Eric Decker goes from catching passes from Peyton Manning the last two seasons to the New York Jets this year.
It will be different with the Jets who will either have Geno Smith or Michael Vick under center when the season starts. Still Decker sees something in the quarterbacks of the Jets.
“I see a lot of talent in this quarterback room. I’m excited about growing with them. I still feel like I’ve got a lot of football to play.” said Decker to the New York Post.
The Jets are hoping for big things from Decker after giving him a five-year deal worth $36.25 million. He is coming off a season in which he had 87 catches for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Some may see Decker’s previous numbers as a product of Denver Broncos quarterback but Jets head coach Rex Ryan believes Decker will be a highly targeted guy on the Jets.
“Clearly, he’s going to be a go-to guy,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said. “This is going to be a guy that you can get him the ball in critical situations. You can get him the ball in the red zone. I think you can see that. Obviously, the numbers everybody can say are skewed a little bit. You had Peyton Manning. That might be true, but I do think he had eight touchdowns when [Tim] Tebow was the quarterback [in 2011]. I think that’s pretty impressive.”
Ryan is only slightly correct. Four of those touchdowns came from Kyle Orton.
“I don’t see [it as] ‘I’m No. 1, he’s No. 2, he’s No. 3,’ ” Decker said. “All of us have to be on the field to make plays. It takes all 11 guys to have a successful offense I came here knowing I could help out in different facets whether it’s on the field or off the field. I’m just excited about this opportunity. This is honestly the best I’ve felt any offseason coming in. I’ve been telling people I feel like a rookie all over again, which is nice because I’ve got to prove myself.”
