In 1998 the Jets made a strong playoff run with Vinny Testeverde, but lost in the AFC Championship to a respectable QB named John Elway. The Jets proceeded to make the playoffs 5 times after that, including two back to back AFC Championship runs with Mark Sanchez. What did all of these playoff teams have in common?
Descent to very good offensive lines
It shouldn’t be surprising that during those 2009 and 2010 runs, the Jets offensive line was quite good. It was anchored by surprise, 2 1st round picks from the same 2006 draft, D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold. Since 2010, the Jets have never made the playoffs. Since that 2006 draft, the Jets never took an offensive lineman in the first round again. Maybe there is some kind of correlation…
In fact, since 2010 the Jets have only taken 2 offensive lineman higher than the 4th round, Vlad Ducassee and Brian Winters, and we all know how they panned out. Can you believe before this most recent draft the Jets hadn’t taken a single offensive lineman in any round of the draft since 2016!
The offensive line is one of the most important yet underappreciated positions on an NFL team. It’s no wonder teams with good offensive lines do not do what the Jets have done over the last decade. It also, albeit upsetting, isn’t surprising that since Ferguson and Mangold retired, the Jets offensive line has been like watching a tragedy unfold.
The other day I called out the Johnson’s for ruining our team by making bad decisions and hires over the last two decades. Those bad hires have in turn made these bad offensive line decisions I am referring to. FINALLY, they find a guy that gets it.
Joe Douglas in his limited time with the Jets has already proven to be their most competent GM in recent memory. I cannot recall how many times in past drafts I wanted specific players, then the Jets draft somebody else that makes me either mad or scratch my head. Douglas’ first draft was a home run in my opinion. Finally the Jets take players I wanted to see there! The value he gets in trades, especially with Adams when everyone thought Jets would be lucky to get one 2nd with his attitude, is almost unprecedented. But more important than any of his decisions, he has stated he is going to fix the offensive line, and finally address it in the draft. So far, he has and the results in week 1 spoke for themselves.
As much as this will pain me, and I guarantee you as well, let’s first discuss last season’s offensive line. At the end of 2019 PFF ranked the Jets offensive line as 28th out of 32nd, but after you read what they said you’ll agree they should have been last. This is what they had to say:
“The premier acquisition of the offseason for the Jets, Le’Veon Bell, failed to make the impact that New York had hoped for when it signed him to a big-time contract. The offensive line, paired with scheme, was a big part of that problem. The Jets averaged just 0.7 rushing yards before contact per attempt, the lowest mark of any team in the NFL. Add in that they allowed pressure in 2.5 seconds or less on 27.5% of their dropbacks (second-highest mark in the NFL), and it’s not hard to see why they find themselves at 28th on this list.”
citation: https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-offensive-line-rankings-following-2019-regular-season
For the majority of 2019, albeit there were injuries, the Jets were 2nd to last in the run and 3rd to last in the pass. They allowed an unbelievable 52 sacks, 4th from last, including a ridiculous 10 sacks in the Eagles game alone. 2019 felt to Jets fans like one of the worst offensive line performances in NFL history.
Then, in the 2020 NFL draft, the Jets do something they hadn’t done in 14 years. They draft an offensive lineman in the 1st round. Douglas also traded for Alex Lewis last season, as well picked up Connor McGovern, Greg Van Roten, and George Fant in free agency. All of a sudden, in just one season, the Jets have completely revamped their offensive line with all new starters. Before this season began many fans weren’t excited about the possibility of an average offensive line, but they should have been. Think about it, last season the Jets were either last or close to last in almost every offensive line category. Average is a whole 16 spots higher in both the run and the pass! You can win a Superbowl with an average offensive line.
For those who haven’t seen Brian Baldinger’s video breakdown of Mekhi Becton in the Buffalo game, I urge that you do so. Afterwards not only will you not believe this kid is a rookie, let alone playing in his first game, you will be so high on Becton. Offensive lineman is still one of the few remaining positions that takes time to learn and adapt to NFL speed and rushers. That is why though Cameron Clark will not play this season, I firmly believe he was an outstanding pick and will be starting at either guard or tackle (most likely guard) in 2021. That being said, I have NEVER seen an offensive lineman look as good or comfortable as Mekhi Becton in just his first NFL appearance. He not only looks like he will be the Jets blindside anchor for the next decade like Ferguson was, but he also looks like a possible Pro Bowler in just his rookie season. Joe Douglas when hired claimed his speciality was offensive line and so far he hasn’t disappointed.
Greg Van Roten and Connor McGovern looked average week 1, which again is a great thing compared to 2019. Also, average is their floor, with above average as their ceiling. Both acquired in free agency by Douglas, Van Roten is a hometown kid from Rockville Center, NY. Who did he grow up watching and liking? The Jets. When acquired he spoke about how happy he was to be here and how surreal it was to walk the halls and see images of all the guys he grew up watching and idolizing.
"It's like a dream come true. To get to come to #Jets walk around the hallways & see the posters of all the guys I watched has been so incredible. Putting on the jersey it's weird to see myself in #Jets uniform." Greg Van Roten grew up on LI rooting for #Jets as a kid #TakeFlight pic.twitter.com/7u3GWwz6EB
— Harrison Glaser (@NYJetsTFMedia) August 10, 2020
He has been an average guard for the Panthers the last 3 years, and he will at minimum continue to be that here. Connor McGovern in 2019 played 1,013 snaps at center for the Denver Broncos. He only gave up one sack in all that play, while committing no penalties. He is exactly the kind of player you want at center, and Douglas knows that.
Right tackle George Fant was also a free agent signing of Douglas this past offseason. He was an undrafted free agent signing of the Seahawks back in 2016. Since then, he has played swing tackle for them, and when on the field he looked decent. I wasn’t a huge fan of his signing at first. He is ridiculously athletic for a man of his size, but I felt in Seattle the more he played swing tackle the worse he graded out. Thankfully, I couldn’t have been more wrong about him. When it came time to name team captains, the entire Jets offensive line picked Fant. That is an incredible endorsement as they are stating they not only find him a good player but they want him as their leader. In week 1, Fant surprised the hell out of me. Next to Mekhi Becton, he was the Jets best offensive lineman week 1.
Alex Lewis in my opinion was the worst of all the Jets offensive lineman week 1, and ironically PFF rated him as the best. My way of evaluating offensive lineman must be very different from theirs. My speciality is offensive line, so I will share one of my most important factors for them: balance and footwork, which SIGNIFICANTLY outweighs raw strength. A great example was former Jets OT Kelvin Beachum. He was a 7th rd pick due to his measurables, but he developed excellent hand placement and footwork to carve out a decently successful NFL career. On the flip side, I see some mammoths who lean a lot and often find themselves off balance. James Carpenter was a great example of that. I feel Lewis is as well. He needs to work on his foot placement and speed. Whenever I watch him I constantly see him off balance or using poor footwork having to rely on brute strength.
Though the Jets offensive line looks good, now everything else seems to be the problem. In week 1, though Darnold had time to throw, Jets receivers weren’t talented enough to get open in a top secondary. Darnold also made terrible decisions based on that. They couldn’t get any pressure on Josh Allen or successfully set the edge to prevent him from running. The Jets secondary also looks awful, specifically Pierre Desir who was even benched and replaced by Nate Hairston.
Now that the Jets offensive line finally looks good, now all they need to fix is everything else.