The lion’s share of the talk about the offense around Jets training camp has been directed toward QB Justin Fields. Coordinator Tanner Engstrand loves the progress Fields is making, toe puns aside, in absorbing and executing the offense. But Fields will need help this season, and Engstrand is happy to have Garrett Wilson as part of the offensive puzzle he’s assembling.
“Garrett is a really smart individual, not to say I had any preconceived notions,” Engstrand, Detroit’s pass game coordinator the previous three seasons, said after Thursday’s seventh practice of Jets training camp. “But he’s a really smart player and a really good person, someone you like to be around. He cares about the people on the team.”
Engstrand also likes the player on the field. Wilson produced his first 100-catch season and only the second in Jets history last season when he grabbed 101 balls for 1,104 yards. In the process, he became the first Jet and one of only three receivers in NFL history to start his career with three consecutive 80-catch, 1,000-yard seasons.
The Jets OC will need no help in optimizing Wilson’s G-force on his offense. He saw something similar with the Lions in Amon-Ra St. Brown, who has three and nearly had four 80 / 1,000 seasons in his four-season career.
In fact, some key numbers are eerily similar between two of the game’s top pass-catchers. For starters, Wilson is 6-0 and 192 pounds while St. Brown is 6-1, 195. Their 2024 numbers were also close, with ARSB having more touchdown catches for the NFC North champion Lions while G had a better season of yards after catch: