Garrett Wilson has shattered the record books for the New York Jets through his first three seasons. However, according to one analyst, he is about to pull off something legendary in 2025.
Ben Solak of ESPN boldly predicted that Wilson will “lead the league in receiving yards in 2025.”
“Garrett Wilson is the best receiver Justin Fields has played with in his NFL career. Wilson is the WR1 with the biggest gap in quality between him and his WR2 in the entire league. Wilson has played mostly on hard mode (a lot of press coverage, downfield routes, contested balls, etc.), and new coordinator Tanner Engstrand will prioritize getting him easier targets,” Solak explained in a column posted on Tuesday, May 27.
ESPN Analyst Doubles Down on Previous Year’s Prediction
Sometimes, when you predict something and it doesn’t come to fruition, people run for the hills. The other option is doubling down and pushing all of your chips to the middle of the table.
The latter strategy is what Solak is choosing to do ahead of the 2025 campaign.
Last year, during an appearance on “The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny,” Kimes and Solak both revealed that Wilson was their dark horse pick to win Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2024.
“If [Aaron] Rodgers is healthy, he [Wilson] is going to put up astronomical numbers in this offense,” Kimes predicted before last season.
Both @minakimes & @BenjaminSolak agreed that #Jets WR @GarrettWilson_V is their dark horse to win the #NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award in 2024. 👀
‘He’s so good. [Aaron] Rodgers loves to funnel WR1s right? Davante Adams had like 170 targets in 2021. If he has…
In fairness, Wilson did put up crazy numbers. He set new career highs in receptions (101), receiving yards (1,104), and touchdowns (seven). However, those numbers were nowhere near good enough to warrant OPOY votes.
Solak predicted that Wilson would lead the league in receiving yards. For context, Cincinnati Bengals star Ja’Marr Chase led the league in that category last year with 1,708 receiving yards.
Here is a look at the previous receiving yards leaders from the last four years: Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins (1,799 in 2023), Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings (1,809 in 2022), Cooper Kupp then of the Los Angeles Rams (1,947 in 2021), and Stefon Diggs then of the Buffalo Bills (1,535 in 2020).
Wilson Has a Chance to Earn the Respect He Believes He Deserves
The former Ohio State product has shattered record books for the Jets with his play through three seasons.
Despite that, he hasn’t entered the upper-echelon receiver conversation in the NFL. Why is that? Bluntly, he hasn’t put up the prerequisite numbers of those top-flight elite receivers.
If Wilson lives up to Solak’s bold prediction, that can all change.
Brandon Marshall put up the most receiving yards for a Jets receiver in single-season history with 1,502 back in 2015.
1,759.6 receiving yards is the average number of the league leader in that category over the last five years.
If Wilson achieved that figure, he would simultaneously break records and achieve the league-wide respect he has been yearning for.
ESPN Analyst Makes Jaw Dropping Garrett Wilson-Jets Prediction