletic, strong, savvy tight end prospect with solid hands, great size and the ability to find soft spots in zone coverage. He is excellent with the ball in his hands and makes more defenders miss than you would expect from a burly tight end. He was used quite often and effectively on screen plays while playing at Maryland his first two years. He has always been a proficient outlet receiver who makes himself a big target in open spaces for his quarterback to find him. Dippre has an athletic frame, with very good speed for his size and some surprising elusiveness.
Dippre has solid hands. He is a natural hands catcher who excels at catching the ball outside his body frame. He was not asked to run the seam at Alabama, but he has the ability to do so. He started 24 of 27 games at Alabama, but they used him more as a blocker inline, as a lead or as a wham blocker against big defensive ends. As a receiver he can play equally well inline, in the slot or out wide due to his athletic ability. He gives great value as a player since he has underappreciated athleticism. He can be a solid contributor in the pass and run game. He can even work as an H-back. He has a finisher’s mentality as a run blocker. He likes to pancake his opponent when he drives them back with good leverage. He has a powerful upper frame and can “bench press” an opponent backward when he has a good grasp of his chest plate. Dippre is an ascending prospect who doesn’t turn 22 until three days following the end of the draft in April.
The Jets need lots of help at wide receiver and tight end.
Who are the players you like?