RB Chris Johnson (NY Jets)

Last year Johnson significantly declined in efficiency, averaging just 3.86 yards per carry, including just 1.84 yards per carry after contact and ranked 3rd worst in the NFL in elusive rating. He should become more efficient this season as he’ll see a smaller workload, splitting carries with power back Chris Ivory (probably in the neighborhood of 180-220 carries). He could also be healthier after dealing with significant knee problems all last season. However, he’s also going into his age 29 season with 2014 career touches so he’s not getting any better any time soon. Injury problems could become commonplace for him and there’s already some concern about a potentially arthritic knee. He’s on the decline and the Jets’ run blocking is significantly worse than the Titans. He shouldn’t be highly drafted anymore.

210 carries for 860 yards, 5 total touchdowns, 35 catches for 280 yards (144 pts standard)

RB Chris Ivory (NY Jets)

Chris Ivory probably won’t have 182 carries like he had last season and he’s useless on passing downs with 5 career catches, but he’ll still play a big role as a between the tackles power back and he’s averaged 4.89 yards per carry for his career, including 4.56 yards per carry last season. He’ll get all the short yardage and goal line looks. The issue is the Jets won’t be around the goal line very often.

160 carries for 720 yards, 5 total touchdowns, 5 catches for 40 yards (106 pts standard)

WR Eric Decker (NY Jets)

Eric Decker is going to get a massive downgrade at the quarterback position going from Peyton Manning to Geno Smith/Michael Vick. The last time he played with a quarterback other than Peyton Manning, he averaged just 1.28 yards per route run. That was in 2011 with the combination of Tim Tebow and Kyle Orton, which is comparable to what Decker will be dealing with in New York. Decker will also see more of the defense’s attention and, even though he’ll be the #1 receiver, he might not necessarily get more targets, simply because the Jets don’t pass as much as the Broncos do. Decker has had 120 and 135 targets over the past 2 seasons respectively, an average of 127.5 targets per season. That would have been 26.6% of the Jets’ 480 pass attempts last season.

That being said, it’s unfair to suggest that he’ll just go back to his 2011 level of production, when he caught 44 passes for 612 yards and 8 touchdowns. While much of his increased production since then is due to the arrival of Peyton Manning, he’s still an improved player over when he was in his 2nd year in the league in 2011, after being drafted in the 3rd round in 2010. After averaging 86 catches for 1176 yards and 11 touchdowns over the past 2 seasons, Decker will probably have between 60-70 catches for 800-900 yards and 6-8 touchdowns next season.

67 catches for 820 yards and 6 touchdowns (118 pts standard)

WR Jeremy Kerley (NY Jets)

Jeremy Kerley was the Jets’ leading receiver last season with 43 catches for 523 yards and 3 touchdowns. Kerley had that production in 12 games and in 2012 he led the team with 56 catches for 827 yards and 2 touchdowns in 16 games. Kerley has averaged 1.77 yards per route run over the past 2 seasons, despite poor quarterback play. There’s not much upside here though, as Kerley is the #2 receiver on one of the worst passing offenses in the league.

48 catches for 700 yards and 4 touchdowns (94 pts standard)

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]