Ah, what could have been? Coming off the abysmal 2020 season of watching Adam Gase give Rich Kotite a run for his money as the worst head coach in New York Jets history.

A new GM who came in to finally right the ship and in his first full offseason fires his head coach and hires another defensive guy. The best player on the team is an unhappy box safety who is sent packing to Seattle to complain in the Pacific Northwest. The idea of another top five quarterback coming in.

But the lone bright spot, was a second-round receiver out of Baylor who looked like he could really have something special if given the chance. Denzel Mims is another in the long list of “what could have been” for the New York Jets.

Don’t get me wrong. Mims was no world beater. He wasn’t Calvin Johnson or Randy Moss. But he had some plays that certainly made you think he could be a force in the league. He wound up with 23 receptions for 357 yards with Sam Darnold as his QB.

The next two years saw a new coaching staff that didn’t think nearly as highly of him and a quarterback in Zach Wilson who seemed to only like to complete passes to New England Patriot defenders.

Now the Mims era in New York ends with a whimper. After requesting a trade 11 months ago, Mims finally gets his wish on the first day of training camp. He was sent to the Detroit Lions along with a 2025 seventh round pick in exchange for a 2025 sixth round pick.

But even at that miniscule price, if he doesn’t make the Lion’s 53-man roster, he costs them nothing. Essentially, he gets cut indirectly by the Jets via the Lions.

The problem is not that the Jets might have missed on another player in the draft. The problem isn’t even that they missed on another high pick in the draft. The problem is that the player never had a chance.

Recent picks aside (yes, we all know how good the 2022 draft was for the Jets) the Jets continually missed on so many guys for so long that it was impossible to develop any players that needed it. If the player wasn’t NFL ready, like Alijah Vera-Tucker or Sauce Gardner for examples, they would simply be chalked up as another Jets bust. Draft their replacement and move on.

Developing players is just as important as choosing the right ones. It can be impossible to develop players when there is constant change to scheme or philosophy. The Jets were marred in change for too long that guys like Denzel Mims never had a chance to reach their full potential.

Mims suffered through Sam Darnold, Joe Flacco, Zach Wilson, Mike White and Chris Streveler to name a few and is finally being shipped off as a future Hall of Famer comes to town. Mims deserved better. He deserved a chance.

Maybe he is a bust. Maybe he is no better than the paltry eight catches for 133 yards he had in 2021. But the Jets were never going to find out.

Hopefully with Aaron Rodgers at the helm and some stability in the front office, the players that need to develop will get their chance. But remember, they are one season of missing the playoffs in a dominant AFC from likely cleaning house and starting all over again.

End could be near for Jets Denzel Mims

Ah, 2020. A terrible year by most standards for a variety of different reasons. It wasn’t a banner year for the New York Jets either. It was the second and final year for Adam Gase. The Jets finished 2-14 and inexplicably beat the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns to earn themselves the 2nd overall […]