Denzel Mims Is Ready For A 2021 Breakout
After a tough hiatus due to college, the president of the Denzel Mims fan club is back. After a season dealing with Sam Darnold and Adam Gase, Mims gets to enjoy the rest of his rookie contract receiving passes from Zach Wilson (if the Jets are sane). It’s shocking to think that Mims isn’t being valued that highly.
A Quick Recap
A 6-3 freak of an athlete who caught 66 balls for over 1000 yards and 12 touchdowns in his senior season who’s comp on PlayerProfiler is Chris Godwin, and whose measurements are as follows:
Julio Jones-esque numbers. I even compared him to Julio in a previous article due to his numbers and absolute dominance. Going in the second round last year, Mims had the unfortunate luck to land with one of the most in-ept quarterbacks in recent memory and possibly the worst coach we have seen in a long time. To sum up his season, a tweet I sent out earlier this week had this image captioned:
“Denzel Mims (in red) is so stupidly wide open yet Darnold completely misses him for five whole seconds before throwing a pass to him as a DB is screaming down on him.”
Darnold (and Gase) let him down time and time again, despite his exciting talent. Mims only had 44 targets for 23 catches at a clip of 15.3 yards per reception, mainly due to his quarterback (both Darnold and Flacco.. poor Mims) not seeing him or “seeing ghosts”.
He regularly mossed defensive backs in college, and physically dominates most defensive backs in the NFL (including Stephon Gilmore who he bullied on runs in Week 9.
Mims consistently reels in passes over the middle, holding on through contact, demonstrating both his ability to do the dirty work, moving the chains, and reliable hands.
Hope on the horizon
A knock on Zach Wilson is often that he turned routine throws into unnecessary jump balls. This won’t hurt Mims as much as it will hurt the rest of the Jets offense. Mims gives Wilson that big, reliable pass-catcher he needs to succeed in the NFL.
Now, a lot of talk has been about Corey Davis and Keelan Cole, and Jamison Crowder is still there. But, according to RotoWire, all three of those players spent most of their time in the slot, somewhere Mims found himself around a third of the time, playing mainly on the outside. Faster than quick, he’s suited to the outside where he can use his length and speed to beat defenders.
None of those other receivers are a threat to Mims, who I believe will become the Jets WR1 with Zach Wilson. He has all the traits of a superstar, and produced well despite a hamstring injury and his supporting cast consisting of garbage.
If you still don’t believe me, Brett Kollman, one of the best analysts around, had Mims down as a sleeper superstar in last years draft.
I’d rather pick up Denzel Mims on the cheap for both dynasty and redraft than take any of the rookies this year considering both his value and his upside.
