FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — It was subtle, but it was all Aaron Rodgers needed to see. The San Francisco 49ers jumped offside but the play progressed anyway. Rodgers thought referees were going to blow the play dead — when they didn’t he geared up to do something he’s done better than any quarterback in NFL history: Capitalize on a free play.
Rodgers leads all NFL players since his first year as a starter (2008) with 12 touchdown passes on free plays (second most during that span: Drew Brees with four). Allen Lazard saw it often over four full seasons with Rodgers in Green Bay — eight times, to be exact. From 2019 to ’22, Rodgers completed 8 of 8 passes on plays when a defender jumped offsides. He threw two touchdowns, to Davante Adams (one yard) and Marquez Valdes-Scantling (40 yards). Lazard never had the fortune of getting targeted on a free play with Rodgers.
But this offseason, Rodgers and Lazard talked about getting him one, and about their connection paying off in a big way when the season started. “We talk about it all the time,” Lazard said on Thursday.
The moment came on Monday night, in the third quarter when the Jets needed to score to stay in the game. Rodgers called for the snap as 49ers edge rusher Leonard Floyd jumped offside on the left side of the offensive formation. Lazard saw an opening about 10 yards into his route and, without breaking his stride, threw his right arm up to alert Rodgers he was going to be open.
In the heat of the moment, Rodgers saw it. He hit Lazard up the right seam for an easy 36-yard score.
.@AaronRodgers12 deep ball to @AllenLazard TD❕
📺 #NYJvsSF on ESPN pic.twitter.com/5YA7S4kM8p
— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 10, 2024
“When they jump offside, I’m just thinking touchdown,” Lazard said. “What’s the easiest path to get there? Middle of the field was wide open so I just took it.”
Rodgers called it a “great adjustment.”
“To be honest, I thought they were going to blow the play dead,” Rodgers said. “They do that a lot of times, but I guess it was slow enough to where he (Floyd) was trying to get back. I just looked over to the left to make sure he was offsides. The next thing I saw was Allen putting his hand up, so I threw the ball.”
For Lazard it was one of a few highlights on a night when he was the Jets’ most productive wide receiver, coming a year after he was the NFL’s least productive receiver. Though early in the game, it looked like the 2023 edition of Lazard might be back; the Jets’ opening drive ended when he dropped a catchable ball on third down. Rodgers was visibly frustrated. But this time Lazard didn’t let it bother him, like coach Robert Saleh said he might’ve a year ago.
“I’m happy for him to get that off his back,” Saleh said. “His mindset and where he is, is so much different than a year ago where last year that drop … probably would have caved his whole game.”
Instead, Saleh said, Lazard was a factor both in the run game as a blocker and in the pass game as a receiver. It was the sort of the performance the Jets had seen all summer during training camp — and the one they paid for when they made him the highest-paid free agent wide receiver last offseason, a $44 million contract over four years.
By most metrics, Lazard was the least productive starting wideout in the league last year. He averaged 0.68 yards per route run, which ranked 44th of 59 receivers to run at least 400 routes. His EPA per target (0.10) ranked 44th. He ranked last of 153 eligible players in ESPN’s overall receiver score, 145th in open score (as in, getting open) and 152nd in catch score. It was bad enough that Lazard’s name was floated in trade discussions this offseason, though the Jets weren’t necessarily shopping him.
On Monday night, he had six catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns. A few plays before the free-play touchdown, he had a nice sideline grab over 49ers corner Isaac Yiadom for a 26-yard gain. He also had a 14-yard reception in the fourth quarter and caught a touchdown pass in the red zone from Tyrod Taylor at the end of the game. All six of his receptions went for first downs. Last season, he never had more than three first downs in a game. He also had only two catches of 25 or more yards all of 2023; he had two on Monday night. He doubled his touchdown total from a year ago too.
Lazard averaged 2.87 yards per route run in Week 1 — ranking 16th among all wide receivers — and had an EPA per target (1.01) that ranked 17th. Pro Football Focus ranked him the 12th-best wide receiver in Week 1, after ranking him 89th of 93 receivers with at least 40 targets in 2023.
It seems the Summer of Lazard is carrying over to the fall.
“I’ll tell you the best thing that happened in that game: You look at the first drive, we went three-and-out, and he had a great opportunity to convert on that one. We went right to him because we trust him and we love him,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. “He slipped out of the break (on the drop) and it didn’t work out. That was kind of that moment of, ‘What’s going to happen now?’, and I think it’s so great to see how he responded — didn’t bother him, didn’t affect him. He knew he should’ve made that catch and he came back and made a few really big plays for us. I mean, that’s just a testament to him and what he’s done to be able to put him in position to be a good player for us.”
PFF also had him graded as the 14th-best run-blocking wide receiver in Week 1.
“I’m as proud of him of the goal-line play (from Taylor) as anything else because that’s how he got paid,” Rodgers said. “He got paid being the grimy guy, sticking his head in there and blocking guys and finishing plays … I’m really proud of Allen. That’s what I expect of him, so the cool thing is, that’s what he expects of himself, so last year was definitely really hard for him, but that’s the Allen that I think you guys have all seen in in training camp and the Allen that I know and love on Monday night.”
So what’s the biggest difference for Lazard this year? According to him, the answer is “pretty simple.”
“Aaron Rodgers,” he said.
(Top photo: Brooke Sutton / Getty Images)
