All Spotlights • Laveranues Coles Player Page • NYJ Projections • WR Projections • WR Rankings • NYJ Team Report

Spotlight - WR Laveranues Coles, New York Jets

Posted on 7/10, exclusive to Footballguys.com

Mike Brown's Thoughts

At this stage of his career, it's safe to say that Laveranues Coles will never become a fantasy stud. He's never finished in the top ten at his position in any season, and he hasn't proven himself to be a top-end red zone threat. All that being said, he's nowhere near useless, as some have suggested recently.

While it's true that he's never finished in the top ten, he HAS finished in the top 25 four times. He was headed for a fifth a year ago, but injuries got in the way of that. He's never scored more than seven touchdowns in a given season, but he's also scored five or more in six of the last seven years. In other words, Coles is the classic low risk, medium reward type of player that we at Footballguys are usually touting as holding a great deal of value.

He's going as the #27 wide receiver off the board on average, but his track record suggests that may be the low end of his potential production. Now, I'll grant you that there's very little chance of him carrying anyone's offense anytime soon. There is that pesky item about never being a top ten performer at his position. Still, a lot of people seem to be writing off Coles as either old, broken down, or both, when in reality last year's injuries were likely isolated instances that weren't the beginning of a trend.

He's still fairly young even for a football player (he's 30), particularly at a position where talented veterans can extend their careers well into their mid-30s. Also, remember that the Jets would have a difficult time matching the ineffectiveness of last year's passing offense. I'm not saying to run out and grab Coles at the first opportunity you have -- far from it. In fact, the earlier you grab Coles, the worse the pick becomes. He's a guy who can be waited on, and waited on, and waited on. And then waited on some more. And THEN you can take him. Because Coles isn't a hot-shot name, owners will still be looking to take fliers on the other hot-shot names around that point in the draft. He's a perfect guy to grab late to fill out your WR3 spot in the starting lineup, and then sit back as he does nothing more than live up to typical expectations.

Positives

• He's still the most talented receiving target on the Jets, and if he's healthy he is the number one option in the passing game
• He's been extremely durable. Until last season, he had played in every game since the 2000 season
• Despite the offensive woes of the team in recent seasons, Coles has managed to remain productive. This shows that his numbers won't necessarily plummet just because the team is struggling in general

Negatives

• He has a great rapport with Chad Pennington, but Pennington is nowhere near entrenched as the starting QB. If Pennington sits, Coles is just another receiver on the Jets
• Coles missed five full games a year ago with various injuries. They could be isolated, or it could be the beginning of the end for the 30-year-old. At just 5'11" and 192 pounds, Coles' body has taken a pounding over the years
• The Jets offense is not expected to be amongst the league's better units. While Coles has shown an ability to perform well even when the team struggles, there is still the issue of his upside being limited. No matter how well he performs, his scoring chances are not going to be great with this team

Final Thoughts

With Coles, it's sort of a case of 'what you see is what you get'. You aren't going to win your league just because he's on your roster, but you could end up winning a game because of him. For all of his name recognition, he's still a guy who has just three 1,000 yard campaigns in his career and has never scored more than seven touchdowns in a single season. Heck, he's never finished higher than the number thirteen receiver in any season. The difference this year is that no one is expecting him to be anywhere near there anyway, so he presents a different sort of value.

He's the kind of player that you take if you have several question marks on your team. Or the kind of player you take if you need a solid veteran to round out the receiving corps. He's the kind of player who you can set a reasonably high floor for his expectations, and can expect him to easily reach those numbers. Some players who are being drafted around him may have a little more upside, but in a lot of cases they most certainly have a far greater downside.

As I mentioned earlier, you can't take Coles and then sit back while you ponder what a genius you are for drafting him and assuming he's some 'super sleeper'. Your team won't become a juggernaut just because you have Coles on it. But let everyone else call the pick boring. You can plug him in safely as your WR3 and let him provide you with the kind of consistent scoring on a weekly basis that is typically tough to find that late in a draft. When considering Coles for your roster this season, temper your expectations for what you want out of him and plan accordingly, and you likely won't be disappointed.

Quotations from the Message Board Thread

Ministry of Pain:
Coles is returning from injury and most reports so far have all been positive. The Jets also ponied up more money for Coles, and I doubt they would do that if they felt he wasn't going to perform at a high level. I like Coles to stay healthy, and even though the QB situation is not very good, I still like him to be productive. Has reception totals from 2002-2206 of 89, 82, 90, 73, 91...nearly the most over that 5 year span.

The Man with the Plan:
At this point in his career he is what he is and we shouldn't expect more. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing in this case however. If he's healthy he should have another solid season. I'd prefer that Chad Pennington were the quarterback over Kellen Clemens but he should produce no matter who starts for the Jets.

rzrback77:
Laveranues Coles was injured last year and missed five games so there are a lot of folks that owned him and were disappointed. His running mate at WR Cotchery has caught 82 passes in consecutive years so some favor him. Coles was in a contract dispute during the off-season so some label him as having an attitude. There is a QB controversy in New York so that's another issue. A lot of folks thatnk that the Jets have an improved offensive line and are going to run the ball more. He's just not flashy. So many reasons to downgrade Coles that he should fall even farther than he usually does in drafts.

FBG lists his current ADP as WR27 and overall 73, but I think that he could fall farther than that due to all the above reasons. The truth is that prior to last year he had played in all 16 games for six consecutive seasons. He is very reliable. During those six seasons he averaged 81 receptions and that includes only 59 in 01. He also averaged 848 yards and went over 1,000 three times. I think that he will bounce back nicely and provide solid value in 08.

Jon_Moore:
In a full season last year, his numbers extrapolate to

73 Receptions
861 Yards
8 Tds

If you do the same with the games in which he played with Clemens:

76 Receptions
920 Yards
0 Tds

So, there's really no difference in quarterback play--I'm chalking the TD's up to anomaly. Thomas Jones has commanded defenses attention the last few years, Jerricho Cotchery has kept them from putting all the coverage on Coles. Last year was just a bad year due to injury. Still, I think he's not going to outdo the pace he set by much. He just hasn't really been a stud since he returned to the Jets, for whatever reason.

Laveranues Coles Projections