Jets' Denzel Mims buried on depth chart, raising questions about future FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- After some promising moments in an abbreviated rookie season, Denzel Mims is sixth, maybe seventh in the New York Jets' pecking order at wide receiver. Leapfrogged on the depth chart by three offseason additions, Mims is finding his way in an offensive system that might not be suited to his skill set. If the situation doesn't change in a month, the Jets will have a tough decision: Do they stash him on the roster and give him time to develop? Or, do they see what he might fetch in a trade? It's hard to imagine Jets general manager Joe Douglas cutting a 2020 second-round pick. No doubt, this will be a storyline for the remainder of training camp and preseason. Reading between the lines, it seems like the coaching staff wants Mims to push himself harder. "He's learning, he's getting better," Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. "For him, I told him the other day, 'The more you're on your stuff, the more opportunities you're going to get. And the more you're on your stuff, the more you're going to be the Denzel Mims that we all know.' What I've really liked, he's responded a lot in the last few days. He's had better practices." Mims is running with the second- and third-team offense. Ahead of him are newcomers Corey Davis, rookie Elijah Moore and Keelan Cole, along with holdovers Jamison Crowder, Vyncint Smith and, occasionally, Braxton Berrios. The Jets could keep six wide receivers; seven might be a stretch. Special teams will be a factor. Berrios returns punts, Smith can do kickoffs. Mims doesn't do special teams, although he's getting reps in practice -- perhaps a harbinger. His rookie season was sabotaged by hamstring injuries, which cost him training camp and the first half of the regular season. This offseason, he missed several practices because of an illness. Aside from the lost time, Mims might not be a scheme fit. Coming out of Baylor, he wasn't known as a polished route runner. He won his matchups with size (6-foot-3, 207 pounds) and speed (4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash). Now, with a new coaching staff and a new offense, there's an emphasis on route running. Precision is paramount in the West Coast offense. "It's different because in this system, we are much tighter and we're more in a phone booth as wide receivers," Jets coach Robert Saleh said. "It's not just playing out in space and having easy releases and having wiggle room. There's a lot more fighting for leverage. ... Your lower half comes into play a heck of a lot more, especially when you're in a phone booth. "Then there's the blocking aspect of it and the strain we ask these guys to block, front side and back side. His route running is improving, it's different because he's coming in from a different location than what he's used to, being out there with normal spacing. He's getting better. ... He's put together a couple of good days and he's working his tail off." The wide receivers rotate in practice, affording them the opportunity to learn the different positions. On Thursday (they didn't practice Friday), six wide receivers saw first-team work. Mims wasn't among them, which is quite telling. If backups play well, they get rewarded with first-team reps, as we've seen in recent days at cornerback. Maybe Mims will get that chance Saturday night in the annual Green & White practice at MetLife Stadium. The 2020 draft was rich with wide receivers, so it will be a bad look if Mims doesn't work out. The Jets picked him 59th overall after trading down from No. 48, where they could have chosen Chase Claypool. (He went 49th to the Pittsburgh Steelers and had a very good rookie season with nine touchdowns.) Mims finished with 23 catches for 357 yards in nine games (an impressive 15.5 average), but he had no touchdowns. The assumption was Mims would return in 2021 as a starter, but Douglas prioritized wide receiver, signing Davis and Cole as free agents and drafting Moore in the second round. That, too, was telling. Moore has displayed more in eight practices than Mims has in a year. It's not too late for a turnaround, but soon the calendar won't be an ally. Jets' Denzel Mims buried on depth chart, raising questions about future - New York Jets- ESPN Cimini is suggesting that Mims might not have a role on the team this year, and NBC Sports Edge is even suggesting that the Jets might trade Mims: "Mims, a 2020 second-rounder that started eight games as a rookie, has been no higher than the No. 6 receiver at training camp. Miscast in new OC Mike LaFleur's scheme, it's possible the Jets move on from Mims, though he's unlikely to return more than a Day 3 pick. Mims, who doesn't play special teams, could open the year as a weekly inactive if he isn't traded." I think trading Mims would be a terrible mistake. What's wrong with him sitting and learning for a bit and maybe contributing at the end of the year, particularly if there are injuries?
Um. How about at least first give him a freaking chance before heading into his 2nd season? A.) Rookie hamstring injury. B.) Awful QBs in washed up Flacco and 42nd QB Rating Sam Darnold (BUST).. C.) Bust Perriman playing opposite of him. D.) 40 year old Frank Gore as his RB "threat". E.) Awful O-lineman (outside of Mekhi Becton). F.) D. Loggains as his OC. G.) Adam Gase as his HC/Play Caller. No WR not even Jerry Rice would've done anything within those 2-14 crap circumstances. Denzel Mims final 3 years @ Baylor: 37 Games. 182 Receptions. 2,921 Receiving yards. 16.0 yards per catch. 28 TD Receptions. Chase Claypool final 3 years @ ND: 37 Games. 145 Receptions. 2,078 Receiving yards. 14.3 yards per catch. 19 TD Receptions. Denzel Mims kicked Claypool's ass throughout each and every statistical category know to (WR) mankind and the only difference is that Claypool was drafted into WR heaven while Mims was drafted into WR hell. OC: LaFleur. QB: Zach Wilson. LT: Mekhi Becton. LG: Alijah Vera-Tucker. RT: Morgan Moses. WR 1: Corey Davis. WR 2: DENZEL MIMS. Slot: Elijah Moore (will be utilized everywhere). WR 4: Jamison Crowder. RB: Michael Carter. How about we give the kid a freaking chance within an actual offensive system that's NFL competent before asking "what to do with Denzel Mims"?
