The Jets truly are snakebit. They’re about the worst team in the league, and now they’ve lost arguably their best fantasy player for the season.
Quincy Enunwa suffered a neck injury Saturday night and is headed for injured reserve, according to multiple reports.
Enunwa wasn’t a household name, but he was a big receiver who was coming on. He looked really comparable to Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker early last season and ended up catching 58 balls. He was going to be their leading receiver, making him a viable option in PPR formats.
Now what?
Well, Robby Anderson looks secure as a starter. Different kind of receiver – won’t catch 60 passes but showed ability to get vertical last year, with 4 catches of 40-plus yards on a really bad team. He’s added some weight to his really lean frame. If you’re throwing a penny into the well on a Jets receiver in the last round of your draft, he’s the guy.
The Jets liked Ardarius Stewart enough to draft him in the third round. He’ll be given a chance to grow up in a hurry. Wasn’t heavily used in a run-oriented offense at Alabama last year, catching 54 passes for 864 yards and 8 TDs. That’s 16.0 yards per catch, at least. Will need to show something in the preseason games before I will consider selecting him in draft.
Jalin Marshall looked like a possible NFL receiver last August. Maybe he comes on. I am hoping Anderson and Marshall are the starters, then Dennis Lyons and myself can start researching when was the last time an NFL team had as its starting pair of wide receivers two players who were both undrafted free agents. Both Marshall and Anderson showed up at camp last year.
Charone Peake is similar to Anderson and Marshall. Also a second-year receiver. Just barely got drafted last year, with the Jets picking him up in the seventh round. One of a zillion Clemson receivers in the league.
The Jets selected Chad Hansen in the fourth round, and he’s about as likely as anyone to lead this team in catches. Seriously. He might pair well with Anderson. Anderson is a vertical guy. Hansen should be more of an underneath target – maybe working out of the slot a lot. He caught 92 passes and 11 TDs last year at Cal.
This truly is a dumpster fire of a receiving corps, and no doubt the Jets will continue to add bodies. Last week they claimed Lucky Whitehead and Bruce Ellington off waivers. Ellington ended up failing his physical, while Whitehead is probably only in play as a kick returner (although on this team, maybe he can do more). You can be sure they’ll be bringing in more bodies in the next month. I have wondered if the Jaguars will try to dump overpriced Allen Hurns, and he’s a guy who would probably interest the Jets (though not at what he’s scheduled to make for Jacksonville this year).
Given the lack of quality at wide receiver, I’ll bet the Jets will heavily use some of their other players in the passing game. Matt Forte and Bilal Powell definitely will catch a lot of balls. I also am quietly interested in tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who was a disaster in Tampa Bay but seems to have turned his life around. I doubt Seferian-Jenkins will be able to play his way into being a last-round pick in fantasy drafts, but a player I’ll be watching in the practice games.
—Ian Allan