Santonio Holmes

A Lisfranc injury sidelined Holmes for most of last year, while nagging injuries, poor quarterback play and conservative play calling derailed him the year before that. Now 29, Holmes enters the summer still rehabbing from foot surgery, and it remains to be seen whether he returns with his trademark speed and quickness. At 5-11, 192, Holmes has never been much of a red-zone threat, instead making his living on big plays down the field, but raw second-year man Stephen Hill is likely to be the team's deep threat, relegating Holmes to an outside chain-moving role. (Jeremy Kerley is likely to man the slot). When healthy and up-to-speed, Holmes is still a useful player, but given the uncertainty at quarterback and that he's coming back from a serious injury, there's more downside than upside here. At press time, Holmes still cannot run at full speed and is considered "week-to-week", clouding his early season availability.

Holmes’ first full season as a Jet can only be considered a disappointment, with meager per-play averages of 6.5 YPT and 12.8 YPC. The speedy wideout had just eight catches of 20 yards or more on 102 targets and failed to break a play for 40-plus all season. At 5-11, 192, he’s never likely to be a red-zone threat and was all but ignored in that area a season ago (nine targets). Holmes’ struggles could largely be attributed to knee, quad, shoulder and foot injuries through which he played, Brian Schottenheimer’s conservative play calling and also Mark Sanchez’s inconsistency at quarterback. The Jets apparently believe that to be the case as they replaced Schottenheimer with Tony Sparano and guaranteed Holmes’ deal for $15.25 million over the next two seasons. Sanchez isn’t going anywhere, however, and though the team brought in Tim Tebow, it’s unlikely he’d be any kind of solution to what ails Holmes. Nonetheless, at 28, Holmes is still in his prime and has the speed, quickness and playmaking ability to be a No. 1 wideout, especially if Sanchez, freed from Schottenheimer, takes the next step in his development.

After missing the first four games of the year due to a suspension, Holmes fit in well enough with the Jets but like teammate Braylon Edwards fell victim to a balanced attack and the team's tendency to spread the ball around. Moreover, Holmes' per-play efficiency declined, in part because Edwards was the team's primary deep threat. At 5-11, 190, Holmes has excellent downfield speed, elite change-of-direction skills and good hands. Holmes runs sharp routes and has the toughness to catch balls in traffic despite his below-average size. At 27, he's in the prime of his career and has the skills to serve as a team's No. 1 wideout. The Jets clearly agree with that assessment and rewarded Holmes with a five-year, $50 million contract, with $24 million guaranteed. Holmes is firmly the No. 1 receiver for the Jets, although the team added Plaxico Burress to the mix (while letting Braylon Edwards and Brad Smith go), so Holmes' red zone targets could take a hit.

Holmes parlayed his Super Bowl MVP into the best season of his career, averaging 9.0 yards per target (9th among 100-target WRs), 15.8 yards per catch (5th) and 21 catches of 20 yards or more (tied for 2nd). He finished the year seventh in the league with 1,248 receiving yards and emerged as a legitimate No. 1 receiver. At 5-11, 190, Holmes isn’t much of a redzone target, and his touchdowns will be of a higher degree of difficulty as a result. But Holmes has good speed, excellent quickness and is very elusive in the open field. He’s also physical enough to go over the middle and runs good routes. Of course, Holmes will bring this formidable skill set to the New York Jets this year after some bad behavior at a nightclub and a subsequent league-imposed four-game suspension got him shipped out of Pittsburgh. Once he returns, he’s got a good chance to be Mark Sanchez’s top target, but the Jets are likely to be a run-first team, and there’s plenty of competition for balls with Braylon Edwards, Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller around.

The yards-per-target champion in 2007, Holmes took a precipitous step back last year – at least until the Super Bowl where he was named MVP. While Holmes had just 85 targets two seasons ago, he used his blazing speed, and outstanding quickness to sting defenses for 11.1 yards per look. Last season, Holmes had 29 more targets but only three more catches and 121 less yards. His per-target average dropped to 7.2, good for just 27th among 100-target wideouts. While Holmes’ average dropped from 18.1 yards per catch to 14.9, the bigger culprit in his loss of efficiency was his catch rate hitting just 48 percent. He had only six drops (tied for 27th), which was actually better than average given his 114 looks, so the falloff was more a matter of Holmes and Ben Rothlisberger just not being in sync – at least until it mattered most. At 5-11, 190, Holmes isn’t going to see a lot of red-zone work (just 11 targets there last year), so he’s got to do his damage from deep. Last year, he had just 10 catches of 20 or more yards and two from 40-plus, and failed to clear 100 yards in any game – until the game-winning drive in the Super Bowl. Expect him to see 100-plus targets again this year, and for his efficiency to fall somewhere in between his outstanding 2007 and below par 2008.

We'd say Holmes is headed for a breakout season – if he hadn't already broken out last year. Holmes racked up 942 yards and eight touchdowns in just 13 games last season, numbers that prorate to 1,159 yards and 10 touchdowns over a full 16. Moreover, he put up these numbers on just 85 targets, making him the most efficient receiver in the NFL with more than 60 targets (11.1 yards per). That means he put up about 13 percent more yards per look than Randy Moss. The 5-11, 190-pound Holmes is a playmaker in the mold of Lee Evans, Santana Moss and Steve Smith, small receivers with exceptional quickness and deep speed. Holmes runs excellent routes, has good hands and is tough enough to catch the ball in the middle of the field. Last season's ankle injury represented the only games he's missed in college or the pros, so there's no reason at this point to question his durability. The one knock on Holmes is his lack of redzone targets – Hines Ward and Heath Miller get most of the looks when the Steelers get close, even though Holmes was effective in that area last year (nine targets, four scores). That's not likely to change too much this season, but like Smith, Holmes is the rare small receiver who can put up respectable touchdown totals from long distance.

Like most rookie receivers, Holmes started the season slow, but was a bigger part of the offense as the year wore on. By season’s end, he found himself in Pittsburgh’s starting lineup, and for good reason. Holmes averaged 9.7 yards per target (that’s better than any of the Top-20 receivers), and caught three passes of 40 yards or more on just 85 attempts. At 5-11, 190, he’s not much of a red-zone presence – just nine looks and one touchdown from inside the 20, but he’s got enough speed and quickness to score from distance. He’s also tough enough to make catches in traffic and he’s durable, having never missed a game in college or the pros. Holmes is also a fluid route-runner, and he has good hands. If Pittsburgh opens up the offense under new coach Mike Tomlin and new offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, we could be looking at a major breakout for the first receiver taken in the 2006 draft.

The first receiver taken in the 2006 draft, Holmes has very good speed, excellent quickness and good hands. At 5-11, 190, he’s not big, but he’s willing to make the tough catches over the middle, and he’s durable enough to take a hit – Holmes didn’t miss a single game in his three-year college career. Given his size, he’s not likely to be a big red-zone threat, but he has enough speed to score from distance. Holmes will vie in training camp to start opposite Hines Ward, but will likely begin the year as the No. 3 wideout behind Cedrick Wilson.