New York Jets: Sam Darnold, receivers will finally be together

Sam Darnold hasn’t played in a single game this season with all of the Jets’ top targets. Before the season, in free agency and the draft, the team made considerable strides to add to their receiving corps with the additions of Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims. These two players, along with Jamison Crowder, have all shown playmaking ability on the field. Now, they’ll finally get to pair their skills, on the field, with Darnold.

The New York Jets will be playing the Miami Dolphins tomorrow, still looking for their first win of the season. CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco predicts that they will get their first, beating Miami 26-23. That would be a huge feat, on a few levels. Firstly, it would be the first win of their season, as already stated and known. Second, Darnold needs to show that he can still be a winning quarterback in the NFL, either with the Jets or another franchise. Lastly, if Darnold stays, building continuity with the receivers, who have been playing pretty well despite the losses without him, is key.

Sam Darnold last played against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 8, missing the last two games (Jets had a bye in Week 10). Over those two games, all three top receivers have played together. In those games, their overall production has been a nice sight and has caused some excitement. The three top receivers, which have been Perriman, Mims and Jamison Crowder respectively, should be excited to have Darnold back, as well.

The wideouts

Breshad Perriman was brought in to be the main deep-threat guy, pretty much replacing Robby Anderson. Over the last two games, he has totaled 7 receptions for 155 yards and 3 touchdowns. The 22.1 yards per reception average has led the team, along with the touchdowns during that span, including two against the division-rival Patriots.

Second-round rookie Denzel Mims has shown his capability of being a very good well-rounded wideout, as well. Over the last two games, he has totaled 7 receptions for 133 yards. The thing that sticks out, especially to possibly delusional Jets fans like myself, is that he has the ability to win tough catches. With great size at 6’3″, 207 pounds, he can be that go-to big target for Darnold, or whoever is playing quarterback next season. He showed that catching ability on one exciting play against the Chargers last week:

I am, perhaps, most excited for the Darnold-Mims duo tomorrow. They have been able to play zero snaps, let alone games, together this season. Videos and clips of them together from the preseason was cause for excitement, but it, unfortunately, hasn’t had the chance to translate yet.

The final piece of the top-three Jets wideouts is Jamison Crowder. To begin the season, he missed two of the first five games. Although, in the three he played, two with Darnold, he totaled 22 receptions for 335 yards and 2 touchdowns. The last two games, however, haven’t been as dominant. Over the last two, he’s totaled just 3 receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown. Those numbers should be expected to increase.

Crowder has been the go-to guy for Darnold over the last two seasons and has helped build a confident connection between the two.

With Perriman being the deep-threat, Mims being an intermediate-to-deep playmaker and Crowder being a short-to-intermediate option primarily, Sam Darnold will finally be surrounded by the best the Jets have to offer.