I was tough on Jamo early in the season but though his stats aren’t huge yet, he’s contributing in a big way just being out there.
I re-watched the Rams game so many times this past week. When Jamo is in they literally send him on a deep post route or something 90% of the time. ARSB (and other Lions) has said on his podcast that this guy has the fastest straight line speed he’s every seen due to his long stride. IMHO, even if BJ is simply using Jamo as a decoy, he’s helping clear out everything between him and Goff. If you rewatch the LA game there was almost always a guy dedicated to stay behind Jamo.
The benefits of this come back in other ways.
This sets up Jamo for a minimum of one guaranteed short come-back or crossing route during the game since everybody is geared up for the expected long route. (If I was an opposing D I might try to take a chance on jumping one of those knowing it’s coming).
I totally already give this guy props for being a willing blocker. But because he’s already way down field and or due to his great makeup speed when he’s not, he’s a great asset to help clear a path for anybody that catches the ball underneath and looking for YAC.
Goff is trying to be smart with the football but sooner or later Jamo the decoy is going to have the favorable long route 1:1 matchup Goff wants. It’s just a matter of time.
So Jamo’s numbers don’t always tell the whole story. His straight line speed was part of the master plan to bring him in regardless of the big splash plays to this point.
The thing that has always impressed me about JaMo is his energy and effort. He has shown great willingness to be a great teammate. His down field blocking is on point.
As a side note. I love how young he is. He will be hitting like 24/25 for his second contract so truly hitting his peak when he would in general get peak money.
I realize many feel the draft capital used verses his production is upside down right now and that is fair. But the NFL is a different game than college and he is clearly learning and adapting. I think we all hope he is stealing catches from ARSB and LaPorta next season.
It takes A LOT of asking a young man like him to be a decoy. On most plays, he’s probably well aware the ball isn’t coming anywhere near him.
But if you can get him to buy into the bigger picture … the sky is the limit.
We’ve seen what happens when receivers become divas. If Jamo is truly bought in, and I have no reason to doubt he’s not, then ARSB in the middle of the field (or LaPorta/Reynolds) will virtually always be available to Jared.
And when the team tries to pull that guy away? Boom.
The most impressive thing to me about Jamo is his attitude. Drafted #12 overall, you have to imagine he had lofty expectations for himself and expected to contribute in a huge way as soon as he was on the field.
But the Lions have used him in a much different way than I’m sure he’s expected and gets very little targets for a guy who was taken #12. He doesn’t pout, he’s not angry, he’s just all about the Lions. I’ve never seen a dude who clearly has so much physical talent just be happy to play and be here and not receive targets. The dude is a willing blocker - every time the ball doesn’t go his way, he immediately is looking for the closest guy to lay out.
All this after being eviscerated by the media and fans. But the dude appears to love it here and relishes in whatever small role he can provide to the team. Absolutely blown away by this kids’ attitude.
Jamo has yet to have his break out game but I feel like it’s coming. Hopefully this week.
I just feel like the Lions aren’t using Jamo to his fullest potential and the routes they have him run are only showing a small portion of his capabilities. I’d like to believe this is by design and they plan to turn him loose at some point and open up his route tree more.
Jamo’s ankles look like they’d snap like a twig BUT he WILL willingly deliver a block and he’s effectively feisty!
As a side note: Gibb’s is a feisty as fk runner as well and lays the wood; don’t let that speed fool you into thinking he’s a one-trick pony 5’9" speedster; His college tape was dripping wet with examples of a guy that finishes every play and will block; It’s why BH/MCDC thought they got the steal of the draft while others pundits were handing out F grades.
The whole receiver group gets the blocking is a required part of the job description.
Reynolds gets it and is always opening up lanes for other guys which is why they need to pay him and keep him here.
ARSB does it when he’s not making other people look like a fool.
Laporta’s biggest success is that he can block! As a great pass catching TE, you never know whether he’s designed to block or be a receiver so he kills you both ways.
Leaf (I can’t really personally say having seen it but his attitude tells me he would throw his 5’8" body at a brick wall if it meant success)
I think it really comes to him earning it and gaining the trust of all around him, not a work ethic issue, just learning the NFL. Understanding the importance of route precision; the depth of routes and so much more and he is getting there.
I think we have seen that trust being earned as he has become a bigger, still small, part of the offense the last month.
This, regarding Jamo still learning and getting there, is also a reason to look forward to next year. Take his growth this season and then forward to a full OTA, training camp and more work with Jared and this offense will have another gear to look forward too.
The big reason jamo doesn’t get “used” is because he’s a poor route runner. Now, over the course of the year he’s become a solid blocker, and his effort is good. But his growth in his craft really isn’t visible in the pass game. He often rounds routes, doesn’t flatten or drive when he should, doesn’t attack the football. This leads to often leaving your QB out to dry. This is why he gets so few targets. Now… he’s fast, so teams respect it, and that does open up some room. But he doesn’t get targets because he doesn’t win in coverage that often. The only time he gets targeted is when he blows by the defense. I will say his hands have gotten better since he’s regained some confidence, but he does a poor job of making himself available.
Here’s every route run against the rams. The rams have had trouble containing big plays all year. He could have been open on a bunch of posts / crossers / corners if he had simply adjusted his routes. Instead he stayed covered. There is still time for improvement and he has shown a good attitude. But people are keeping up the narrative that we aren’t using him, or giving enough targets. But honestly he’s not earning them by getting open.
