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DJ Chark

Meyer wants wideout to play bigger

No one is really sure what Jacksonville's offense will look like under Urban Meyer. How he'll use his running backs, what the depth chart will look like at tight end, and how the wideouts will be ordered. Meyer had some things to say about potential No. 1 DJ Chark yesterday.

"He's a big guy that played little last year, and that can't happen," said Meyer. "He's got to play big and strong."

Kind of damning comments. Chark himself is apparently rising to the challenge, hitting the weight room and putting on muscle. Last year he was listed at 6-foot-4 and 198 pounds, but says today he weighs 210. Whether that extra weight will cost him some speed, we'll see, but ideally he'll be a stronger player. Perhaps that will help his catch rate, which wasn't great last year. Quarterbacking was a factor, but maybe "playing little" in Meyer's eyes includes not catching as many contested passes as he should have. Whatever the case, his catch rate was down from 2019 to 2020. Jacksonville's other top candidate to be the team's No. 1 wideout, Marvin Jones, was better.

Table shows catch rates for all wideouts with at least 90 targets in either of the last two seasons. Chark shows up below-average among the 84 qualifying wide receivers in 2019, but had one of the 15 worst catch rates last season. Jones -- albeit working with a better quarterback -- was in the top 35 both years.

WR CATCH RATES, 2019-2020 (90+ TARGETS)
YearPlayerTgtRecYdsAvgTDFmb
2019Michael Thomas185149172511.6980.5%
2020Curtis Samuel977785111.1379.4%
2020Davante Adams149115137412.01877.2%
2020Cole Beasley1078296711.8476.6%
2020Stefon Diggs166127153512.1876.5%
2020JuJu Smith-Schuster128978318.6975.8%
2020Tyler Lockett132100105410.51075.8%
2019Tyler Lockett11082105712.9874.5%
2020Cooper Kupp1249297410.6374.2%
2020Sterling Shepard90666569.9373.3%
2020DeAndre Hopkins160115140712.2671.9%
2020Tyler Boyd1107984110.7471.8%
2020Jarvis Landry1017284011.7371.3%
2019Chris Godwin12186133315.5971.1%
2020Amari Cooper13092111412.1570.8%
2020Corey Davis926598415.1570.7%
2020Justin Jefferson12588140015.9770.4%
2019Cooper Kupp13494116112.41070.1%
2020Robby Anderson13695109611.5369.9%
2019Keenan Allen149104119911.5669.8%
2020Robert Woods1299093610.4669.8%
2019DeAndre Hopkins150104116511.2769.3%
2019Larry Fitzgerald1097580410.7468.8%
2020Adam Thielen1087492512.51468.5%
2019Marvin Jones916277912.6968.1%
2020Brandin Cooks11981115014.2668.1%
2019Emmanuel Sanders976686913.2568.0%
2020Keenan Allen1471009929.9868.0%
2019Calvin Ridley936386613.8767.7%
2020Allen Robinson151102125012.3667.5%
2019Stefon Diggs9463113017.9667.0%
2020CeeDee Lamb1117493512.6566.7%
2019Amari Cooper11979118915.1866.4%
2020Marvin Jones1157697812.9966.1%
2020Russell Gage1097278610.9466.1%
2020A.J. Brown10670107515.41166.0%
2019Julian Edelman153100111711.2665.4%
2019Davante Adams1278399712.0565.4%
2019Dede Westbrook1016666010.0365.3%
2020Terry McLaurin13487111812.9464.9%
2019Robert Woods13990113412.6264.7%
2020Tyreek Hill13587127614.71564.4%
2019DJ Moore13587117513.5464.4%
2020DK Metcalf12983130315.71064.3%
2020Mike Evans10970100614.41364.2%
2019Diontae Johnson925968011.5564.1%
2019Jamison Crowder1227883310.7663.9%
2019Danny Amendola976267810.9163.9%
2019Allen Robinson15498114711.7763.6%
2019Cole Beasley1066777811.6663.2%
2019Julio Jones15799139414.1663.1%
2019Christian Kirk1086870910.4363.0%
2020Calvin Ridley14390137415.3962.9%
2019John Brown11572106014.7662.6%
2020Brandon Aiyuk966074812.5562.5%
2019Terry McLaurin935891915.8762.4%
2020Darnell Mooney986163110.3462.2%
2020Tee Higgins1086790813.6662.0%
2019DJ Chark11873100813.8861.9%
2020DeVante Parker1036379312.6461.2%
2020Diontae Johnson1448892310.5761.1%
2019Tyler Boyd14890104611.6560.8%
2020T.Y. Hilton935676213.6560.2%
2019Jarvis Landry13883117414.1660.1%
2019Michael Gallup11366110716.8658.4%
2019Courtland Sutton12472111215.4658.1%
2020Marquise Brown1005876913.3858.0%
2019DK Metcalf1005890015.5758.0%
2019Sammy Watkins905267312.9357.8%
2020DJ Chark935370613.3557.0%
2020Chase Claypool1096287314.1956.9%
2019Mike Evans11867115717.3856.8%
2019DeVante Parker12872120216.7956.3%
2020Michael Gallup1055984314.3556.2%
2019Kenny Golladay11665119018.31156.0%
2020DJ Moore11866119318.1455.9%
2019Odell Beckham13374103514.0455.6%
2019Mike Williams9049100120.4254.4%
2019Robby Anderson965277915.0554.2%
2019Chris Conley904777516.5552.2%
2020Darius Slayton965075115.0352.1%
2019Curtis Samuel1055462711.6651.4%
2020Jerry Jeudy1135285616.5346.0%
2020A.J. Green1044752311.1245.2%

If Trevor Lawrence hits quickly, and he might, one or both of these wide receivers could be very good this year. I think I'm a little more likely to select Jones.

--Andy Richardson

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