Jets pick Chad Hansen piled up college numbers, and did it with flair

Nobody’s thrown the Horns Down better than Chad Hansen.

Late in the first half of a game against Texas last fall, the Cal receiver and 2017 NFL draft prospect beat his man to the corner of the end zone. It was one of his two touchdowns and one of 12 catches for 196 yards against the Longhorns. (Hansen had 92 catches and 1,249 yards for the season, both Pac-12 leading totals.) Upon hauling the ball in, Hansen inverted the Longhorns Hook ‘Em hand gesture. The Bears held on to win at home a couple of hours later, aided by some odd officiating.

“I live in a house with a whole bunch of other guys from the team,” Hansen tells SB Nation. “I think we were sitting down and watching someone play Texas. I think it was like an older game, like a throwback game. I think it was probably Oklahoma or something like that, and we saw someone, after they scored or after they won, throw the Horns Down. I just thought, you know, it’d be cool and it’d be funny for me to do that, and it’d sort of get the crowd into the game. It worked out in my favor.

“Thank god we won the game, because if we didn’t, I probably wouldn’t have heard the end of that.”

Hansen declared for the NFL draft after the season, his junior year by eligibility. He landed with the Jets in the fourth round, 141st overall.

Hansen had “virtually no recruitment” out of high school, he said, before landing at the only college that offered him a scholarship: FCS Idaho State. He transferred to Cal after his freshman year, 2013, sat out a year under NCAA rules, and was used sparingly in 2015. He became one of America’s most prolific targets only last fall.

“I’ve been able to figure that out, and being able to win the route before the play is even starting, I think that’s huge for me. And I think that’s huge for any great receiver at the next level, is being able to put yourself in the best position possible before the snap. I think that’s something that I do really well.”

Eastern Washington’s Cooper Kupp (of the Rams) and East Carolina’s Zay Jones (of the Bills) are in the same boat. Hansen played last season in Sonny Dykes’ air raid offense at Cal, in a scheme that emphasized quick distribution to wide receivers. A receiver’s numbers balloon in a system like that. But the point, for Hansen, is that he can play anywhere the Jets ask him to play, and in whichever type of offense.

“I think there’s always a knock on receivers that only play in like an air raid, spread offense,” Hansen says. “I think there is some truth to that. We don’t have the ability to run the full route tree like the NFL does, and that, I think, hurts you as a receiver in the offense.

“But as a receiver, the objective of the position is to catch balls and make plays. I think no matter where you do that or what offense you do that in, it’s gonna translate. I think that’s something that I was able to show, that I was able to catch balls and make plays.

“Even if those numbers were inflated, it still shows that I’m extremely productive in any type of offense that you put me in.”

A feature of the modern spread is receivers running option routes that require them to read defenders and find grass.

“Honestly, I think that’s bigger than running the full route tree in college,” he says. “As a receiver, you pride yourself on being able to run routes, and I think that running routes isn’t all that hard. But something that is a little bit tougher for maybe some people is reacting and reading a defense on the fly, and I think that’s something that has really helped me in being in this offense.”

Hansen ran the 40-yard dash in 4.53 seconds at the NFL combine. He did 11 reps on the bench press, and jumped 35 inches vertically and 119 on the broad. His best combine drill might’ve been the 20-yard shuttle, an agility test, which he completed in 4.13 seconds. That was ninth-best among receivers in Indianapolis.

The skills he cites are more valuable in-game.

“As a wide receiver, first and foremost, I think I’m tough, both physically and mentally,” Hansen says. “I think the physical attribute that I bring to the table or to any NFL team that drafts me is my ability to catch balls, really. My hands. I think my ability to win the 50/50 ball is the best in this class this year, and I think that’s something that will really help me at the next level.”

“I would definitely say the reason I win the 50/50 balls is my competitiveness, and I think that carries over to every aspect of football, and I think that my competitiveness is probably one of the best in this draft,” he adds. “I think that’s really something that separates me and my will to win. But I think, as a purely football aspect of it, the mental part of the game — I think that I am really good at doing that.”