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New York Jets: Who Are Geno Smith's Favorite Targets?

Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Three games into his career, it is probably too early to list receivers with whom Geno Smith has developed chemistry. There might, however, be some trends developing to keep an eye on.

Below is a chart of stats from Pro Football Focus and ESPN along with some numbers I crunched to offer an idea about Geno's favorite and most effective targets at this early date.

Player Number of pass routes (PFF) Targets (ESPN) Receptions (ESPN) Yards (ESPN) % of routes targeted Completion percentage throwing to him Yards per target Yards per route run Player
Stephen Hill 122 23 13 233 18.8 56.5 10.13 1.90 Stephen Hill
Santonio Holmes 104 19 9 218 18.2 47.3 11.47 2.09 Santonio Holmes
Kellen Winslow II 77 14 10 95 18.1 71.4 6.78 1.23 Kellen Winslow II
Jeremy Kerley 50 9 5 70 18.0 55.5 7.77 1.40 Jeremy Kerley
Bilal Powell 69 13 8 66 18.8 61.5 5.07 0.95 Bilal Powell
Clyde Gates 50 13 3 59 26.0 23.0 4.53 1.18 Clyde Gates
Tommy Bohanon 33 4 3 27 12.1 75.0 6.75

0.81

Tommy Bohanon
Jeff Cumberland 34 3 3 26 8.8 100.0 8.66 0.76 Jeff Cumberland
Konrad Reuland 4 1 1 7 25.0 100.0 7.00 1.75 Konrad Reuland

No other Jets have a reception in 2013.

I think what sticks out is the way Geno has spread the ball around. It doesn't seem like he has been too locked on to one receiver. It is kind of striking how most of the big guns are seeing targets around 18% of the time they are running routes. He's mixing in deep balls to Hill and Holmes with safer, higher percentage, lower upside passes to guys like Powell and Winslow.

This is also another feather in the cap for those arguing Clyde Gates should be cut. Geno is looking to him way too frequently. If Geno is going to throw to Gates when the receiver is an option, the Jets should probably make him cease to be an option.