Gipson definitely took his snaps away. That said, Hardman does have a lot of speed, and Zach has an arm if nothing else. Would like to see less Cobb, and more Gipson and Hardman.
Veteran receivers with limited physical skills are only useful when they have a rapport with a QB to find soft zones and sit. Cobb is basically useless with Wilson. And actually he was useless to begin with on the field.
They got Tippman and Abikonda, although he's not playing. Maybe they are keeping him fresh for the 2nd half of the season. Also, it will take time to evaluate MacDonald. They also got Gipson. What happened to that other WR who was a UDFA and almost made the team? What was his name?
Would like to see more two TE sets, Gipson or Hardman, or even the FB over Cobb. Agreed it’s time to make Cobb inactive most Sundays.
Tippman was a pick I liked at the time and still like now. McDonald is a pick I hated at the time, then talked myself into but now, it just seems absurd that we spent a first rounder at a position where we are already deep and can't find playing time for everybody. The rest of the draft was "meh...we'll see". I just can't believe JD couldn't have done a better job addressing OL and WR whether through the draft or FA.
Aside from GW, you're looking at a pitifully below average WR room which scares nobody. Hardman not being able to get on the field, for whatever reason, ahead of that sea of mediocrity, is not a very good sign. Couple that with a staff which hasn't exactly had exemplary relations with WRs, Hardman is as good as gone. More telling than Hardman's response about the trade was claiming the Jets did not tell him what his role would be on the team after they signed him. This lack of communication is laughable, unless the Jets never had any intention of using him.
That is the biggest mystery. I get Gipson won some snaps, but Cobb over Hardman? At least Hardman might have people worry about beating them over the top. Is he really that bad in practice? Seems hard to believe.
Pains me to see my fellow Jets fans bash an all-time UK football great, but it's true. I honestly don't understand why Hardman isn't getting some of Cobb's reps. Hardman has something that only 1-2 other players on offense have, game-breaking speed. The fact that he isn't even out there as a decoy more often just to push the deep safety back makes no sense to me.
Why would they sign him if they had no intention of using him? That makes zero sense. Hardman showed nothing in TC. He dropped a ton of passes, ran the wrong routes, and really didn't look good and then Gipson emerged and continued developing. In addition, evidently Hacket doesn't run many gadget plays or flea flickers. I remember some of the beat writers saying that the Jets intended to make Hardman a big part of their offense. I have to assume that they had gotten that from Hackett and the Jets CS. Evidently that changed when Hardman didn't do squat in TC and OTAs. I remember reading a couple of times where Hardman missed AR's hand signals changing the plays at the LOS in practice, so maybe AR let Hackett know that he didn't want to use Hardman, so Hackett just kind of wrote Hardman off. Gipson has looked more like a complete WR than Hardman, and Gipson also looked really good returning punts and kickoffs and won the return job. In addition, I think part of the issue is that with Zach playing rather than Rodgers, Hackett being more conservative, the OL struggles, and Hackett working to develop Zach, get the ball out quickly, and cut down on TOs, he's not calling many deep routes. Most of the passes Zach has thrown have been to GW (24), Conklin (17), and Lazard (13), followed by Hall (8), Cook (8) and Carter (9). Ruckert only has 3 receptions, Cobb 3, and Uzomah (4).
I agree. Even if the Jets had decided that he wasn't a fit and wasn't in their plans, it looks like they would have used him to try to build his trade value so that they could get something for him. Normally, I'd question the CS on this, but Hardman didn't look good at all in TC or preseason, and Gipson emerged and kept improving. They're not using him much, either. I have a feeling that the reason neither Hardman nor Gipson has seen the field much on offense is that Hackett isn't calling many deep throws due to the OL struggles and trying to get Zach to get the ball out quickly learn to take what the D gives, and take his checkdowns. Hopefully, as Zach continues to develop, they'll use them both if Hardman stays on the roster, but if not, then hopefully they'll start using Gipson.
There were several murmurs on WFAN with sources inside the Jets that Mecole refused to play special teams in camp which is what created a problem with the coaching staff. Bad signing if the intention was for him to play special teams in some capacity and he wasn’t going to. Regardless, the contract was so minimal that it’s not like it impacted anything.
