FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — A look at what’s happening around the New York Jets:
1. Historic speed, but …: If speed guaranteed success for a wide receiver, Arian Smith would translate to the NFL as an elite player, no doubt. Quite simply, he’s one of the fastest they’ve ever drafted.
“Arian has some juice,” coach Aaron Glenn said Saturday at rookie minicamp. “God, he can run it.”
At Georgia, the former track star was clocked at 4.28 seconds in the 40-yard dash, he recalled. At the NFL scouting combine, he blazed a 4.36. Since 2002, only four other receivers drafted by the Jets went below 4.40 seconds at the combine: Garrett Wilson (4.38, 2022), Elijah Moore (4.35, 2021), Denzel Mims (4.38, 2020) and Stephen Hill (4.36, 2012).
Wilson is the only one thriving. Mims and Hill are out of the league. Moore is on his third team. You need to be more than a stopwatch star to make it in the NFL. In Smith’s case, his future could hinge on being able to eliminate his drops.
Smith dropped nine balls out of 76 targets last season, according to ESPN Research — an 11.8% drop rate, 12th highest in the FBS. Taking a closer look, seven of the nine occurred in the first and fourth quarters. Five came on first down.
Convinced the problem can be fixed, and that his talent was too enticing to pass up, the Jets drafted Smith in the fourth round. An AFC personnel executive said Smith has “real speed and acceleration — a vertical threat. [He] had the drops. That’s where those guys usually go — a middle-round type.”
To his credit, Smith doesn’t hide from it. He called it a focus issue, not a technique thing. He hears the criticism, but he called it “very motivating.”
“I’m not the type of person that ever runs from stuff I did,” Smith said. “Whether I earned it, and whether it’s my fault, I’m not the type of person that makes excuses on anything. So it definitely gives me motivation.”
In minicamp, Smith’s explosiveness was easy to see. He received praise from Glenn for the way he caught the ball Friday. Smith can be dangerous with the ball in his hands, which he proved at Georgia. While he made only 68 receptions in his career, he averaged 19.9 yards per catch.
He could be a factor in the screen game and on jet sweeps, and his vertical speed will catch the attention of defensive coordinators.
“I strive to be an all-around receiver,” Smith said. “Speed is my strength, but I can be so much better than just speed, and that’s what I want to be. Much better than speed.”
2. Line looking good: First-round pick Armand Membou has yet to practice with the veterans, but his new teammates — especially the offensive linemen — are excited to have him. The right tackle will complete the Jets’ starting five, joining tackle Olu Fashanu, guards John Simpson and Alijah Vera-Tucker and center Joe Tippmann.
“I think we’re gearing up to have a great year,” Tippmann said of the line, with Fashanu (2024) and Vera-Tucker (2021) also having first-round history.
3. New gig: Rookie minicamp provided the first opportunity for Glenn to coach a full team in a practice setting. Instead of focusing on one position or one side of the ball, he oversaw the whole thing for the first time.
He called it “a seamless transition,” crediting Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell for giving him opportunities the past few years to script practice and be in front of the full team.
4. Family affair: Quinnen Williams arrived in 2019. His older brother, Quincy, came in 2021. Could a third Williams brother be joining the Jets?
Giovanni Williams, 26, participated in the rookie minicamp as a non-roster player, hoping his tryout leads to a contract. A linebacker, he played two seasons at Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama, after starting his career at Texas A&M-Kingsville.
At 5-foot-10, 222 pounds, he’s much closer in body type to Quincy (5-11, 230) than Quinnen (6-3, 303), but it wasn’t always that way. Giovanni said he weighed 350 pounds in high school, where he played middle linebacker.
“Eating. Eating. Honestly, just eating,” he said, explaining his girth. “And then I messed up my shoulder, so that was kind of it. But, eating. I love to eat.”
Williams said he dropped to 180 in a few months before rebuilding himself to his current weight. It would be an extraordinary accomplishment if he makes the team.
“It’s a beautiful story,” said Glenn, who knows the feeling. He played with his younger brother, Jason, on the Jets in 2001.
Three brothers haven’t played on the same team since the 1920s, according to Elias Sports.
5. Breakout year? To say this is a big year for tight end Jeremy Ruckert would be an understatement. The former third-round pick is entering the final year of his rookie contract, still looking to establish himself as a starter. His future is up in the air, especially with Mason Taylor’s arrival as a second-round pick, but he sounded more confident than ever.
“This is the best I’ve felt in my career, going into the season — physically, mentally, emotionally,” he told ESPN. “I love everything that the new staff is doing. I love the way they approached the first meeting of Phase I. I love the way they talk to us as a team, the way these workouts have been going.
“It fits me. It’s the kind of team and the kind of system that I want to play in as far as the culture of just coming to work every day and being a tough, hard-nosed, work-hard football team, and that you can’t survive here if you don’t have those traits. It makes me want to get out and go work for somebody.”
After three seasons of backing up Tyler Conklin, who signed a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Chargers, Ruckert appeared to be in line for a bigger role. That changed with the selection of Taylor, but there should be enough snaps to go around.
New offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand came from the Lions, who used 12 personnel (one RB/two TEs/two WRs) 32% of the time. The Jets used it only 21% last season.
6. High attendance: Glenn was pleased with the turnout for voluntary workouts, saying the attendance in Phase I and Phase II of the offseason program was 90% and 94%, respectively. Things will ramp up May 20, when OTA practices start.
7. The return of Rodgers? The NFL schedule will be released Wednesday night. Unlike the past two seasons, when they landed a combined 10 prime-time games because of the Aaron Rodgers factor, the post-Rodgers Jets figure to have more 1 p.m. kickoffs than recent seasons.
One prime-time possibility is their home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, perhaps the most compelling game on their schedule because of the quarterback storylines. The matchup features Justin Fields against his previous team, which benched him after a 4-2 start last season. It also could have Rodgers, as there are thoughts that Pittsburgh will be his landing place if he decides to play in 2025, against the team that he said abruptly dismissed him in February.
Because Rodgers still hasn’t decided on his future, the league schedule makers might have to take a leap of faith that he will wind up in the black and gold.
8. The big reveal: A quick refresher on the Jets’ non-divisional opponents:
Home: Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers. One of the games will be in London, which was announced in January.
Away: Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Jets have the seventh-easiest schedule, based on the 2024 records of their opponents (.460).
9. New faces behind the scenes: Not only do the Jets have a new coaching staff and a new general manager, but they have new faces in three key staff positions — head strength and conditioning coach (Corey Smith), director of player performance (Erik Korem) and director of player development (Justus Jones). Jones replaces Dave Szott, who held the position since 2008.
Smith followed Glenn from Detroit, where he was the assistant strength and conditioning coach. Korem, a former walk-on at Texas A&M (Glenn’s alma mater), worked previously for the Houston Texans as their director of sports science. Jones came from Iowa State.
10. The last word: “It was pretty cool, especially once I looked at all those zeros on the page. I didn’t realize how much money I was getting.” — Armand Membou on how it felt to sign his rookie contract — four years for about $31.9 million, fully guaranteed.
