![\"Arian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2254664955-e1779647360144.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
New York Jets wide receiver Arian Smith trying to make a play during an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n
Time could be running out.<\/p>\n
ESPN\u2019s Rich Cimini said New York Jets<\/a> wide receiver Arian Smith<\/a> \u201ccould be in danger\u201d of losing his job<\/a> this offseason.<\/p>\n Smith, 24, will turn 25 during the 2026 season. He originally entered the league as the No. 110 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL<\/a> draft.<\/p>\n Smith has three years remaining on his $5.2 million<\/a> rookie contract.<\/p>\n An Underwhelming First Act<\/p>\n Last season, Smith appeared<\/a> in 16 games and made five starts. With those opportunities, Smith was targeted 16 times, caught seven receptions, registered 52 receiving yards, and failed to score a touchdown.<\/p>\n Bluntly, Smith failed to make a significant impact offensively. He played in just 38% of the offensive snaps last year. Smith did show some flashes on special teams as a gunner, which is somewhat encouraging.<\/p>\n However, NFL teams don\u2019t normally invest high fourth-round draft choices into gunners. Those fleeting moments alone won\u2019t likely be enough to save his job this summer.<\/p>\n The Truth Shall Set You Free<\/p>\n The Jets received a ton of flak after selecting Smith in last year\u2019s NFL draft.<\/p>\n NBC Sports draft analyst Connor Rogers<\/a> called the selection a \u201cmassive reach.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI thought this was a sixth-round player \u2026 I don\u2019t understand that pick,\u201d Rogers added.<\/p>\n The Jets fell in love with the traits. The 6-foot 179-pounder blazed the NFL Combine with a 4.36 40-yard dash.<\/p>\n \u201cSmith is the fastest player on the field. If a cornerback presses him and misses, he better have safety help because Smith averaged 36.5 yards on his 10 career touchdown receptions,\u201d NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein<\/a> wrote in his pre-draft profile.<\/p>\n During the offseason last year, after a Jets \u2013 New York Giants<\/a> joint practice, Smith was meeting with a group of 25 fans. A fan asked him why we didn\u2019t see any big plays during that day from him down the field.<\/p>\n Smith turned to the fan, smiled, and responded, \u201cWe\u2019re saving that for the season\u201d with a wink. The small group of Jets fans exploded in response with excitement.<\/p>\n Despite that hopeful comment, Jets fans never experienced that with Smith during his rookie campaign.<\/p>\n So what\u2019s the truth? Was Smith just a bad pick, and he didn\u2019t deliver? Or did the abysmal quarterback play ensure that Smith didn\u2019t have a chance to show what he\u2019s made of?<\/p>\n Smith Needs to Show More<\/p>\n Like anything in life, it was probably a little bit of A and a little bit of B. Smith didn\u2019t seem ready to deliver, and the quarterback play wasn\u2019t conducive to a rookie wide receiver thriving.<\/p>\n This offseason, there are no excuses. It\u2019s do or die for Smith. If he doesn\u2019t show more as a wide receiver, his days in New York are likely numbered.<\/p>\n Garrett Wilson<\/a>, Omar Cooper Jr<\/a>, Adonai Mitchell<\/a>, and Isaiah Williams<\/a> are all locks to make the 53-man roster.<\/p>\n Smith will be battling against the likes of Tim Patrick<\/a>, Irvin Charles<\/a>, and Quentin Skinner<\/a> for those final few precious roster spots.<\/p>\n You can never have enough wide receivers who run fast and can take the top off a defense. The Jets have a need for Smith\u2019s skill set, but he has to prove that his previous drop issues<\/a> are behind him and that he can pick up the new playbook quickly.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tPaul Esden Jr.<\/a> covers the New York Jets for Heavy.com. A New York native, he co-hosts a morning show, “The Manchild Show with Boy Green Digital.” Before joining Heavy in 2021, Esden Jr. covered both national and New York sports for FanSided, Elite Sports NY, and The Score 1260. More about Paul Esden Jr.<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty New York Jets wide receiver Arian Smith trying to make a play during an NFL game against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":692116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-692115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}