Garrett Wilson's 'wow' factor catches Aaron Rodgers' attention

Jets receiver Garrett Wilson makes a catch during organized team... — Jets receiver Garrett Wilson makes a catch during organized team activities at the team's practice facility in Florham Park, N.J., on Friday. Credit: /Ed Murray

By Al Iannazzoneal.iannazzone@newsday.com Al_IannazzoneUpdated June 13, 2023

Aaron Rodgers was the star of the Jets’ offseason practices, but Garrett Wilson was a close second.

The second-year receiver looks primed to take the next step in his development, which should speed up with Rodgers throwing Wilson the football.

“I love Garrett,” Rodgers said. “I mean, awesome, awesome young kid. The whole world in front of him. He’s got all the talent and ability. You need your best players to be the best people on your team. He’s definitely one of them. Love spending time with him, love just watching him.

“There’s at least one time at practice he does something, you’re kind of looking back at [the coaches] and everybody’s looking back going, ‘Wow.’ So, that’s exciting.”

The Rodgers-Wilson connection is just one of many things that has the Jets and their fan base excited about the 2023 season.

Wilson was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2022 after making 83 catches for 1,103 yards and four touchdowns. He did it with four quarterbacks throwing him the football — Joe Flacco, Zach Wilson, Mike White and Chris Streveler.

Rodgers is in a different class.

The Packers have had five different players record 1,000 receiving yards — a total of 13 times — since Rodgers became their quarterback in 2008. Garrett Wilson had just the Jets’ third 1,000-yard receiving season in that time period.

Rodgers-to-Wilson is already being hailed as the second coming of Rodgers-to-Davante Adams.

“I think that [Rodgers] can make me better if I played,” Jets receivers coach Zach Azzanni said. “I think that’s going to make everyone better. Garrett’s going to benefit from that. Aaron’s going to benefit from it too.

“Aaron having Davante that whole time and now he’s got a very similar type player in Garrett. Plus Aaron’s been in the league 18 years. He’s seen every coverage, he’s seen every leverage of defender, he’s seen all the plays, watching him help Garrett with those things have been pretty cool. He’s going to help Garrett for sure.”

In many ways, the OTA practices are almost like a passing camp. There’s no pads, a lot of 7-on-7 periods and Wilson looked impossible to defend in the parts that were open to the media.

Wilson made difficult catches in traffic, leaping up over defenders to come down with the ball. He turned low and throws behind him into great catches. He’d twist his body around to grab the ball and showed great hands.

Azzanni has been very impressed with Wilson’s “special awareness” and his ability to get himself open. Azzanni, who coached in Denver previously, compared Wilson to Jerry Jeudy and Calvin Ridley.

“They’re very similar in how they move their body, how they can contort,” Azzanni said. “It’s kind of freaky. There’s not many of those kinds of guys. They’re not big, they’re not small. They’re in that medium range. But their body control and acceleration is elite.”

Adams has been the player Wilson has been compared to the most since the Jets acquired Rodgers and Wilson is honored by this comparison. He called Adams “my favorite receiver of all time.”

Rodgers said there are similarities between the two, particularly the way Wilson gets in and out of his breaks. Rodgers also said he thinks Wilson can become the best receiver in football at some point, but he still believes Adams is the best.

Randall Cobb — owner of one of the 13 1,000-yard receiving seasons courtesy of Rodgers’ arm in Green Bay — also sees the comparison between his old teammate and new one.

“Being with 'G' in the room and watching him in individuals, just his movement, he has something special to him,” Cobb said. “I think his movement, you can see some of that. 'Te is 'Te. You see what he’s done over the course of his career, but I got to see young 'Te. I got to see when people wanted him to be cut. I’ve seen the elevation. I’ve seen the type of player he is.

“Garrett has some ability like that. You never know which way a career is going to go but I look forward to watching it.”