The New York Jets have made their first free agent addition to a fledgling wide receiver unit. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, the Jets have agreed to a deal with former Los Angeles Rams wideout Tyler Johnson.
A former fifth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, Johnson has bounced between five NFL stints, spending time in Tampa Bay (2020-21), Houston (2022), back in Tampa Bay (2022), Las Vegas (2023), and the Rams (2023-24). In 49 career games (8 starts), he has caught 76-of-116 targets for 828 yards and four touchdowns.
Over his first two seasons in Tampa Bay, Johnson played 31 games with six starts and 876 offensive snaps. He posted career-highs of 36 receptions and 360 yards in 2021.
After struggling to get on the field from 2022-23 (3 games, 65 offensive snaps), Johnson re-emerged as a rotational player for Los Angeles in 2024, playing 15 games (2 starts) and logging 361 offensive snaps. He caught 26-of-41 targets for 291 yards and one touchdown, adding five receptions for 45 yards and three first downs across two playoff games.
The Jets’ wide receiver unit now appears as follows:
- Garrett Wilson
- Allen Lazard
- Xavier Gipson
- Malachi Corley
- Tyler Johnson
- Malik Taylor
- Brandon Smith
- Easop Winston
- Ontaria Wilson
There is more work to be done, but Johnson adds an interesting flier to the room. At 6-foot-1 and 208 pounds, Johnson is best known for providing a big-bodied target over the middle of the field.
In 2024, Johnson caught 19-of-24 short targets (0-9 air yards) for 217 yards, securing 3-of-4 contested targets in that part of the field. He produced 9.0 yards per target on short targets, which ranked second-best among wide receivers with at least 20 short targets. Only Khalil Shakir of the Bills fared better.
Throughout his career, Johnson has been outstanding in contested situations, grabbing 12-of-17 contested targets (70.4%). All 12 contested receptions came under 20 yards downfield, and eight of them came under 10 yards downfield.
The limitations in Johnson’s game include his route running, lack of deep production, and his blocking.
Johnson has averaged just 1.04 yards per route run in his career, which is much lower than the 1.49 league average for wide receivers in 2024. This indicates his separation is too insufficient to consistently attract targets. However, he had a career-high of 1.46 yards per route run in 2024, nearly matching the positional average.
Johnson is yet to prove he can threaten defenses downfield, catching only two deep passes (20+ air yards) in 49 games. His blocking is also suspect, as he’s earned a career run-blocking grade of 47.0 at Pro Football Focus.
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