4 standouts and 1 dud from the NY Jets' final OTA practice of the spring

The NY Jets held their final of 10 OTA practices on Friday, officially bringing an end to the team's spring workouts. With mandatory minicamp canceled, the next time this Jets team will reconvene is training camp in July.

That means the Jets will have approximately six weeks off to rest up and prepare for a long and grueling NFL season. Jets head coach Robert Saleh told reporters that he canceled minicamp in part due to the excellent progress the players made this spring.

Only four of the Jets' 10 OTA practices were open to the media, but a number of players managed to make quite the impression during that time — for better or worse.

For the sake of this article, we're specifically going to be focusing on the Jets player who made an impact, whether positive or negative, in Friday's practice. Let's take a look at some notable standouts.

Standout: Garrett Wilson, WR, NY Jets

Garrett Wilson was likely the star of OTAs for the Jets. The former first-round pick has wasted little time establishing chemistry with new quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers himself was extremely complimentary of Wilson when speaking to reporters after practice. The future Hall-of-Fame quarterback remarked how Wilson seemingly has at least one 'wow' moment every day of practice.

That was the case again on Friday. In 7-on-7 drills, Rodgers fired a laser to Wilson on the sideline past nickel cornerback Michael Carter II. Rodgers was looking in the opposite direction for 95 percent of the play, only to turn his head at the last minute and connect with Wilson, who dragged his feet on the sideline to match the catch.

It was an equally impressive catch as it was a throw and further evidence of the special chemistry developing between Rodgers and Wilson. The Jets could be more excited about the potential of this duo in 2023.

Standout: Zach Wilson, QB, NY Jets

It's been a bit of a rollercoaster for Zach Wilson this spring, but the former second-overall pick finished out OTAs with an improved performance from his previous open-media OTA practice.

Wilson went 6-of-8 in 11-on-11 drills, primarily working with the first-team offense, and also finished 7-of-8 in 7-on-7 drills. In total, Wilson completed 13 of his 16 pass attempts, with neither incompletion coming as a result of quarterback error.

Two of Wilson's incompletions resulted from excellent coverage by the likes of D.J. Reed and Bryce Hall, while the other was due to a drop. This was very likely Wilson's most consistent and accurate performance of OTAs.

On top of that, Wilson spoke to reporters for the first time this offseason and said all the right things. Friday was a good day for Wilson, on and off the field. A strong finish to OTAs after a couple of inconsistent performances.

Dud: Zack Kuntz, TE, NY Jets

Jets tight end C.J. Uzomah exited Friday's practice early with a leg injury, and with Tyler Conklin already nursing a minor injury of his own, that left Jeremy Ruckert and rookie seventh-round pick Zack Kuntz to take on the majority of first-team reps.

Ruckert had a fine practice with few notable moments. Instead, it was Kuntz who stood out — for all the wrong reasons.

The Old Dominion product hauled in a pass during red-zone drills, only to have it punched out of his hands by safety Ashtyn Davis for a would-be fumble. A little later in practice, Kuntz dropped an open pass from Zach Wilson. It was his second drop of the day.

The Jets realize that Kuntz is still a major work in progress, and Friday's practice was evidence of that. His development this summer will be interesting to watch unfold.

Standout: Jerome Kapp, WR, NY Jets

Every year in OTAs, there seems to be at least one undrafted player who begins to make waves. This year, one of those players is former Kutztown standout Jerome Kapp.

Kapp was one of just two players signed following a successful tryout at the Jets' rookie minicamp, and he's quickly made a strong first impression. Jets X Factor's Robby Sabo even likened him to Jets legend Wayne Chrebet.

Kapp was everywhere during Friday's practice, hauling in four catches in total. He didn't make any highlight reel grabs, but he showed off his strong hands and impressive route-running.

It's going to be difficult for Kapp to crack the 53-man roster, but he has an opportunity to stick around if he carries over his strong performances into the summer.

Standout: Jason Brownlee, WR, NY Jets

Kapp wasn't the only undrafted wide receiver to make an impact on Friday. Perhaps the Jets' most notable undrafted signing, Jason Brownlee made perhaps the play of the day with a one-handed grab in the end zone on a pass from Zach Wilson.

It was enough for Brownlee to earn a shoutout from Rodgers when the four-time MVP was speaking to the media after practice.

ESPN's Rich Cimini highlighted Brownlee as one UDFA to watch following his impressive performance this spring. It should be noted that the $246,000 the Jets guaranteed him is the fourth most any undrafted player received this year.

The Jets clearly have high hopes for Brownlee. Don't be surprised if he pushes Denzel Mims for that sixth wide receiver spot, especially seeing as though Mims was not present for OTAs this spring.