New York Jets 2019: Ranking the 53-man roster — #33 Demaryius Thomas

The New York Jets season is over so it’s time to evaluate the 53-man roster. Let’s continue this daily ranking with #33, wide receiver Demaryius Thomas.

New York Jets wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and head coach Adam Gase know each other from their days in Denver when the quarterback whisperer” created Super Bowl magic with Peyton Manning. The latter, you may recall, convinced Christopher Johnson to hire Gase in the first place.

The Jets had not traded with Patriots since before the Bill Belichick debacle; their last personnel swap involved Bill Parcells’ egregious “poison pill” signing of Curtis Martin. So when Joe Douglas traded a sixth-round pick for the veteran flanker, the New England coach ate the new GM’s lunch.

Thomas should have been a major upgrade over IR list regular Quincy Enunwa. But the 22nd pick of the 2010 Draft with nearly 10,000 career reception yards is clearly no longer the player he once was.

The Georgia Tech star coming off late 2017 Achilles surgery, signed this past offseason with New England to play catch with Tom Brady. But DT pulled his hamstring and sat out the majority of the preseason — an injury that lingered his entire Jets season.

Demaryius’ 2019 stats included a solid 36 receptions for 433 yards. But he got targeted 55 times, meaning he either whiffed or did not give his all on 20 catchable throws over 11 active games.

The New York Jets GM faces difficult decisions with Thomas. It’s no secret that the Gase-Darnold offense requires game-changing receivers on par with Demaryius 2015.

So there are big decisions to make regarding Robby Anderson‘s impending departure, Enunwa’s spinal stenosis, Vyncint Smith‘s and Braxton Berrios‘ potential, upcoming draft and free agency — and Coach Gase’s fond memories of a 32-year-old, injury-ravaged deep threat.

#53 Trumaine Johnson    #52 Ryan Kalil     #51 Kelechi Osemele     #50 Quinnen Williams   #49 Chuma Edoga    #48 Frankie Luvu    #47 Sam Ficken     #46 Nate Hairston     #45 Brandon Shell     #44  Jordan Willis    #43 Vyncint Smith    #42 Kyron Brown    #41 Bilal Powell   #40 Maurice Canady     #39 Darryl Roberts   #38 Harvey Langi   #37 Tom Compton   #36 Trevon Wesco   #35 Daniel Brown   #34 Matthias Farley