Green Lantern: Decker Deserves A Lot More Respect Than He Receives
By Jeff Capellini
WFAN.com
If there is any justice in the world, Eric Decker will find a way to get 280 yards receiving over the final two weeks of the season.
That's the production he must come up with to reach 1,000 yards. And while it's true that benchmark for individual achievement doesn't pack the pop it used to due to the fact that the league has become all about the passing game, for a Jets wide receiver to actually reach that number remains grounds for a massive celebration.
The last time a Jets wideout reached 1,000 yards was in 2007. Jericho Cotchery finished with 1,130, to go along with 82 receptions, matching his catch total from the season before. Not even with Brett Favre attempting 522 passes in 2008 did the Jets end up with a receiver in quadruple digits. In the seven seasons since Cotchery did his thing, only Braylon Edwards in 2010 challenged 1,000, finishing with 904.
And it's not like the Jets didn't have any talented receivers during that span. Cotchery is closing in on 500 receptions in what has been a workman-like 11-year career. Laveraneus Coles was as diminutive as they come, but still caught 674 passes for nearly 9,000 yards over his 10-year career. Santonio Holmes had been a 1,000-yard receiver in the past and was a Super Bowl MVP. Plaxico Burress had four 1,000-yard seasons and also won a Super Bowl. Edwards, though a disappointment overall, had freakish physical gifts and big-play potential.
Yet the Jets repeatedly squandered that talent.
The situation at quarterback has gotten progressively worse since Vinny Testaverde had one of the greatest quarterbacking seasons in this franchise's history back in 1998. Injuries and age closed what was a short window of success for Vinny with the Jets. He eventually gave way to accurate but fragile Chad Pennington, who was followed by the great Favre experiment. That led into the enigmatic Mark Sanchez years and then the Geno Smith experience.
Smith's rookie season in 2013 ended well, but Jeremy Kerley ended up the team's leading receiver with just 523 receiving yards -- or two or three really good weeks from Odell Beckham Jr.
Since getting a five-year contract worth a little more than $36 million from Woody Johnson, Decker has caught a lot of grief for reasons that are flat unfair. He's been called everything from a product of Peyton Manning to soft to not cut out for New York to the most overpaid receiver in the league.
I think those assessments are ridiculous, especially since I just got finished explaining to you about the conga line of failure this team has had at quarterback for the better part of the last 16 years.
Decker has been slighted because he played with Manning. His detractors love to say anyone can put up big stats catching passes from one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, but they rarely, if ever, mention how good Decker made Tim Tebow look in 2011. You may not think 44 catches, 612 yards and eight TDs are anything to write home about, but I almost feel like it would only be right to weight those numbers a bit more due to the Tebow quotient.
So when I look at Decker's 62 receptions, 720 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games this season (he missed one due to an early hamstring injury), I don't see a free agent bust. I see a player who has actually made the most of a quarterback situation that is among the very least in the NFL.
Why do you think so many people are angry that the Jets won on Sunday? That victory put them on the outside looking in at the quarterback sweepstakes that is sure to dominate the top of the league draft board come May. The Jets (3-11) are now one game behind Oakland, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville and Tennessee, with likely two of those teams at least seriously considering choosing from Oregon's Marcus Mariota -- this year's Heisman winner -- and Florida State's Jameis Winston, who took home the award last year.
Jets fans are salivating for a quarterback. They'd offer up their first born to the football gods for one. They'd make a deal with the devil without a second's hesitation for one.
I have written extensively on how the franchise's failure to get the position right is the primary reason why it hasn't won a championship since 1969 and didn't advance past the AFC championship game during the 1982, 1998, 2009 or 2010 seasons.
And the sad part is there is currently nothing to indicate that next season will be any better. Sure, the Jets could still somehow end up in the top three in the draft, which, depending on the other teams in the mix, could assure them of Mariota or Winston. But in the event 3-13 or 4-12 doesn't get it done, there's no telling who will be the guy next season.
With each passing day I feel like general manager John Idzik will not be fired. If so, there's probably a very good chance Smith is in the conversation to start for the Jets next season because Idzik drafted him and will likely not give up on him off a pair of inconsistent seasons. Compounding that is the fact that the free agent market figures to be one of the best in NFL history, just not at quarterback.
That is unless you think Mark Sanchez, Michael Vick or Jake Locker are the answer.
Unless the Jets get their hands on Mariota or Winston, or some kid who has yet to declare or emerge, the position is going to be a source of angst and agita for fans again next season.
But the good news is the Jets will not have to work too hard this offseason to put a representative receiving corps out there in 2015.
While maybe not a true No. 1 by today's NFL standards, Decker is a steady route runner and performer whose numbers will only get better as the player under center gets better. It's no coincidence that over the last two games, which happened to mark two of Smith's better performances this season, Decker finished with a combined 13 receptions on 19 targets.
If you add Decker to playmaker Percy Harvin, who the Jets have complete control over this offseason, and reliable Kerley, who is locked up for the next four seasons, the Jets really have the weapons to be a good passing offense in a passing league for the next several seasons.
But unlike running back, where the ball carrier has some control over his destiny, wide receivers are completely at the mercy of their quarterback.
And as is usually the case with the Jets, they really don't have one.
So while portraying Decker as some kind of bust might make you feel better in the face of yet another God-awful season for the Jets, the reality is the team is in a much better position with him than without him.
Read more columns by Jeff Capellini and follow him on Twitter at @GreenLanternJet
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