The introduction of Xavier Gipson doubled as a feel-good story.
He was the undrafted wideout, the one “Onerous Knocks” tracked all through coaching camp final 12 months whereas he tried to crack the Jets 53-man roster as an undersized, speedy, 5-foot-9 rookie.
And that chance materialized when normal supervisor Joe Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh referred to as Gipson into an workplace and tricked him — with the tenor of their dialog suggesting he’d been lower — earlier than revealing that there was, in actual fact, a spot for him.
This 12 months, it’s completely different.
Gipson’s presence for Week 1 is all however assured, despite the fact that his coaching camp was interrupted by a leg damage.
He’s listed because the Jets beginning slot receiver on the unofficial depth chart with Randall Cobb gone, although rookie Malachi Corley might problem for reps.
Saleh and the Jets have advised gamers to ensure “everybody is aware of what your fastball is” when watching tape, and after Gipson’s function expanded down the stretch final 12 months — with 14 of his 21 catches and 147 of his 229 yards occurring after the calendar flipped to December — Saleh needs to make sure Gipson “maxes out his pace, play in and play out” in 2024.
“A 12 months in the past, I don’t know if we have been capable of get all that pace out of him,” Saleh mentioned Wednesday. “As a younger rookie, you’re swimming. You’re not accessing all of your athleticism. The place this 12 months, the problem for him is to throw that fastball each single play.”
There have been instances when that energy flashed in 2023.
Gipson scored off an end-around in opposition to the Texans in December.
Earlier that month, he collected a flea-flicker for a 36-yard achieve.
And again in Week 1, the identical night time Rodgers made his four-snap cameo earlier than his torn Achilles, Gipson gained the sport with a 65-yard punt return for a landing in time beyond regulation.
“To win in walk-off vogue as an undrafted rookie free agent, you’re identical to, ‘Man, that’s what they write motion pictures about,’ ” Colby Carthel, who coached Gipson at Stephen F. Austin, advised The Publish.
Step by step, because the Jets season unraveled and questions in regards to the future changed obtrusive considerations in regards to the current, Gipson grew to become greater than the punt returner and “Onerous Knocks” character.
Cobb light from the lineup and was a wholesome scratch at instances.
Gipson had all the time been outlined by pace, relationship again to when he was “lightning in a bottle” as a recruit out of Woodrow Wilson Excessive Faculty in Dallas when Carthel flipped Gipson — initially dedicated to SMU as a defensive again — to his program and Stephen F. Austin constructed its offense round him.
He primarily operated out of the slot and picked up 158 yards in opposition to Texas Tech in 2021, whereas topping 200 thrice and ending with 4,305 throughout 4 seasons.
“He might’ve been an All-American nook for us, I felt like, and that’s, I feel, helped him and his sport,” Carthel mentioned. “… He’s not only a man that runs quick and catches the ball. He’s an entire soccer participant, and I feel that provides him an edge at his place over different guys who’re possibly only a receiving-type participant.”
In an offense with Garrett Wilson, Breece Corridor, Mike Williams and Allen Lazard, Gipson gained’t be the focus.
However that can open up one-on-one alternatives for Gipson within the slot, Carthel mentioned, and will result in a “breakout season” merely due to the expertise surrounding him.
Rodgers maximized routes from gamers akin to Jordy Nelson and Cobb within the slot with the Packers, too.
So Saturday’s preseason opener will present the primary glimpse of Gipson in Yr 2.
The Jets may even get to observe Corley function, observing if their third-round decide in April can translate his ability set rooted in physicality — and “violence” whereas working, Saleh mentioned — right into a sport.
It took time for Gipson to show that he was greater than a punt returner. Took time to even show that he needs to be a wideout in faculty.
And now, with an opportunity to show that he needs to be greater than a Jets backup and with a risk to that looming, Gipson’s identical pace stays on the middle of every little thing.
“He nonetheless makes individuals look gradual,” Carthel mentioned, “and he makes individuals look foolish. … He makes it look really easy, and when he’s taking part in for us, he’s a professional taking part in FCS soccer. He’s an NFL expertise taking part in FCS soccer — you anticipate that.
“However while you see that in opposition to professionals, you’re like, ‘My gosh, he’s particular.’ ”
