Legendary New York Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet shared his thoughts on the team’s current stable of pass-catchers.
You’d be hard-pressed to find anybody who knows and understands the game of football better than a former NFL player. That’s why, when it comes to evaluating what we’ve seen so far from the New York Jets in OTAs, former receiver Wayne Chrebet is a voice you’ll definitely want to pay attention to.
On the latest episode of The Underdog Jets Podcast featuring Chrebet and Robby Sabo, Chrebet walked us through what he’s seen so far from receivers in Jets OTAs.
In his OTA notes released yesterday, Sabo describes, in detail, a huge play from Zach Wilson to fellow rookie Elijah Moore down the sideline. The throw was made even more impressive by the fact that Bryce Hall was solid in coverage. This moment reminded Chrebet of a practice technique the Jets utilized during his days with the team.
“Back [when I played], they put a line on the field that’s maybe five or six yards from the sideline,” Chrebet said. “You want to be on that route and lean in to make sure you’re inside that box.”
This technique Chrebet described allows for the receiver to drift to the ball and not end up out of bounds when the quarterback throws it over their shoulder.
“And that’s exactly what [Moore] did. He leaned on the guy, he restacked him, and it was like a teardrop from Zach Wilson right over the top.”
But Moore isn’t the only slot receiver the Jets legend has been impressed with so far.
“[Braxton] Berrios showed what he could do last year and it’s a great advantage for him to be healthy at this time of year. … If Berrios ups his game and shows what he can do on top of last year, maybe that’s the new inside pairing — Berrios and Moore.”
Berrios has indeed been playing very well in OTAs, looking like he might have the most receptions of anybody thus far.
“Maybe it shows that [Jamison] Crowder is more expendable than we thought,” remarked Chrebet.
Another receiver who has impressed so far is free-agent addition Keelan Cole, who signed a one-year, $5.5 million contract with the Jets back in April. Cole was never the number one option in Jacksonville, but he’s always been a reliable starter.
“He’s made a lot of plays and contributed to that offense down in Jacksonville,” said Chrebet. “If you see the highlights on him and Corey [Davis], maybe they don’t have the number of catches, but they make some pretty spectacular plays.”
Chrebet believes fans will be pleasantly surprised this season by guys like Cole, who are lesser-known names but are good locker room guys and quality players.
