Jets have crowded field of receivers heading toward training camp
Jets wide receiver Quincy Enunwa runs after a catch during a game against the Ravens on Oct. 23, 2016. Credit: Lee S Weissman
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Jets have 16 wide receivers on the roster, and it’s assumed five will be on the 53-man roster when it’s finalized in September.
But for now it seems the Jets have a logjam at the position.
“A lot of guys at the spot,” Todd Bowles said Tuesday morning. “But that’s good competition, so we want competition.”
The latest signing to the position is Terrelle Pryor, who comes to the Jets after spending one season with the Redskins, where he played just nine games before his season ended with ankle surgery. Pryor had a strong 2016 with the Browns where he caught 77 passes for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns.
“Hopefully he’s healthy coming in and repeats what he did two years ago,” Bowles said of Pryor. “Two years ago, he was a beast. He’s a big receiver, very talented, clean bill of health from his injury. You want to see him running around, create competition and he can help us.”
The state of the wide receiver position has some questions. Robby Anderson, who led the Jets with 941 receiving yards, faces possible discipline by the league stemming from getting arrested the last two years on various charges.
When the Jets signed Pryor there was a thought it was a message being sent to Anderson. After Pryor signed, he tweeted a photo of himself announcing he was playing for the Jets, wearing a No. 11 jersey, which is Anderson’s number.
Bowles said no messages were being sent to Anderson because of the Pryor signing.
“There’s always competition at every spot, even when I played,” Bowles said. “They’re going to draft somebody or sign somebody as a free agent every year. You just have to do your job, and Robby competes all the time anyway, he practices hard. I don’t think that’s a threat to him. He always tries to get better and I know Terrelle is a competitor.”
Outside of Anderson’s legal issues there is Quincy Enunwa, who led the Jets in receiving yards in 2016 with 857. Enunwa missed the 2017 season after undergoing surgery to repair a bulging disc. Bowles believes Enunwa was headed in the right direction as a possible No. 1 receiver and is excited to see him back.
“I am because he’s an energetic guy,” Bowles said. “He did a lot of things for us, the first year he did a lot on special teams, the second year he did a lot on offense. He came into his own, with him getting injured, he worked so hard every day in the offseason and in the spring. Jugs machine, just running around — he works his tail off.”
The Jets also have two young receivers, Chad Hansen and ArDarius Stewart, who were mid-round picks last year along with veteran Jermaine Kearse, who the Jets acquired in the Sheldon Richardson trade.
If Pryor and Enunwa are healthy at the end of training camp, the Jets could cut Kearse and create $5 million in cap space. Yet the Jets enjoyed having Kearse on the roster because he provided leadership.
