New York Jets rookie wide receiver Garrett Wilson is undeniably special. Through just the first 11 games of his NFL career with the Jets, Wilson has shown exactly why the organization drafted him 10th overall.
He is coming off of a game in which he recorded five catches for 95 yards and two scores, leading the Jets offense to half of their touchdowns in their seventh win of 2022.
On the year, the first-year wideout has posted a stat line to this point of 49 catches (4.5 per game) on 79 targets (7.2 per game) which leads to a catch rate of 62%.
Wilson has 628 receiving yards (57.1 per game) and is averaging 12.8 yards per catch. His longest grab has gone for 54 yards. He has posted four touchdowns as well.
These totals put him on pace for a rookie season consisting of 122 targets, 75 catches, 970 yards, and six touchdowns—one impressive start to his young career.
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Recent history made by New York Jets WR Garrett Wilson:
Following his terrific five-catch for 95-yard day with two touchdowns, Wilson made some Jets history and is on the cusp of some recent NFL records.
Starting with the Jets franchise, Wilson is now the first rookie wide receiver to have three games of 95 yards or more, which surpassed Jets greats, Al Toon and Wesley Walker.
From there, he is also now the only Jets rookie to have two games with two touchdown catches.
Two fellow first-round receivers to recently dominate immediately for their teams have been popular comparisons for the Jets’ Wilson. Those players being former LSU wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase, both of whom Wilson is close to joining in a unique fashion.
Following the big win in Week 12, Wilson now has four games of 90 receiving yards.
Last year, as a rookie, Chase had six of them. The year prior to that, in 2020, Jefferson posted seven.
Wilson is two or three more dominant games away from putting himself in history with those special talents.
Going a step further, just this year alone, from an NFL standpoint, after Sunday, Wilson joined Jefferson, Chase, Davante Adams, A.J. Brown, and Gabe Davis as the only players with 85 or more receiving yards and two or more touchdowns in the first half of a game in 2022. Wilson is also now the first Jets rookie to accomplish this feat.
Wilson’s start with the Jets has been nothing short of electric. Big plays have been routine in only year one.
The promising traits, whether it be his quickness as a route runner or after the catch, body control, catch radius, and just pure twitch athletically, have all been on display. Wilson has a very rare type of movement style that can make defenders look bad.
Over the final six games of this year, the Jets will need the continued big plays from their top wide receiver to propel their way to the playoffs. Wilson has proven he is more than capable of shouldering the load, leading this Jets’ passing game where it needs to go.