Jets place Arian Smith on injured reserve

Smith has been crowded out of the Jets current receiver situation by John Metchie III and Adonai Mitchell. Smith can be dropped in deeper re-draft leagues if you were holding on to hope. Also inactive for the Jets are CB Jarvis Brownlee (hip), DL Mazi Smith, TE Jelani Woods, DL Tyler Baron, RB Khalil Herbert and EDGE Braiden McGregor.

He did not practice on Friday with the hip injury, which is a concerningly quick downgrade. We’re not entirely sure who else to recommend in New York’s pass-catcher room if Reynolds is down — Arian Smith played 91.8 percent of the snaps last week but turned them into just a three-target sacrificial X showing. Tyler Johnson led the team in receiving yardage and might be the play, but only played 25 percent of the snaps in Week 7.

Reynolds was set to operate as the team’s WR1 over the next couple weeks with Garrett Wilson (knee) sidelined. The hip injury might throw a wrench in those plans. If he’s unable to practice later in the week, the Jets could enter Week 7 with Arian Smith as their top wideout.

“It’s a tall order to bank on a fourth-round rookie,” Rosenblatt writes, then notes that unless the Jets make a trade or acquire some outside help, they probably don’t have much upside at the position beyond Smith. Smith has enough speed to hit a huge play here or there, but we’d be surprised given the run-heavy direction of the offense if the Jets found a significant fantasy contributor at receiver outside of Garrett Wilson. Still, we can’t completely dismiss Smith’s chances if he creates a big role for himself early.

Rosenblatt noted Reynolds’ instant connection with Justin Fields in early offseason practices. He also made it clear that Allen Lazard isn’t much of a threat to take the job from Reynolds. Second-year wideout Malachi Corley is already on the roster bubble after a disastrous rookie season and a regime change while fourth-round rookie Arian Smith will likely play a part-time role as an outside speedster this year. Reynolds finishing second on the team in routes looks inevitable. He’s not on the redraft radar, but Best Ball sickos may want to take note for their Fields stacks.

The good news for Smith is that he has a lot of depth chart runway. Garrett Wilson is the obvious No. 1, but neither Josh Reynolds nor Allen Lazard qualifies as a locked-in WR2 at this stage of their careers. Smith’s blazing speed has intrigued Aaron Glenn, who noted how fast he was in rookie minicamp over the weekend by simply noting “Arian has some juice.” The tough news is that as long as Justin Fields is the starter, it’s hard to believe he’ll be seeing many deep shots that aren’t schemed wide open. Still, Smith has some appeal in deeper leagues and could make an interesting dynasty stash.

Smith will likely be a gadget wideout or a kick returner for the Jets, with little chance to become a staple in three-receiver sets. A limited production profile that spans five college seasons will immediately work against Smith’s (6’0/179) long-term outlook. The former four-star prospect finally broke out for 48-817-4 in 2024, but caught just 20 passes for 539 yards and six touchdowns during his first four seasons with the Bulldogs. A lanky receiver who possesses 4.36 speed, Smith, a former college sprinter, is best utilized as a field stretcher at the next level. He saw 35.7 percent of his career targets come on throws of 20-plus yards, per PFF. His career 19.9 YPR speaks to his ability to break off the occasional big play, but his 19 percent targets per route run also highlights his boom-or-bust potential. For a player with elite speed like Smith, it’s not a good sign that he was never given the opportunity to serve as a return man, although he has plenty of experience on punt/kick coverage. Far from a sure-handed receiver (16 percent drop rate), we’ve seen players like Smith earn NFL roles – see Marquez Valdes-Scantling. That said, their roles tend to be limited and often prove to be replaceable over time. Smith’s speed and athleticism (9.20 RAS) will make him an enticing player and are certain to wow people in camp.

Smith broke his leg back in November but has now been cleared to resume practice and should be ready for the season. Although he has only had five catches in two years, they have been enormous. He’s averaging 37.6 yards per catch, and three of those five have gone for three touchdowns.

Tough break for Smith (6'0/185) who broke his leg in practice on Wednesday. The Bulldogs were finally starting to get healthy at the position when the injury occurred, including Smith who had just returned himself from an injury to catch a touchdown pass this past Saturday against Missouri. He had made an impact this season for the Bulldogs, catching three of his five passes for touchdowns.

Georgia appears to be getting healthy at the skill positions at just the right time, as both Smith (6'0/185) and Burton were able to go through pregame warmups. Smith hasn’t played since the win over UAB, while Burton has been down since Georgia shut out Arkansas on October 2. Burton is averaging just over 17 yards per reception, having caught 13 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns.