New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles and GM Mike Maccagnan didn't pick tight end Jace Amaro in the second-round of the 2014 NFL Draft. That honor belongs to Rex Ryan and then-Jets GM John Idzik. As a previous regime's draft pick playing on a team that didn't seem to have a place in Chan Gailey's offense for Amaro early last offseason, the athletic tight end's future in the NFL and New York seems cloudy at best. But it's not just his standing in the eyes of the coaching staff that may leave Amaro's Jet future in doubt. According to Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News, even teammates aren't certain Amaro will be able to make it work.
Per Mehta, "there are teammates" who are "skeptical" that Amaro can turn himself into an effective player. Now, whether that means effective as a pass catcher in the NFL or effective as a well-rounded tight end in Gailey's system isn't clear, but it certainly doesn't seem to bode well for a guy who struggled during his rookie season, was pushed down the depth chart with Bowles' arrival and followed that by suffering a year-ending injury during the 2015 preseason.
And while Mehta indicates that Amaro's rehab has "gone well" over the past several months, he seems to be sounding an overtly negative tone regarding Amaro's future with the team.
All that being said, the Jets got almost no production whatsoever out of the tight end position and the combination of Jeff Cumberland, Kellen Davis and Quincy Enunwa. Altogether, the group managed eight receptions in 2015, the lowest total in the league.
As a proponent of a spread offense that doesn't rely on power running, it would seem that there's plenty of room for a guy with Amaro's pass-catching ability to thrive in Gailey's scheme, albeit more as a big wide receiver and less as a tight end.
But that assumes that Amaro's issues aren't character-related. Amaro's college career was extremely successful, but also came with a litany of off-the-field issues including an arrest for credit-card fraud and on-the-field transgressions like an ejection from a bowl game for throwing a punch.
In the end, Amaro's ability and Gailey's scheme seem to be a good fit on paper. But as has been proven time and again, that matters little if the player isn't willing to do the little things it takes to prepare throughout the offseason and the year to make themselves into a productive presence. Amaro's NFL story hasn't been written yet, but if his teammates are worried, Jets fans probably should be too.
