The New York Jets are not very deep at WR for 2008
The Jets have a solid pair of starting WRs but they don’t have much depth. 26-year old Jerricho Cotchery had a breakout season for the Jets in 2007. He played in 15 games (all starts) and he caught 82 passes for 1,130 yards (13.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs. He also carried the ball 5 times for 38 yards (7.6 ypc) last season. Look for Cotchery to possibly have an even better season in 2008 if the Jets get improved play out of the QB position. Cotchery has now played in 59 games (32 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 189 passes for 2,402 yards (12.7 avg) with 8 TD grabs. He also has carried the ball 11 times for 67 yards (6.1 ypc) in his career.
Laveranues Coles took a beating last season and it’s looking like his odometer has a lot of hard miles on it. Coles played in 12 games (10 starts) last season for the Jets and he caught 55 passes for 646 yards (11.7 avg) with 6 TD grabs. Look for Coles to have problems this season if he can’t stay healthy from all of the shots he has taken over the last few seasons. Coles has now played in 121 games (109 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 561 passes for 7,245 yards (12.9 avg) with 37 TD grabs. He has also carried the ball 33 times for 212 yards (6.4 ypc) in his NFL career.
24-year old Brad Smith will likely be the #3 WR for the Jets this season. The converted QB is starting to look comfortable at WR. Smith played in 16 games (9 starts) for the Jets last season and he caught 32 passes for 325 yards (10.2 avg) with 2 TD grabs. He also carried the ball 12 times for 45 yards (3.8 ypc) last season for the Jets. Look for Smith to possibly double his career totals this season for the Jets. He has played in 32 games (12 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 41 passes for 386 yards (9.4 avg) with 2 TD grabs. He has also carried the football 30 times for 148 yards (4.9 ypc) in his career.
Chansi Stuckey could also battle for the #3 WR job on the Jets if he can stay healthy. He did not play as a rookie last season after injuring his foot in the pre-season.
PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C-
While I agree that we need work at WR, it would also help if our QB could throw the ball more than 30 yards down field. Bunching up those receivers for short yardage passes means more passes broken up, more hard hits, and more injuries to the guys catching the ball. If Chad Pennington demands an answer from the front office, they should give him one: NO! We want Favre! On a side note, the colors you have chosen for the comments section makes it impossible to see what I’m typing. Consider changing the font color or the background color of the boxes.