Even before 2012 second-round pick Stephen Hill played in a regular-season game for the Jets, it appeared that coach Rex Ryan wasn’t thrilled to have Hill around. Now, Hill could be moving closer to not being around.
‘Well, nothing told me he would [contribute],” Ryan told SI.com before the 2012 regular season. “Nothing. When I saw the tape [of his collegiate play] I was concerned. But [Jets G.M.] Mike Tannenbaum and [senior personnel executive] Terry [Bradway] and all our scouts were adamant about this guy. They were adamant that this guy can do it. He can run all these routes, he had good hands and he’s got 4.2 speed at 6-foot-5. He was the guy they all wanted, but honestly, when it came down to it, a wideout? Not my dream pick. But now that we have him, of course, I want to claim him: ‘Oh, that was my pick.’ But it really wasn’t.”
Ryan later said he didn’t intend to diss Hill. On Wednesday, Ryan apparently did.
“I’ve been disappointed,” Ryan told reporters regarding Hill’s inability to take the next step in his development. “There’s no doubt because we all see the potential that this young man has. He’s got the size, the speed, he’s tough enough [and] he has courage. Whether it was through something, maybe physically or whatever, maybe he hadn’t been 100 percent for whatever reason, but we’ll see. We’ll look at him. By now I think we’re all expecting, Jet fans are all expecting him to take the next step and for whatever reason it hadn’t been there yet. [It] doesn’t mean we’re giving up on the young man, but we want to see it.”
Hill has only 23 catches for 340 yards and one touchdown in 2013. Last year, he finished with 21 catches for 252 yards and three scores.
The Jets want to see more soon, or Jets fans eventually will be seeing less of Hill.