A lot has been made about the Jets reuniting college teammates Justin Fields and Garrett Wilson in New York and how this reunion will unlock all the potential both players have in the NFL.
While I believe that Garrett Wilson is simply too good to put up mediocre numbers, regardless of who is at quarterback, some have taken the Fields-Wilson connection too far and set their sights too high. One such person is ESPN NFL writer Ben Solak, who wrote his “100 things to know 100 days from the start of the NFL” piece and has really lofty expectations for Wilson.
"Garrett Wilson is the best receiver Justin Fields has played with in his NFL career. Wilson is the WR1 with the biggest gap in quality between him and his WR2 in the entire league. Wilson has played mostly on hard mode (a lot of press coverage, downfield routes, contested balls, etc.), and new coordinator Tanner Engstrand will prioritize getting him easier targets. As such, I have a nagging suspicion that Wilson will lead the league in receiving yards in 2025." -Ben Solak, ESPN NFL Writer
That sounds amazing and his logic is spot on. Wilson does have the biggest gap between himself and whoever WR2 is for the Jets. He was “playing mostly on hard mode” for most of his career. I think there is an argument to be made between Garrett Wilson and DJ Moore as the best receiver Justin Fields has ever played with, but we can call them “1” and “1A” for the sake of the argument.
Here is where I think Mr. Solak has lost his way. Justin Fields is not a good passer. It doesn’t matter what new coordinator Tanner Engstrand comes up with if Justin Fields can’t run the offense. I have seen nothing from Justin Fields in the five years he has been in the league to make me believe that he is going to magically turn it on.
And here is the other issue with Mr. Solak’s final statement of Wilson leading the league in receiving yards: defenses know it too. The know the Jets have nobody behind Wilson that they have to worry about and no defensive coordinator in the NFL is going to prep for Jets week without putting a special emphasis on covering number five on every single play. The mantra for defenses will be “do not let Wilson beat us”.
It's not as if Wilson has been starved for targets in his career. In 2024 he was tied for fourth in targets. He finished 14th in receiving yards. The other four players ahead of him in targets all finished in the top seven of receiving yards.
In 2023, it was even worse for Wilson who again finished fourth in targets but wasn’t even in the top 20 in receiving yards (he was number 22). So, it isn’t as if Wilson is in new territory with being the focal point of the passing offense. He just plays with bad quarterbacks. Do we really believe that Justin Fields is magically going to fix that?
I expect Wilson to put up similar numbers this season as he did in 2023 and 2024, which are fantastic, but leading the league in receiving is not in the cards with Fields at quarterback.
