New York Post, Sunday, October 25, 2020nypost.comTHE BIG DIGGS:The Bills pulled offa blockbuster trade for
widereceiverStefon Diggsthis offseason, and it ispaying
dividends already. Diggs leads the AFC with555 receiving
yards and has caught three touchdownpasses. He had eight
catches for 86yards against the Jets inWeek 1 and has
gotten better since then. He has three 100-yard
games and isaveraging 13.2yards per catch.
“I mean there’sa re ason why in four of
their wins, they had all of those explosive
plays, and in the two losses, they didn’t,”
Jets coachAdam Gasesaid. “He’s madea
huge difference for them.”2
COMPLETE CORP:The Jets may have their starting wide
receivers on the field for the first time this season against
the Bills.RookieDenzel Mimsis ready to make his debut
after missing the first six games with hamstring injuries.
He will joinBreshadPerriman, whoreturned to the lineup
last week after missing threeweeks. The
only question mark isJamison Crowder, who
injured his groin in practice onWednesday
and was downgraded to doubtful Saturday.
If the Jets can get Crowder on the field,
the offense will look more like what they
envisioned this offseason.3
LINE DANCING:The Jets will have their fifth different
offensive-line combination in seven games.Left guardAlex
Lewis(shoulder) is out, withJosh Andrewsstarting for him.
RookieMekhi Bectonwill beback at left tackle, which
should help things. The line struggled lastweek against
the Dolphins. QuarterbackJoe Flacco
got beat up in the game. The Bills have a
strong defensive front, presenting another
challenge for the Jets line.
“It’s not one player playing poorly, it’s
us playing together asa unit,” offensive
coordinatorDowell Lo ggainssaid.4
A LITTLE
HELP
HERE
LITTLELITTLELITTLE
Darnold,
Allen not
surrounded
by same
level of
talent
But here’ s a critical differe nce:
McDermott was alrea dy in place and
had alrea dy broken the Bills’17-year play-
off drought the season beforeBeane trad-
ed up for Allen.
Darnoldplayed his rookieseason under
Todd Bowles and overmatched offensive
co ordinato r Je re my Ba te s bef or e Jo hnson
summonedGase (and OC Dowell Log-
ga ins) in anatte mptto ge t his franchise
quarterback to take flight.
McDermott fired OC RickDennison
priorto the 2018draf t so Allenco uld be
nurtured as a rookieby highly regard ed
coordinator Brian Daboll.
(Murphy’s Law —if anything cango
wrong, it will— was only getting started
for Darnold and theJets.)
At the importantcenter position,Beane
made MitchMorse (fouryears, $44.5 mil-
lion) the highest-paidcent er in the NFL
in 2019free agency. Spencer Long started
13 gamesfo r the Je ts in2018. Jona tt hon
Harrison started 10 gamesin 2019. Beane
draf ted offensive linemanCodyFord,currently the rightguard, in thesecond
ro und in 2019 and signed starting right
tackle Daryl Williams,a player Beane
and McDermott knew fromtheirdays at
Carolina, in 2020 free agency. Maccagnan
draf ted tackle ChumaEdoga,a backup, in
the third round in 2019 and,of course , left
tackleMekhi Becton with the11th pickof
the 2020draft.
Allen’s runningback asa rookiewas
a fa ded LeSeanMcCoy. Beane replaced
himwith ageless Frank Gore (7 22 rushing
yards, 12-124-1 receiving), 2019 third-round
pick Devin Singletary (152-775-2 TDs rush-
ing and 29-194-2 TDsreceiving asa rookie,
71-270 1 TD rushing and18-135 receiving
thisseason)and 2020 third-round pick
ZackMoss(22-58 rushing, 3-16-1 receiving
in three games off the bench).
Darnold’s main runningback asa rookie
was Isaiah Crowell (685yards rushing, six
TDs, 21receptions).Then Bell arrived and
was a rusty square peg in a round hole
(245-789-3rushing, 66-461-1 receiving) and
ha d 19 -for- 74 rushing and 3-for-39 re ce iv-ing intwo gamesthisseason before he
was releasedand joinedthe Chiefs.
The Jets ar e hopefulDarnold canreturn
from hisshoulderinjury against the Bills
with Gore and La’MichalPe rine , a fo urth-
round pick,behindhim.
Allen’s startingrece iv er s as a rookie
were Kelvin Benjamin and ZayJones. Not
good enough.
Darnold’s receiver s as a rookiewere the
young Robby Anderson, Quincy Enunwa
and JermaineKearse. Not good enough.
Enunwa had showed enoughpromise
for Maccagnanto give him a four-year, $36
milliondeal.The receiver suffere d a career-
ending neckinjury in the 2019 opener.
Though theJets signedWRJamison
Crowder in 2019free agency, theBills
addedWRsJohn Brown, a deepthrea t,
and Cole Beasley. Beane labeledBeasley,
“a quarterback’s best friend.” Maccagnan
had signedWRTerrelle Pryor (14-235-2)
and KR/WR Andre Roberts(10- 79-1) in
2018 (before re leasingPryor in October
witha groin injury), andsignedWRJoshBellamy (2-20) in 2019. Robertsis now
almostex clusivelya returnerfor the Bills.
Bu t the single biggest dif fere nce-mak-
ing move, which helped Allenand signi-
fied the Bills’ win-now aggressiveness,
came thisof fs easonwh en Be ane trad ed
the 22nd-overall draft pick,fifth- and
sixth-rounders and a 2021 fo urth-ro under
fo r WRSt ef on Diggs (26-403-2 thissea-
son) anda 2020seventh-rounder.
Douglaslet Anderson boltto the Panthers
(28-377-1 this season)and signedBreshad
Pe rrimanfor $2 millionles s to re pl ac e him
and drafted WRDenzel Mims in thesec-
ondro und.Pe rriman (9-91)re turnedlast
week from an ankle sprain and Mims (ham-
strings) will make his NFL debut Sunday.
Douglas had promisedDarnold’s par-
entshe would protect theirboy, and draft-
ing Bectonhelps.But his overhaulingof
the offensive line isn’tfinished.
The sad reality for Darnold isthere is
no way of knowing right now whetherhe
will see its finish.
[email protected]Ste Serb
Sean
McDermott
Stefon
Diggs
Josh
Allen
Jets notes/ P. 61