Amid all the doom and gloom... a nice read on Robby Anderson: http://nypost.com/2016/11/18/kid-had-no-chance-jets-undrafted-rookie-proves-skeptics-wrong/ By Mark Cannizzaro I was not at every Jets practice in training camp this summer, but at the ones I did attend, there was one player who stood out almost every time because he made at least one eye-opening play every day. I remember looking at the roster to see who No. 83 was: Robby Anderson, an undrafted rookie free agent who went to Temple. That made sense, I figured. He was on the camp roster as a good-will gesture on the part of head coach Todd Bowles, a Temple alumnus. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick thought the same thing — until he started throwing passes to Anderson. So, too, did top receiver Brandon Marshall, who actually met Anderson last January at a fitness training facility he owns in Florida, where Anderson went to prepare for a possible tryout with an NFL team. “The first time I saw him was at our facility in Florida before the draft. I saw this frail, skinny kid walk in with his uncle,” Marshall recalled. “I thought, ‘This kid had no chance.’ Then, when [the Jets] picked him up and I saw him, I was like, ‘This kid still has no chance.’ He just didn’t look like a receiver. He didn’t look like he does now.” Now Anderson occupies a locker right next to Marshall’s. Talk about an unlikely journey. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound beanpole has 22 catches for 270 yards as a No. 4 receiver and — with his blazing speed (he ran a 4.28 in the 40-yard dash at his pre-draft pro day) — he has shown potential to be the deep threat the Jets’ offense has been lacking for too long. Fitzpatrick, because he missed most of the Jets’ offseason workouts while embroiled in a contact squabble, did not practice with Anderson until training camp. And, before the first summer practice, he recalled “people telling me, ‘Keep your eyes on No. 83.’ ” With Anderson having since switched from No. 83 to No. 11, opposing defensive coordinators are keeping an eye on No. 11. Anderson made one of the best plays of the game in the Jets’ 9-6 loss to the Rams last Sunday, hauling in a 52-yard pass from Bryce Petty to keep a 99-yard scoring drive alive. “The three things that got me right away were: He’s fast, he has unbelievable hands and his mentality,” Fitzpatrick said. “There is this quiet confidence and swagger about him, like he belongs, even though he’s an undrafted rookie.’’ Anderson is, indeed, soft-spoken, but he is confident in his abilities. When the topic of being undrafted and not even being invited to the NFL Scouting Combine came up, Anderson didn’t shy away from taking a playful jab at those who ignored him. “They didn’t let me go because they didn’t want me to break the clock,” he said, referring to his speed. “And I would have.” Asked why he went undrafted, Anderson said, “I’ve been trying to figure out the same thing. I had a good college career, ran a 4.2. I was not a bad college football player by any means at all. Sometimes it happens. Maybe one day I’ll find out why.” The likely reason was his dismissal from his junior year at Temple because he was academically ineligible. He returned home to Florida, went to community college in Orlando, got his act together, returned to Temple for his senior year and caught 70 passes for 939 yards and seven TDs. “I tell my mom all the time I’m kind of happy that happened because it made me who I needed to be. It made me grow up and become a man,” Anderson said. “My mindset is just because I came in undrafted, I wasn’t going to use that as an excuse to be mediocre. I didn’t let that defeat me.” It was when Anderson lit up the Redskins during the preseason with six catches for 131 yards and a long TD that he really started drawing attention to himself. “There’s a lot of guys that flash in shorts, but when he went out and did it in the preseason games, that’s when everybody kind of took notice,” offensive coordinator Chan Gailey said. “I think he has a chance to be a very good receiver before it’s over with.” Marshall added: “He’s gone from this kid looking like he had no chance to this kid looking like his upside is out of this world.”
