New York Jets film breakdown: The reliable Chris Hogan | Blewett’s Blitz

Blewett's Blitz breaks down one of the New York Jets' newest wide receivers, the professional and reliable Chris Hogan. While Chris Hogan may not the long-term No. 1, 2 or 3 weapon the New York Jets are looking for and hope to add in the coming years, he was added as a depth wide receiver who offers solid route running and reliability for third-year quarterback Sam Darnold. Blewett's Blitz showcases Hogan's reliability in his route running and route adjustments as a preview to the podcast and YouTube show. Hogan (No. 2 up top, outside slot) speed releases off the ball to get onto Jalen Ramsey's toes. As he gets onto Ramsey's toes, he starts to show Ramsey "high knees" which both slows down Hogan's route pace while still giving the elusion that he is moving fast. On Hogan's fifth step, he drops his hips (nice and low), throws his break-foot in a good spot (leading his body while also lateral), works his drive foot (left) underneath of his frame allowing for a sharper break plus more power. Hogan beats Ramsey inside and brings in the ball for the touchdown. Hogan (No. 3 on the field side, bottom) stems inside to square up the defensive back who is on the hash mark. As Hogan closes ground, he "skips" to close ground but limits the ground he covers for two very important reasons. Firstly, he doesn't want to close enough ground to allow the DB to contact him. Secondly, he doesn't want the DB to "jet stream" him, which is following directly behind him---typically a technique against mesh concepts to avoid any traffic. If the DB were to "stream" him, he wouldn't be able to break outwards on the whip route. I needed to highlight this to show the very small details of route running. Now for the actual break ... Hogan does a good job cutting flat inside as I described, but he also does a good job on the break outside. Hogan shortens his stride, throws his right foot in front of his body while turning it into the inside. This allows his hips to turn close to 180 degrees (hips can't work over toes). Hogan also drops his weight/hips into the turn, gets out of his break and makes the catch. Nice tight break and really well-run whip route. Hogan (WR on left) is in the slot runs a route vs. a CB with outside leverage. Hogan releases outside to get on the CB's toes to threaten him. He does this as he uses a "dead leg" release which threatens the CB, shortens stride and keeps his break foot forward allowing for a quick break. Hogan breaks inside while wiping away the inside arm of the CB, creating a ton of room inside but he is targeted. Hogan (outside slot, No. 2 WR) runs a slot fade vs the press-man corner with slight outside leverage. Hogan stems outside while attacking the CB's leverage while also "short striding" which allows for a quick break in either direction. Hogan breaks outside while attempting to chop the outside arm but he isn't able to land the chop at the midpoint of the arm (elbow), making it mostly ineffective. The CB is able to keep his hand on and stay overtop of the route (at that point). Hogan pushes off with his left, allowing him room to the outside and he creates some room vertically. Hogan continues to work vertically while tracking the ball, continually fighting with his left arm to gain position on the CB (both vertically and allowing him to work to the ball). The ball is thrown, Hogan pushes off at the last second and is able to bring the ball in while the CB pulls his left arm down drawing the defensive pass interference. Last play of the review, which displays some more smarts and reliability of Hogan (top WR with a reduced split). Hogan breaks inside running a snag route after he breaks he drifts inside as he waits to see if Brady is going to hit him. Hogan sees Brady in trouble and his internal clock goes off. Hogan sees the linebacker underneath with inside leverage and knows the high CB will be working at an outside angle, which will make it more difficult for him to cut back outside. He makes the catch and gets some YAC, picking up a solid 18-yard gain. Chris Hogan’s strengths and weaknesses: Strengths: Decent size at 6-foot-1, 220 pounds Willing blocker Crisp route runner Good square cuts Shortens strides plus hop steps before top of route Variety of releases including stretch, get evens, foot fires, short strides and dead legs Sinks hips into break Footwork in route breaks Good double moves Chest over toes in breaks Gets on CB's toes and attacks leverage Uses hands well in phase Finds soft spots in defenses Holds ground in stems Solid hands Uses peek technique Uses bam steps Weaknesses: Injuries over the last few years Speed Explosiveness Limited YAC Not going to win 50/50 balls Would like to see him attack ball Catch radius Body control Would like to see him maintain speed in square cuts