The New York Jets and New England Patriots will do battle during Thursday Night Football this week. Amidst all of the interesting storylines comes questions regarding the Jets’ starting wide receiver trio.
After two weeks of lackluster offensive performances, are any of the Jets’ big three (Garrett Wilson, Mike Williams, Allen Lazard) worth starting in your fantasy football lineups?
Which Jets WR Should You Start Against the Patriots?
Garrett Wilson’s Fantasy Outlook
Impatient fantasy managers are looking for more from Wilson in short order, and while I understand that sentiment, the breadcrumbs for an explosion have been laid.
2023: 25.6% below fantasy expectations
2024: 23.9% below fantasy expectations
In both games this season, Aaron Rodgers has hooked up with Wilson on a high-communication play that typically takes more than a single (disjointed) offseason to develop. He’s turned 17 targets into just 21.7 PPR points up to this point, but you drafted Wilson as your WR1 with the hopes that he would be a top-10 producer in December, not September.
This may not be a get-right spot (albeit in vastly different situations, Wilson has just 94 receiving yards total over his past three games against the Pats), though benching him is outright irresponsible due to the concentration of this offense and your belief in his talent.
Target share for the Wilson/Hall tandem:
- Week 1: 58.6%
- Week 2: 48.3%
A pair of Jets were drafted as elite fantasy options this summer, and after two weeks, I have no issue maintaining my belief that they will finish the 2024 season as elite fantasy options.
Allen Lazard’s Fantasy Outlook
I’m old enough to remember when Lazard had a big game and was a popular add by fantasy managers chasing that production.
The 6-89-2 stat line in Week 1 was cute, but his 2-11-0 disaster against the Tennessee Titans this past Sunday is probably a little more predictive as to what we can expect moving forward.
I don’t believe that Breece Hall and Wilson’s target share is going to fade, and Mike Williams saw his snap share increase from 18.4% in Week 1 to 64.3% last week.
This is a slow offense that will rely on efficiency over volume. Counting on a second pass catcher in this offense scares me, and I don’t think Lazard is merely that moving forward.
Mike Williams’ Fantasy Outlook
I stand by my preseason prediction that there will be a time and a place for Williams to slide into your Flex spot (deeper formats), but we aren’t there yet. He was on a very specific snap-count restriction to open the season and, true to reporting, the Jets are lengthening his leash much the way they did with Hall off of his ACL injury last season.
Williams isn’t a Flex option this week, and I don’t think he’s a must-roster until New York’s offense finds its groove (though I’m still stashing in leagues with deeper benches). Through two weeks, the Jets are actually averaging fewer red-zone trips this season (2.0) than they did during the mess that was 2024 (2.2).
Still, I think you’re going to want this scoring equity down the stretch (Dolphins-Jaguars-Rams-Bills to close the fantasy season).