Jets WR Robby Anderson primed for breakout season

The New York Jets have a budding star in wide receiver Robby Anderson, and he should be fully unleashed in 2019.

It’s not often that undrafted free agents become No. 1 receivers in the NFL, but that’s exactly what the Jets have in Anderson, who joined the team after the 2016 NFL draft after a pair of productive seasons at Temple.

Despite not being drafted, Anderson took full advantage of the Jets’ skinny depth chart at wide receiver, making an immediate impact in his rookie season. He started eight games, catching 42 passes for 587 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

A full-time starter in 2017, Anderson posted career-highs with 63 receptions for 941 yards and seven touchdowns. His overall numbers dipped a bit in 2018 (50 receptions, 752 yards, six touchdowns), but he still averaged a career-best 15 yards per catch.

Those are all impressive numbers for a player who was a mere afterthought on draft weekend, but Anderson’s best football is still ahead of him. After signing his restricted free agent tender with the Jets this offseason, Anderson is primed for his best season yet under new head coach Adam Gase.

Wesley Walker, one of the best pass-catchers in Jets history and a member of the team’s Ring of Honor, has high expectations for Anderson in his fourth season, thanks in large part to how Gase’s offense will deploy him:

As a receiver, one of the most frustrating things is when you know you have the talent to do things and sometimes coaches don’t see what you can do. As a coach, you have to figure out what those guys can do and fit it into your offense, but more importantly, you have to know what they can do in order to bring that out. That’s the big question. And one of the biggest factors is health, staying healthy during the regular season.

I believe Robby Anderson has the ability [to be successful], I love Quincy (Enunwa) and with the addition of Coach Gase, it should be awesome. But again, it’s coaching and whether they can get them to where they need to be and I hope that’s going to happen this year.

With a young quarterback in Sam Darnold who now has a year of NFL starting experience under his belt, and dynamic additions to the offense like running back Le’Veon Bell and slot receiver Jamison Crowder, all signs are pointing to Anderson breaking 1,000 yards for the first time in his career.