The New York Jets were such a nightmare that they were a nightmare at being a nightmare. If that makes sense. They had the inside track to get Trevor Lawrence, then stumbled and won two out of their three last games. That took them out of the Trevor Lawrence race, and then the Jets cleaned house. They jettisoned Adam Gase and turned to 49ers’ defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and 49ers’ passing game coordinator Mike LaFleur as his OC. The Jets are (hopefully) entering a new era. But, what should we remember from their 2020 campaign for 2021 fantasy football leagues?
What to Remember from the 2020 New York Jets Season
- When you think Jamison Crowder, you should think seven targets per game. It’s metronomic how consistently Crowder has ended up around that figure in three of the last four seasons. He played just nine games in 2018, and ended up with just 5.6 targets per game that season. In 2017, 2019, and 2020, he averaged 6.9, 7.6, 7.4 targets per game, respectively. Unfortunately, he never quite does enough with those targets to justify using him on a weekly basis. He has flash weeks, but has finished outside the top-36 at WR in four-of-six seasons and has never finished as a WR2 or better. Since his 2017 breakout, only 46% of his games ended up in the top-36 on the week. His 2020 campaign ended up as the highest percent of usable games: 58.33% of his games ended up inside the top-36.
- Let’s talk more about Jamison Crowder’s 2020. Because, well, it’s the New York Jets. I could talk about Breshad Perriman, Braxton Berries, or Chris Herndon, but you don’t want that. Crowder started the season as hot as humanly possible, getting as much volume as he could handle. In weeks one through six, he played on a 184 target, 116 reception, 1,532 yards, eight touchdown pace. He had at least 100 yards in three of his first four games. Given that he had two injuries in that timeframe, we can safely call that unsustainable.The sad part came after he came back, after Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims recovered from injuries. To call it “stumbling down the stretch” is doing a disservice to the phrase. Crowder topped 50 yards in just two of his last eight games and scored touchdowns in two additional games. All told, he averaged just 3.8 receptions for 39.5 yards down the stretch. The Jets passing game, which threw the ball the third-fewest times in 2020, just didn’t have enough to dole out to multiple wide receivers.
- Speaking of wide receivers, let’s talk about rookie Denzel Mims. Mims missed the first six weeks of the season with hamstrings injuries. The Jets threw him straight into the fire, giving him at least seven targets in four of his first five games. In the first five games of his career, he averaged 3.4 receptions for 56.8 yards per game. He left the team to handle a personal matter in week 12 and didn’t do much for the rest of the year. We don’t have details on the personal matter, but if it was something serious enough to leave the team, it’s likely his heart wasn’t in the last few games in the season when he fell apart. He is a high-upside low-risk flier in 2021 fantasy football drafts.
- There’s a lot of talk about whether or not the Jets should continue with Sam Darnold. He hasn’t been great in his time with the Jets. But then again, he’s had to contend with being a member of the New York Jets. That having been said, there’s a clear division between a protected Sam Darnold and a harried Sam Darnold. Darnold carried the sixth-best clean pocket completion percentage in 2020. On the flip side, he had the #33 completion percentage (of 44) under pressure in 2020. The difference in completion percentage made him the #6 QB when measuring how much pressure affected their throwing percentage. The Jets tried to improve their offensive line this offseason. It didn’t work. Hopefully, the group can gel this offseason and improve heading into 2021.
- After the Jets excised Le’veon Bell from their roster, they turned to old reliable. Frank Gore! The 37-year-old ageless wonder ended the year with 742 yards from scrimmage, marking the fifteenth time in sixteen seasons that Gore crossed the 700-yard threshold. In the sixteenth season, he had 699 yards. This allowed him to break a tie with Emmitt Smith for the most 700-yard scrimmage seasons in a running back’s career. He’s not certain if he will play in 2020, but Adam Gase was umored to be tied to Seattle though ultimately did not get thr job. Frank Gore played for Gase in two out of the last three seasons. Maybe Gore can follow Gabe where he goes to Establish The Run, at least for one more season?
(Someone inevitably tells me how cursed this header image is whenever I use it. This is the Gase-eyed cat’s final ride. Sayonara, you abomination, and affront to God).
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