Jets cutdown day revealed a lot about new regime, especially their biggest move
It’s important to remember, especially right now, that keeping wide receiver Malachi Corley on the roster would have been the safe move for new Jets coach Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey. Corley is talented, and was highly hyped as a rookie – so much so that the Jets traded up to get him with the first pick of the third round in last year’s draft.
It doesn’t matter that Corley contributed very little – other than an all-time cringeworthy highlight – as a rookie, and somehow even less during the offseason program, training camp, and preseason this summer. There is a risk in letting him go, because there’s always a chance he will realize his ability with a new coaching staff. And that would reflect poorly on the Jets and their new staff.
But none of that mattered on Tuesday, when it came time to trim the roster, because Corley was handed his walking papers.
And even if it backfires, and Corley finds his way somewhere else, it will be hard to argue against this decision from the new regime, because Corley is more than just an undeniable bust with the team that drafted him. He is the walking embodiment of everything the Jets are trying to move past.
And before we continue, it’s important to note: Corley is a young person who clearly fell short of expectations in a high-profile spot. There’s still time to turn his career around. And hopefully he does. This is more about those who failed Corley by setting unreasonable expectations for him and failing to back him up when he needed it most, and the culture of the previous regime the Jets are trying to leave behind.
From the moment the Jets drafted Corley, the hype machine was cranked to overdrive. Then-coach Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas told reporters immediately after they drafted him, that they had been targeting him to start Day 2 of the Draft after picking him 65th overall. They even provided the Jets social media team with a screencap of a text from Saleh to Douglas with Corley’s photo: “No matter what.”
Former quarterback Aaron Rodgers also raved about Corley after the Jets picked him.
“Malachi was my favorite receiver in the draft,” Rodgers said. “Now he might not have been the best on paper in the draft, but I really felt like he was going to fit in with what we were trying to do.”
Keep in mind, this NFL Draft was one of the strongest in history, and featured three receivers taken in the top 10 and 11 in the first two rounds before the Jets led off the third round picking Corley.
Perhaps Rodgers was just trying to show he was in alignment with his coach and GM, but it ratcheted up the hype and expectations even higher.
And even before the end of training camp, it became clear that Corley wasn’t living up to internal expectations. He struggled to get meaningful snaps during training camp and the preseason, and early in the season. And when Saleh was asked about it, he said the group of receivers in front of Corley was too strong for him to crack the rotation: a line of reasoning that didn’t check out considering Xavier Gipson, was one of the receivers ahead of Corley early in the season and had just three catches for 22 yards in the first four games, and only raised the volume on the noise surrounding Corley.
Corley didn’t get a true opportunity until after Saleh was fired, when he played six snaps in back-to-back games tat the end of October.
And then he showcased all that talent, while also making a blunder he won’t soon outrun: On Halloween, with the whole country watching, Corley took an end around 18 yards for what should have been a touchdown, but he dropped the ball in celebration just short of the end zone. And the Jets lost the ball.
Instead of having Corley’s back, after the Jets pulled away in the second half, Rodgers made it clear he wasn’t happy with the young receiver – blaming his blunder for the Jets not reaching Rodgers’ target of 30 points in a game. He later revealed in a radio interview that Corley should have been especially aware of not dropping the ball, because it was a point of emphasis in a recent meeting.
The coaching staff gave Corley a chance to atone for his blunder, giving him 69 offensive snaps in the next three games, but he was targeted only twice by Rodgers – including zero targets on 41 snaps in a loss to the Seahawks. It turned out to be his final offensive snaps as a Jet.
This isn’t to take responsibility off Corley’s plate: he has now gone 0-for-2 in earning a role with two different coaching staffs. But it is to point out how broken everything was last year with the Jets. Ultimately, the focus on celebrating something completely meaningless, hype, over all else, including the good of the player. And why, short of Corley clearly earning a spot on the roster, they had to move on to turn yet another page away from all that.
And so they did move on, and that alone is a big sign that things are headed in a better direction, no matter what’s next for Corley.
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Andy Vasquez may be reached atavasquez@njadvancemedia.com.
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