Welcome back to another New York Jets film breakdown. Last week, we took a closer look at running back Elijah McGuire, before that we broke down receiver Robby Anderson. This week we are going to focus on 2017 rookie receivers Chad Hansen and ArDarius Stewart. Before the season, we did this film breakdown on Hansen and this one on Stewart. Today, we’ll look at what they did in limited roles this season and what their roles could be going forward…

2017 Statistics

15 games played, 342 offensive snaps

9 receptions, 18 targets (50%), 94 yards, 10.4 YPC, 0 touchdowns

PFF WR Rating: – 78.2

1 receptions of 20 yards or longer: (50% catch rate)

17 yards after the catch

39 routes from the slot

0 dropped passes

Yards Per Route Run: 0.41

Stewart

15 games played, 231 offensive snaps

6 receptions, 12 targets (50%), 82 yards, 13.7 YPC, 0 touchdowns

7 carries, 23 yards, 3.9 YPC

PFF WR Rating: – 72.2

2 Receptions of 20 yards or longer: (67% catch rate)

18 yards after the catch

25 routes from the slot

0 dropped passes

Yards Per Route Run: 0.79

Positive Glimpses

After starting the season behind him on the depth chart, Hansen gradually moved into a bigger week to week role than Stewart. Hansen was also used much more as a traditional receiver than Stewart, who was used frequently in a H-Back type role that involved him going in motion as a blocker, runner or decoy.

In the second half of the year, Hansen showed encouraging flashes when it came to finding a soft spot working against the zone. Despite only having 9 catches, he converted 5 third downs for the team.

Hansen also made a pair of flashy, athletic catches that demonstrated his ability outside the numbers despite limited opportunities. Watching him high point and attack the football like he did versus New Orleans was hopefully a sign of things to come for a player who will likely spend most of his time working outside the numbers.

Stewart did not get many opportunities down the field but similar to Hansen, he showed glimpses of being able to make exceptional plays on the football, most notably with this third down conversion versus Miami and this deep post route from the slot versus New England.

He also showed flashes of the physicality that was a big part of his game at Alabama as a blocker.

Concerning Moments

One of Stewart’s most noted traits coming out of school was his ability to create yards after the catch and to be a strong, decisive runner with the football. The Jets gave him a handful of carries this season and wide receiver screens, along with testing him at kick returner but he struggled to make people miss or create any type of big plays. Stewart only averaged 3.9 yards per carry, didn’t register any broken tackles and had 19.2 yards per kick return before losing his job. By the end of the season, he was losing offensive reps to JoJo Natson.

2018 Projection

We will learn how the Jets feel about Stewart and Hansen’s potential by their decisions in free agency around bringing Jermaine Kearse back and potentially making other external additions. As the depth chart stands now, both are clearly behind Kearse, Quincy Enunwa and Robby Anderson. There are concerns about both Enunwa and Anderson’s availability next year but if the team is confident about Stewart and Hansen assuming bigger roles, there shouldn’t be a scramble to make major additions to the receiver depth chart or even a need to bring Kearse back at 5 million per year. Hopefully, Stewart is used in a more conventional role next season and Hansen keeps developing as an outside the numbers threat but as it stands today, I wouldn’t bet on either catching more than 25 passes next season or being players who regularly see 30+ snaps each week.

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Photo Credit: NewYorkJets.com

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