Not sure he's really 6th on the depth chart... but if he's getting past by the likes of V Smith, he needs to hold himself accountable
Im a fan of Mims and he was our best receiver last year when he was on the field, despite the awful circumstances. But to compare him in college to Claypool is apples to oranges. ND was not at all a throwing team with Claypool on the field, had poor QB play from a throwing standpoint (WinBush couldn't throw and Book at first was dink and dunk) while Baylor was a throwing team. There is no reason why a talented receiver like Mims can't succeed in any system if properly coached. I will be pissed if they don't get him on the field.
Mims was fine last year as a rookie and I expect he's going to be fine as a 2nd year player. Somewhere between writers having to put something down to get clicks and Saleh's motivating coaching tactics is where this current issue fits imo.
Yeah…I’ve seen some stupid articles even saying he may be cut….just can’t see that happening to a second round pick after just one year under Gase. not to say that being a second round pick should save a player if he sucks….see Stephen Hill, Devin Smith, etc…but I think it’s too soon to give up on Mims right now. I get that if his route running is too sloppy for an offense like this that needs more precision, but you gotta give the kid a chance to develop….I think it may in fact be more of a motivational push than anything…
"Robert Saleh Sheds Light on Jets Wide Receiver ‘Rotation" Robert Saleh says: “Yeah so he’s working through some things,” the Jets HC said regarding Mims, “but him coming back [from illness] and working into the groove, all those receivers are part of a rotation, so you see guys, 1s, 2s, 3s and if I look at the rep count it’s darn-near even all the way across the board to give all those guys the same opportunities and the looks and to be able to put them in positions where we know that they’re going to be able to get the ball based on a play. Denzel Mims is a very talented young man and it’s going to piece together for him, we just gotta keep working with him.” Many of you Jets fans are falling for absolute crap click bait TC articles being written by well known HACKS. Listen to coach Robert Saleh himself, not "beat writers".
There's no need to apologize for the length of the post. It's sad imo when people say a post is too long to read. How intellectually lazy can they be? Who knows, they might learn something! I agree that it would be a mistake to trade Mims. Instead of putting him in a position to succeed and letting his talent take over, they're forcing him to make a lot of changes. He's having to think too much. He's focusing on running better routes, getting used to lining up differently, probably learning new routes, learning the offense, adjusting to a different QB, and having to learn all 3 WR positions. That's a lot. Unless all the reports I read about his great work ethic were wrong or he is not very smart, he will get it all learned and put together. When he does, he should be starting again. All the media speculation and fan panic is driving me bat shit crazy. They have to have something to talk about to justify their jobs, and sadly, much of the media likes to focus on the negative (that's easier than the positive for many of them). Mims is going to be just fine.
Besides I haven’t seen talk of Mims being bad in camp. I’ve seen a lot of Moore being so damn good and the WR spots seems to be in good hands. It just seems to be that hey Mims is a high pick and he’s running with the 2’s and 3’s so obviously he’s bad or something and that doesn’t seem to be the case. With all he’s working on things to get better. I agree that he’s fine.
I really hope Denzel Mims absolutely has a big time Green and White practice tonight. This way we can all sit back and laugh at Cimini's "Denzel Mims" article as someone who's A.) Nothing more than a beat writing hack and B.) Paid good $$$ to write articles that'll antagonize our longtime suffering fan base in order to create more click bait revenue (for himself and at our expense).
He’s a second year player having his first training camp and played his first year with injuries and for the worst coach in franchise history. Anyone giving up on him wouldn’t be making a wise choice and luckily this is just Cimini looking for something to write about rather than something that’s actually happening.
The truth usually lies somewhere in-between the narratives from both sides of the table. I do believe fans should be concerned about Mims with this team. It's not a good look and he's nowhere close to being on the same level as Moore. That's telling In itself. Gotta open your eyes. They were both 2nd round picks. On the other hand. Mims was selected for an entirely different CS and scheme. We all know that CS and scheme was hot garbage though overall. So, I'm glad It seems that we have a legit CS on the offensive side of the ball with a legit offensive scheme for today's NFL. However. It does not seem that Mims is grasping this new scheme all that well and his skill set may not be good enough for what they need for the WR position. On one hand. It's good this CS will play the absolute best suited players for their scheme and don't force things for the sake of draft position. They will play the best players. Which is huge. Downside. It's really highlighting the fact that Mims Is clearly struggling and It's not a positive trajectory for him right now. Let's hope he can figure it out.
A few things that I have taken from this: We finally have a meritocracy here and Joe D is doing a decent job rebuilding each unit and bringing in a lot of competition. I think our final major project is at cornerback and that will be fixed next year between our current players stepping up and an apparently epic cornerback draft class in 2022. Even the best GMs miss on players, but good teams have high standard at most positions so they aren't starting poor performers and praying for them to be savior. Previously a Macagnan-like of GM would have forced Mims into the lineup even if he wasn't having a good camp because of the lack of talent pushing him at starting receiver. I am happy that Moore seems to truly be turning heads and that even if Mims were a bust, we still have 4-5 competent receivers that Wilson could throw to. Although this isn't an elite group, it isn't bad enough to be the reason that Wilson fails. Lastly, the book hasn't been written on Mims yet. Quinnen looked like a bust his rookie year and look at him now. Receivers used to be given 3 years to come into their own, but these days it feels like it has to be 1-2 years. He wasn't the most polished prospect and it appears the coaching staff isn't using that as an excuse to give him easy playing time. He has to prove it first as he should.
I agree that everybody seems to want instant production when that isn't realistic in some situations. I just hope that Mims is ready next year, when Crowder and possibly Cole will be gone. I think he has the talent to do it, and that this year will be for adding polish to break out in 2022.
