Can Josh Doctson make a late-career breakout? | New York Jets training camp primer

Josh Doctson‘s career strengths and weaknesses as told by the advanced analytics and film.

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• Chris Herndon
• Connor McGovern
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• Quinnen Williams

Here’s everything you need to know about former first-round pick Josh Doctson as he looks to win a spot on the Jets’ wide receiver depth chart.

Two positive stats to maintain

Solid downfield play-making

Doctson’s best work has come in the intermediate and deep ranges. From 2017-18, he averaged 9.8 air yards per reception, which ranked 28th out of 93 qualified wide receivers (71st percentile).

Decent hands

Over the course of his career, Doctson has made 81 receptions and been credited with six drops. That gives him a drop rate of 6.9%, slightly below the 2019 wide receiver average of 7.5%.

Doctson also has yet to fumble the ball over 82 career touches.

Two negative stats to improve

Catch rate

Doctson owns an abysmal career catch rate of 50% (81 grabs on 162 targets). That ranks 96th out of 100 qualified wide receivers since 2016 (4th percentile).

While Doctson ranks 39th out of 100 in yards per reception since 2016 (13.6), his awful catch rate drops him down to 89th in yards per target (6.8).

Getting open

As described earlier, drops (at least blatant ones) have not been a major issue for Doctson. The main cause of his low catch rate has simply been his inability to create separation as a route-runner, which has led to a lot of low-percentage contested situations on throws his way.

Failing to separate not only hurts your on-ball efficiency, but it’s going to lead to some long stretches of silence. When you’re not getting open, you’re not going to get targeted very often, and your volume production will suffer. The numbers clearly showcase how Doctson has struggled in this area.