Making the case for the Jets signing Allen Hurns

The New York Jets can continue their impressive offseason by adding wide receiver Allen Hurns to the mix.

General manager Mike Maccagnan has been on a tear this offseason, making signings to improve obvious areas of weakness on the New York Jets, and adding important depth where necessary. He can continue this streak with a signing that would likely be a typical shrewd, high-upside, Maccagnan move. Without missing a beat, news quickly broke that Allen Hurns already had a visit scheduled with the Jets.

We’ve seen Maccagnan do this many times in the past. A player’s value is down, whether due to injury, or a dip in production, and Maccagnan swoops in with a shrewd, prove-it contract, betting on the upside of the player. Those moves, such as the acquisition of Kelvin Beachum, a player with a concerning injury history, have tended to work out well in Maccagnan’s favor, and to the overall benefit of the team.

So, how does this apply to Hurns? The upside is clear. Hurns is young, only 26 years old, and would fit the youth movement that has been so important to this team’s revitalization. He’s tall, providing a big body, and large catch radius for whoever is the Jets quarterback this year, and in the future. To top it off, he’s only two seasons removed from a 1,031 yard, 10 TD season.

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Now, for the value. In Hurns’ last two seasons, he has only totaled a combined 961 yards and five TDs, a far cry from his 2015 season.

Part of this was due to an injury he suffered during the 2017 season which cost him five games. There are two other factors in this dip in production: 1) Hurns had an inexplicably low catch percentage in 2016 (46.1), and 2) the overall direction of the Jaguars offense changed with the drafting of Leonard Fournette.

This saw the Jaguars drop to the lowest passing percentage in the league in 2017 (50.51 percent, according to Team Rankings).

Suffice to say, Hurns needs to rebuild his value, which likely means he can be had at a cheaper price than his past production would call for. This is Maccagnan’s favorite type of signing. He would fit right in on Wall Street… buy the dip, sell the peak.

At this point, we should call these kinds of low-risk, high-upside signings, “The Macc Special”, as he employs them so often, and to good effect. Getting Hurns on the dotted line would be no exception. Adding Hurns to a receiving corps that already features starters Robby Anderson, Jermaine Kearse, and Quincy Enunwa would make for a very dangerous quartet.

Get it done, Macc.