I do think Jamo was NOT assignment sound in terms of the details BJ / Goff asked of him early on. There is a lot of timing required of this offense. Receivers need to be in a spot for Goff to throw to or it’s unsuccessful or looks like a bad play by Goff when it often isn’t . Not one yard L or R of that spot. Your precise route also dictates the window of the other receivers when you are not being thrown to. That’s to say that BJ requires that you are a precise decoy even if you’re just stretching the field.
Yeah. I think this is what other teams fear and why we’re likely to see the splash plays we all expected when Jamo was brought here, hopefully sooner rather than later. But hey, if not and defenses want to bend AND break while we drive down the field, then Jamo is successfully doing what he’s paid to do even if it doesn’t look sexy.
He acknowledges what’s required and is patiently doing his part. He understands BJ and he understands Goff and just has to keep working. I love that, though it’s coming along slowly, he’s embracing it with enthusiasm. It’s still football and he still loves , even if he’s not the dude every week.
I guarantee you he scares the hell out of every DC we’re playing.
I was actually writing my reply about his lack of attention to being in the right spot aka routes while you were writing this reply.
I think you make valid points and I see some of that lack of attention to detail still as well. But I also see improvement.
I think for me the best way I’d put it with Jamo is why can a rookie like Laporta come in and be super spot on with that attention to detail in his first couple of games whereas Jamo is closing in on year two and still trying to sort things out?.
Kaliff is also lightning quick but he’s assignment sound which is why though at at 5’8" the Lion’s paid him to keep him here. Simply because they know that he will be in the right spot when called upon.
Reynold’s should be paid. He’s not the flashy name in the league but he’s where he’s supposed to be so that Goff can have the trust to make the kind of throws that get us off to a hot start in that playoff game.
It’s a maturity thing. It’s a brain thing. Who knows. Regardless it’s frustrating with Jamo’s development time.
At the end of the day though, good coaching is understanding and using the talent that you have to win. In that regard, BJ is using Jamo’s level of maturity in a way that helps the other receivers catch balls. If that means him being a decoy for now, so be it.
But I do think he actually is getting better at the details though relatively speaking.
I just kind of want to clarify, that his route running deficiencies aren’t just from like a lack of preparation. Now, you can be a disciplined, hard working player like asrb and improve on something like that over time, but route running is just a much a skill as a physical one. Its like a players “feel” for the game. Some guys have that incredible ability to always find open space… to sense leverage and how teams play them (helped by film study, but its also something you have to sense and react to quickly while on the field). To be incredibly consistant on those adjustments when you make them, so you don’t lose yourself to the QB. Its a skill set. Some guys like Amari Cooper, Cooper Kupp, have incredible abilities to shake themselves open… and do so with consistant footwork and never giving away your intention until its too late. This includes processing and reacting. Some guys just don’t naturally do this well, and more often just run a route like its drawn up on paper. That is where Jamo is right now. He might improve at it… hopefully he does, but this is what is holding him back from being a good reciever. Right now hes just kind of a jag with a top speed. But I want to reiterate, its not just like he doesn’t work hard enough at it or something. He has some immaturity issues… but everyone talks about how he is a team guy that wants to get better. Some guys have it, some guys develop it… and some guys just never really get a feel for it at the NFL level.
He draws coverage away from others consistently ( as evidenced in the Rams game). The majority of his routes are still deep, late breakers and fact is its the NFL, not Madden.
QBs have a finite number of opportunities to hang on to the ball long enough to even get to those routes on the progression.
I differ a bit here though. It’s one thing to work hard and another to have results. You might know somebody that wants to be a great singer. No matter how much they practice or want it, they just aren’t cut out for it physically or whatever. Some other joker who is blessed with a great voice might never practice or care that much and just become famous. This plays into what you’re saying about his “feel”.
But I’m still taking this same angle focused just on the details of the routes as drawn up in the playbook. I actually don’t think he was spot on at all in just learning what he was being asked to do and what is correctable and teachable. If there’s no trust there then he’s not going to be the full asset he can. And the truth is most of his fellow receivers have come up to that speed much quicker than he has.
Laporta for one as a TE has a much bigger “assignment” load as combined receiver and blocker and is able to put that all together very quickly. Jamo is a first rounder. Those are things that should be expected of him.
Anyway, we don’t know for sure what every play design is so it’s hard to be too precise here. But I would say that BJ is using Jamo effectively at whatever level of maturity or development he has at the moment.
Yup. Some reads are made presnap though as well where you just let it rip based on what the D is giving you. I have no doubt there are plays designed to go to him towards the last half of the season that just haven’t been there so Goff goes somewhere else. It seems like a pretty good problem to have if it’s freeing up option 2, 3 or maybe even 4.
Jamo is definitely improving. And will continue to improve. Other teams have to fear his speed even if he isn’t yet that polished on his routes.
But he is also young as has been mentioned.
I believe he has 100% buy-in like @Nate mentioned, and that along with the success this team is achieving right now is going to pay dividends for years to come.
Like McAfee said there doesn’t seem to be too many grumbling players on the Lions team because the players are policing themselves. As Jamo matures and the core of this team continues with success, I think Lions buy in will be stronger than Patriots, Belickick, bullying buy-in for success.
And Jamo will be a leader in that buy-in via his own experience. Nobody will be able to argue with that.
We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg with this kid.
Against the rams we mostly kept it short and simple in the passing game! Didn’t show much at all. Guys were wide open in the short game, so there was no reason to do more than we needed.
ARSB (and other Lions) has said on his podcast that this guy has the fastest straight line speed he’s every seen due to his long stride. IMHO, even if BJ is simply using Jamo as a decoy, he’s helping clear out everything between him and Goff. If you rewatch the LA game there was almost always a guy dedicated to stay behind Jamo.
