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Jets Wideouts Look Ahead: Will the 'Big Three' Return Intact in '21?

Jamison Crowder Led WRs Again; Breshad Perriman (potential UFA) & Denzel Mims Showed Explosiveness

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Table inside Article
Player GP-GS-DNP-IA Off/ST Snaps
Breshad Perriman 12-12-0-4 651-0
Jamison Crowder 12-7-0-4 593-1
Denzel Mims 9-8-0-1 439-0
Jeff Smith 11-5-1-0 318-36
Braxton Berrios 16-2-0-0 290-85
Chris Hogan 5-4-0-0 274-8
Josh Malone 4-0-0-0 80-37
Vyncint Smith 7-0-0-4 50-45
Lawrence Cager 2-1-1-3 39-0
Jaleel Scott 1-1-1-0 9-1

Voluntary Opt-Out: Josh Doctson

Finished on Practice Squad: Malone, D.J. Montgomery, Scott

Reserve/Future Signing: Malone, Montgomery, Scott, Manasseh Bailey

No Longer With Team: Hogan

Potential Free Agents in 2021
Unrestricted:
Perriman
Restricted: V. Smith
Exclusive Rights: J. Smith

'21: A New Deal
The impact of having all of the "big three" receivers — Jamison Crowder, Breshad Perriman and rookie Denzel Mims — and their big-play dimensions on the field simultaneously was unmistakable. Crowder, Perriman and Mims played together only seven games and not until Game 9 vs. New England. Here's how the entire offense's production compared in those seven games to the nine games when one or more were out:

Table inside Article
# of WRs Pts/Gm RecTDs TotYds RecYds
All 3 Play 20.9 1.7 317.4 220.1
0, 1 or 2 Play 10.8 0.4 250.8 174.9

Is that enough to keep them together on the Jets in '21? Crowder and Mims are under contract, while Perriman, signed as an unrestricted free agent to replace Robby Anderson's downfield component, can become a UFA again in March.

Behind those three and Braxton Berrios, who has demonstrated his multiple talents in two Jets seasons, it's wide open in the WR room. Jeff Smith is a potential exclusive-rights free agent. Vyncint Smith, who displayed an explosive offensive and special-teams quality in '19 but was played little in between injuries in '20, can become a restricted FA.

Josh Malone, D.J. Montgomery and Jaleel Scott all signed reserve-future contracts. Josh Doctson, the former first-round draft choice signed as a free agent last February, is coming off the COVID voluntary opt-out list.

'20: Quick Look Back
Two measures of the changeable WR position: 20 players had receptions for the Jets in '20, their most in a season since 22 had catches in 2012. And 10 of the 20 players with receptions this past season were wideouts, the most in a season in franchise history.

Crowder led the offense in receptions (59), receiving yards (699) and receiving TDs (6) for the second consecutive season. Perriman led all the main wideouts with his 16.8 yards/catch average. Shortly after Mims got on the field, his five-game streak with at least one 20-yards-plus catch per game commenced.

Berrios fit right into the mix, especially in first halves when he had a team-leading 15 first-down receptions, while his eight total third-down-conversion catches were second on the offense to Crowder's 15. Others with double-digit receptions were Jeff Smith (17) and Chris Hogan (14, released from IR in December).

WR Trivia
Jets wideouts in 2020 had four 40-yards-plus touchdown catches, more than in any season since 2010, when the WRs had five long-ball scores. Perriman had TD catches of 49 and 50 yards from Joe Flacco in back-to-back games, vs. the Patriots and at the Chargers, while Crowder (from Sam Darnold in the opener at the Bills) and Berrios (from Crowder vs. the Browns) also had 40-plus scores.

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