New York Jets: Five important players for 2018 season not named Darnold

Robby Anderson

Robby Anderson had a career year in 2017, posting 941 yards and seven touchdowns on 63 catches. He would have gone over 1,000 yards if it weren’t for the poor quarterback play after Josh McCown went down. After arriving on the scene in 2016 as an undrafted free agent from Temple, Anderson has become one of the more explosive young receivers in the league.

This type of player will be of great help to Sam Darnold. Darnold likes to push the ball down the field. Last year at USC, 20.2% of his pass attempts were longer than 20 yards in the air. So he pushed it down the field approximately once out of every five passes. He completed 37.2% of those passes. Aaron Rodgers completed 36.4% of his deep passes just to give you an idea.

Anderson’s play will be of the utmost importance in 2018, provided he can stay on the field. We don’t need to review his legal problems. Jets fans know them all too well. He is still facing a potential suspension. Anderson must clean up his act and do so immediately. All of his talent will not matter if he can’t stay out of trouble. If he CAN stay out of trouble, he will be a major factor for the Jets in 2018.