Pending the result of tonight's game, the Jets are tied for the third most points in the NFL. The passing game has been terrific. Mark Sanchez has a 105.5 passer rating. The return of Santonio Holmes can amazingly make this offense even better.
There are obvious points. Holmes is the best receiver the Jets have. He is a great route runner with top speed. Snaps he gets will take snaps away from a guy like David Clowney, who has never been productive. He gives Mark Sanchez another option.
Just as important, though, is the role he will play on offense. He will likely see most of his time on the outside across from Braylon Edwards. I'll go back to the analogy I like to draw with what the Patriots used to have. Back when they had Donte Stallworth, New England made teams pay for shading their safeties to try and take the big play from Randy Moss. Stalloworth had 47 catches for 697 yards in this role three years ago as the second vertical option.
Holmes is probably going to be the guy on whom opposing defenses key. Again, he is the most complete receiver on the team. If teams focus too much on taking away Holmes, Braylon Edwards will have a chance to exploit it on the other side of the field. If teams focus on taking away the deep ball completely, it will create plenty of space for Jerricho Cotchery, Dustin Keller, and LaDainian Tomlinson underneath. Tomlinson and Shonn Greene will seldom have to confront eight man fronts.
This offense has the potential to get ridiculously good.