The New York Jets offensive line nightmares seem to be over finally. After a busy offseason which saw the team bring in three new starters while also fortifying the depth with the 11th pick in the NFL Draft, the unit is jelling and is proving to be the engine that has driven the Jets offense forward.
The Jets’ offense looked potent in Week 3
For the last decade-plus, the Jets have fielded one of the worst offenses in the league year after year. While many factors have driven those results such as poor QB play, lack of talent at the skill positions, and inept play-calling; the offensive line play has magnified those issues significantly.
Over the past two years, despite the emergence of elite weapons like Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall, the poor play and horrific injury luck along the line had rendered those two superstars irrelevant, while a bevy of mediocre quarterbacks struggled to keep things on schedule.
Evaluating the performance of one unit in isolation is difficult because football is a complementary game where the performance of one has a direct impact on the results generated by another. For instance, in 2022, QB Joe Flacco looked like he didn’t belong on the field anymore behind a Jets offensive line that highlighted his lack of mobility. However, in 2023, Flacco led the Cleveland Browns to a playoff berth and was named the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year.
Week 3’s trouncing of the Patriots saw the Jets offense fire on all cylinders for the first time this season. While Week 1’s offensive performance was underwhelming due to extremely predictable play calling, and Week 2’s performance saw an efficient passing game take a back seat to a potent rushing attack, Week 3 saw the two phases come together to be utterly dominant behind the stellar play of the offensive line.
Through three weeks, the Jets lead the NFL in third-down efficiency at 56.8% conversions, up from a putrid 25.9% a year ago. They are 9th in the league in Expected Points at 21.80, per Pro Football Reference. While the yards per game in the rushing and passing phases hover around league average, those numbers are weighed down more by the defense’s inability to get the ball in their hands in week one.
Pro Football Focus ranked the Jets the sixth-best offensive line in the league ahead of Week 4, and that’s even without starting right tackle Morgan Moses. The truth is there’s potential for this group to be even better as the season goes on.
The interior trio has led the way so far for the Jets
Much of the offensive line’s early success can be attributed to the play of the three men on the interior. Though tackle is generally regarded as the most important position, this trio has been utterly dominant to start the year.
Most impressive has been second-year center Joe Tippmann. One of the biggest debates of the 2023 draft class was whether Tippmann or current New York Giants’ center John Michael Schmitz was the top pivot in the draft. The Jets had their choice of both and selected the former Wisconsin product with the 43rd overall pick. Tippmann is the fourth-highest-graded center in the league per PFF with an overall grade of 82.9 and excelling equally in both pass and run blocking.
At 6-6, Tippmann is a supersized center, and some were concerned that it would have leverage issues due to a higher-than-normal center of gravity at the position while going against typically more squat and powerful defensive tackles. Instead, he’s been rock solid and relied on his superior athleticism to dominate his opponents regardless of the matchup. He’s also seemingly ironed out his snapping issues that plagued him throughout training camp and were a concern entering the league due to his lack of experience playing in shotgun formations. At this point, the 23-year-old looks like a future star.
At right guard, the prodigal son, Alijah Vera-Tucker has returned and is making a huge impact. Since being drafted in the first round in 2021, Vera-Tucker has tantalized Jets fans with his potential while playing every offensive line position except center. Unfortunately, he’s had little opportunity to realize his full potential due to back-to-back season-ending injuries that limited him to just 12 games over the past two seasons.
Now fully healthy, Vera-Tucker has continued his dominant play in the run game, while showing some stark improvement as a pass blocker. Through three weeks, Vera-Tucker has allowed just one sack and one pressure, while earning an 81.9 PFF pass-blocking grade, the highest on the team.
Lastly, free-agent acquisition John Simpson was one of the more criticized moves that the Jets made in the offseason. Coming over from Baltimore, the 27-year-old guard had a reputation for penalties and poor pass blocking while joining his third team in five years.
Simpson is also known for being a fiery enforcer, and that has been on display this year for the Jets as he’s often rushing to a teammate’s defense. While that has resulted in one costly penalty, his nasty streak is a welcome addition to the unit that has far too often simply rolled over for opponents in the last few years.
More importantly, Simpson has been superb in pass-blocking. On the year, he’s allowed three pressures and no sacks while earning a 74.7 pass-blocking grade according to PFF. In true pass sets (which are conventional dropbacks and non-screen passing plays), Simpson’s 81.5 grade is tied for the highest on the team over 41 such plays. In the run game, he’s also done his part to clear out rushing lanes for Breece Hall and Braelon Allen and so far has put together his best and most balanced performance of his career.
The Jets’ highly touted tackles have disappointed so far
Entering the season, the tackles were the presumed strength of the offensive line. Left tackle Tyron Smith is a future Hall of Famer and has played at an elite level for well over a decade. Right tackle Morgan Moses has been a rock-solid tackle in his own right, now entering his second stint with the Jets after being re-acquired in an offseason trade.
However, both players have struggled this season. Smith has allowed 10 pressures on the season while the team total is just 28. Moses has earned the lowest pass-blocking grade among the offensive line in true pass sets at just 38.4.
In the running game, Smith has been solid with the second-highest grade on the offensive line at 73.3. Moses, on the other hand, has been much more mediocre, posting just a 55.9 mark, which again is the worst along the offensive line.
There’s still plenty of time for these two veteran stalwarts to turn around their performance. However, with Moses set to miss the next few weeks due to injury it’s possible that he won’t have a job to come back to. Rookie Olu Fashanu looked good in limited action replacing him at right tackle late in last week’s game, and one has to think that if the rookie plays well in his first real opportunity he may usurp the veteran in the starting lineup.
Aaron Rodgers has made a huge difference, but the offensive line is the catalyst
At the end of the day, it’s hard to say that Aaron Rodgers hasn’t been a huge part of the offensive resurgence. He completed passes to 8 different receivers against New England, and while his brilliance is a big reason why, it was the offensive line that gave him time to make those reads and hit the open man.
Through three games, a lot of the offensive heavy lifting has fallen on Breece Hall and Braelon Allen’s shoulders. Again though, it’s the offensive line paving the way for them as they’ve run through opposing defenses.
This is all without the unit hitting its full stride yet. Once they do, the Jets will be able to dominate and impose their will on opponents like they want to, and the Green and White faithful will finally have an offense worth watching.
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