With the Jets having added Aaron Rodgers, it's hard not to be excited about the potential of Garrett Wilson. He was last year's Offensive Rookie of the Year, and that was while working with a hodge-podge of lesser quarterbacks. Now he's got a Hall of Famer.
Rodgers is 39 years old, but it's debatable whether he's lost much. He's just a year removed from an MVP season. New York, meanwhile, had to do something. In the last 15 years they've had exactly three top-12 fantasy quarterbacks: Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2015, Mark Sanchez in 2011, and Brett Favre in 2008. None of them ranked higher than 10th. Rodgers has 11 top-10 finishes in those years. He's old and creaky, but he's the best quarterback the team has had in more than a decade -- arguably the best they've ever had.
Wilson, meanwhile, was catching passes from Zach Wilson, Mike White and Joe Flacco last season. Now he's working with a quarterback who's produced a whole lot of quality wide receiver seasons as a starter.
In the last 15 years (leaving out the two seasons where he missed half the year due to injury, 2013 and 2017), Rodgers has been the quarterback for 17 top-25 wide receiver campaigns (PPR), and ten top-10 seasons. Five of those were Davante Adams, and perhaps he'd have been putting up big numbers with lesser quarterbacks. But the other 12, while from good wide receivers (Nelson, Jennings, Driver, Cobb, Jones), aren't necessarily any better than Wilson. Fair to say guys Rodgers, and Favre with a couple of them before him, made them stars.
| TOP-25 GREEN BAY WIDE RECEIVERS, 2008-2022 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Tgt | No | Yds | TD | FF | Rk |
| 2020 | Davante Adams | 149 | 115 | 1374 | 18 | 360.4 | 1 |
| 2021 | Davante Adams | 169 | 123 | 1553 | 11 | 344.3 | 2 |
| 2016 | Jordy Nelson | 152 | 97 | 1257 | 14 | 306.7 | 2 |
| 2014 | Jordy Nelson | 151 | 98 | 1519 | 13 | 327.9 | 3 |
| 2018 | Davante Adams | 169 | 111 | 1386 | 13 | 329.6 | 4 |
| 2011 | Jordy Nelson | 96 | 68 | 1263 | 15 | 284.3 | 4 |
| 2010 | Greg Jennings | 125 | 76 | 1265 | 12 | 274.4 | 5 |
| 2014 | Randall Cobb | 127 | 91 | 1287 | 12 | 297.4 | 7 |
| 2008 | Greg Jennings | 140 | 80 | 1292 | 9 | 265.2 | 7 |
| 2016 | Davante Adams | 121 | 75 | 997 | 12 | 248.7 | 9 |
| 2012 | Randall Cobb | 104 | 80 | 954 | 9 | 242.6 | 16 |
| 2012 | James Jones | 98 | 64 | 784 | 14 | 226.4 | 17 |
| 2011 | Greg Jennings | 101 | 67 | 949 | 9 | 215.9 | 18 |
| 2009 | Donald Driver | 113 | 70 | 1061 | 6 | 213.4 | 19 |
| 2009 | Greg Jennings | 119 | 68 | 1113 | 4 | 207.3 | 21 |
| 2008 | Donald Driver | 116 | 74 | 1012 | 5 | 205.6 | 22 |
| 2019 | Davante Adams | 127 | 83 | 997 | 5 | 214.7 | 23 |
The Jets have other wideouts, including Rodgers buddies Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, and Corey Davis. But I'm very interested to see what Wilson, who was the 21st-best PPR wideout as a rookie, is able to do this season.
--Andy Richardson