A nice quick read, especially in regard to his experience at Temple. I saw a few athletes at Rutgers (football and basketball) that did little to ZERO work in some of my classes and the professors still moved them along. Unfortunately, these guys didn't have any work ethic and I don't know what happened to them afterwards, but from my perspective it didn't seem promising. So to hear about Anderson being academically ineligible his junior year, it didn't surprise me but I'm sure it had to be really bad since the professors didn't "pass" him. BUT he got his stuff together at a community college and RETURNED back to Temple. I think it had to be a humbling experience for him and taught him early on that he's got to put in work to see results, resulting in his work ethic now. Hopefully he keeps developing and becomes one of our core offensive players! It'd be a really great find for us if he does, especially since our history of scouting offensive skill players blows (recent years: Hill, Amaro, Saunders, Evans) He's tall but does seem very skinny... Does anyone think he can put on some weight to a build like A.J. Green and keep his speed??
You can tell the kid can play. Even as a smaller, slender guy he's been great at going up and high punting balls and beating coverage deep. The first time I really noticed him was actually on a play where he didn't hang onto the ball, but he was running full speed down the sideline, Fitz underthrew him by a good 10 yards but Robb slowed down, timed his jump over the defender and high pointed the ball over him on the sideline. It looked like he was coming down with it but the hit from the defender jarred the ball loose at the last second. That's about as hard a catch to make as any and he made it look easy. had the defender not knocked it out at the last second, we'd probably be talking about the highlight of the season.
I think that was in the Seattle game, no? It would have been a really great catch and it did show a lot of effort.
This makes up for our 2nd round bust, Devin Smith. Bottom line, the more Mac accumulates multiple draft picks in rounds 2 through 5, the more hidden gems will be discovered.
Over a month ago i posted that this kid needed more touches. Some of my TGG brethren shot me down but thats ok. The same thing happened to me when i said Milliner couldnt play cb because of his tight hips. The last player i posted about was Mauldin. I was ripped because i said hes a potential bust. Understandably hes not a first rounder but the hype following his rookie season lead me to my claim. He has a hard time staying heathly and although he may be a serviceable player i have yet to see the natural ability of a good/great pass rusher. I hope im wrong but as you see...
Gems? when was the last gem this team discovered that would be considered a good player on another NFL team.
It's a fairly simple concept to grasp. By accumulating more draft picks it gives one more opportunities to find quality starters for the future. The more chances you get in each round, the better your odds. I'd love for the Jets to have 8 picks between rounds 2 through 5.
It will be interesting to see if he bulks up in the offseason and whether that affects his speed/quickness. If Marshall got hurt, I would have no problem seeing Q, Peake, Anderson, and Marshall out there full time. They each bring something different to the table. How's that for depth?
Yes i know what your saying, but your making it out like this team has a knack for picking "gems" in late rounds, or you seem very confident that this GM will be able to do that. In two drafts, what players have jumped out to you that makes you think that?
Worked great for Idzik.... I think you need alot of lower round draft picks, as some of these guys pan out, but the top of the draft yields your stars ala Leonard Williams.
That would be scary to me, granted this year is already toast anyway. I don't think Enunwa is seasoned enough to take on being a full-time #1 just yet. I don't think we've seen enough out of Peake either. The attention that Marshall draws allows the younger guys to flourish. His absence would hurt their development IMO. I will add that I'm probably the only one on the board still excited about Devin Smith. He has too much raw ability to give up on this early.
Agreed on Smith. Too early to give up on him, but he won't be contributing anything this season so I didn't mention him. Fingers crossed for next year!
IMO it would only be scary if the Jets saw themselves as playoff contenders next season. If they blow things up and go with a youth movement (as I think they should), I think a receiving corps of Enunwa, Anderson, Peake, D. Smith, J. Marshall and either a draft pick or a younger FA would be fine, especially when you factor in Forte and Powell, and if the Jets finally added a TE who was a receiving threat, it would be plenty of targets for Petty or Hack. I haven't given up on Smith, either. I can't believe how quickly some posters here are ready to denounce draft picks/young players as busts. They have no patience, and obviously no understanding that it takes some players longer than others to develop.
