The Patriots Sign Austin Seferian-Jenkins. Feel Free to Be Underwhelmed.
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Source – According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Patriots are signing Austin Seferian-Jenkins to a one-year deal.
The Jaguars declined the option on the second year of his contract, after a core muscle injury shortened his one season there. He caught 11 passes for 90 yards in five games with the Jaguars.
When well and eligible he has been productive, as he caught 50 passes in 13 games for the Jets in 2017, after he was suspended the first two games of the season for violating the league’s substances of abuse policy.
My first reaction is to scratch my crazy old hermit beard, stare off into the middle distance and in a wistful Obi Wan voice say, “‘Austin Seferian-Jenkins.’ Now that is a name I’ve not heard in a looong time. …”
And as the risk of being mean when I don’t intend to, I haven’t heard it for good reason. So far he’s been one of those guys who comes into the league with all sorts of draft hype and then just sort of fades away. Which probably accounts for the vast majority of top prospects, when you look back after their first five seasons.
I was able to dig up what I wrote about the tight end prospects in the 2014 draft:
As for this particular draft class, the jury is out. Most publications are giving them a B grade, and at least four are expected to go in the 1st round as more teams try to copy the Patriots assembly instructions. But not everyone is on board. One anonymous NFL GM went so far as to say “It’s not good at all. I wish it was. But it’s not. It’s actually a bad year for tight ends. There’s nobody even close to (Tyler) Eifert (drafted No. 21 by Bengals last year). (Eagles 2013 second-rounder Zach) Ertz is better than these guys.” But we know from past experience that Belichick collects tight ends like Lord Business collects Lego sets. And this year it’s a huge area of need. Especially for a guy who’ll catch passes without going all murdery on us.
Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Washington. 6-6, 266, 4.68
By far the most position versatile of this tight end class. If the Pats moved Hernandez around like a chess piece, ASJ was slid around like one of those triangular Ouija board pointy thingies. Washington used him as an in line blocker for Bishop Sankey, put him in the backfield, lined him up in the slot, then sent him outside to iso on cornerbacks where he proved he could defeat them one-on-one. He caught a ton of balls behind the LOS on screens, which helps explain both his high completion percentage and his relatively low YPC numbers. But he also occupied the 11-20 yard range like he was Putin and it was Crimea. One caveat with him: Mr. Smartypants NFL Exec goes negative on him as well, saying he “blocks like a wide receiver” and is “a bigger pain in the butt” than Ebron.
Of course that exec was referring to Eric Ebron, who went first off the board among tight ends and 10th overall to Detroit, followed by Seferian-Jenkins at 38th. Ebron finally put together a Pro Bowl season last year after going to Indy, with a career-high 66 catches and 13 touchdowns, which was more than he had in his four seasons in Detroit, combined.
Seferian-Jenkins should be so lucky. The one season where he’s ever played more than nine games was 2017 with the Jets, when he made it into 13. And he produced 50 catches that year, which is almost half his career total. But even then he only produced 7.1 yards per catch, which is running back-like. So I’m not going to try to put a shine on this sneaker and pretend ASJ’s career hasn’t been a crushing disappointment so far.
But I will say – though I hate to – that I’ll take him. When you went to bed last night, the Patriots TE depth chart was Jacob Hollister, Stephen Anderson, Matt LaCosse and Ryan Izzo. Now at least they’ve added a guy who at least has had some NFL experiences, even if only a few of them have been good ones. He was productive a short time ago. And he’s got all the incentive in the world to be at least some sort of a role player for Tom Brady. He could be a 35 catch guy over a full season or he could be a camp cut. And those two possibilities could cut cards to see who goes first. But if I’ve said it once I’ve said it infinity times: If I was an agent trying to jump start a veteran’s career, I’d sign him with New England for one year at the league minimum. And to bookend a “Star Wars” reference with another “Star Wars” reference, it’s his only hope. He just better not be ours.