It feels heretical to say at this point, but the Jets’ O-Line isn’t as much of a project as people think it is. Last off-season, there were plenty of people prophesying doom around the offensive line, and even calling for Joe Douglas to spend the fourth overall pick on tackle Ikem Ekwonu.
Thankfully for us, JD didn’t listen and drafted Sauce Gardner fourth overall, but the doomers probably felt somewhat vindicated when Mekhi Becton went down in the preseason with another, very different, knee injury and left Douglas scrabbling around for a replacement in August. An undeniable criticism of JD’s handling of the offensive line is not having a replacement veteran already on the roster by that point, and I won’t argue that he shouldn’t be criticised for that.
But then another tackle went down … and another … and then the starting right guard/tackle replacement in AVT … and then another, until we reached the ridiculous point by the end of the season that the Jets had three starting O-Linemen, and their three backups all on IR. It all got a bit ridiculous, and it also muddied the waters around what the Jets’ front office should have done in 2022, and what they need to do in 2023.
The Offensive Line In Context
To properly assess what the Jets need to do to fix their O-Line for their new QB in 2023, fans need to look past the truly staggering injuries that ravaged the unit last season and evaluate what needs the team actually have going forward.
Outside of the, probably predictable, injury to Becton last season, the most disappointing thing about the O-Line unit was George Fant. His performance in 2021 had everyone hopeful that he could be the long term answer at left tackle for the Jets, and we were gearing up for what his extension would look like. Fant’s performance in 2022 though was woeful, and although it wasn’t quite as bad once he returned from his stint on IR he was still pretty poor.
Conversely, the best thing to come out of all the chaos was AVT’s emergence as a legitimate option for the Jets as a starting tackle. His injury against the Denver Broncos robbed us of seeing how he would hold up at the position for the rest of the season, but what he showed in his limited time gives the Jets a lot of flexibility in how they approach building their line for next season.
Pariah of Jets-Twitter Connor McGovern is now officially at the end of his contract with the team and likely doesn’t get re-signed this off-season. The Jets will be on the lookout in free-agency and the draft for his replacement and there’s plenty of names to choose from.
Duane Brown has a decision to make about whether he wants to play again after toughing 2022 out through a shoulder injury, and, strangely, seems happy he can make it without needing to live as a mole person for a week. Each to his own I guess. Brown though should not be considered a starter in 2023, and so if he retires the Jets need to look at replacing his services in the back-up market.
Multiple back-ups and desperation signings are due to leave in free-agency: Cedric Ogbuehi, Michael Remmers, Nate Herbig, Dan Feeney and Greg Senat are all due to leave unless the Jets make them new offers in the next couple of weeks
Can’t Rain All The Time
Call me optimistic (or other, more hurtful names) but I’m not as worried about the O-Line as other fans seem to be. Taking all of the above into consideration this is how I see the current situation for the Jets:
Tackle: Two legitimate starters on the roster in Mekhi Becton and AVT. Two serviceable backups in Duane Brown and Max Mitchell pending Brown’s decision. This leaves the Jets needing a fifth option at tackle and potentially a veteran backup as Becton insurance.
Guard: He needs to have a bounceback year, but Laken Tomlinson will be starting at left guard next year. Who starts next to him is the biggest question the team have if AVT slides over to tackle full time, and then the Jets need to look at signing or drafting a back up as well.
Centre: Starter needed. Not a bad year to need a centre with the options available in free agency and the draft.
Overall: By my assessment the Jets need a starting centre, a starting guard, a backup guard and a 5th string tackle.
The Plan
Re-sign Nate Herbig:
The key to sorting out this O-Line this off-season is going to be not overthinking things. Herbig had a solid season filling in for AVT at right guard until he got hurt. He certainly did enough to merit a chance at starting in 2023. Playing in 13 games, Herbig was credited with 1 sack, 3 QB hits and 14 hurries. It’s more impressive when you consider the fact that the sack, 2 of the QB hits and half the hurries came in his last two games of the season.
This is the move that frees up AVT to move to guard, and also frees up that 13th overall pick to do more interesting things with. Herbig isn’t going to be that expensive either which is why it’s a savvy move when you’re so close to the cap and have other needs to fill.
Sign second/third tier free agent tackles:
This is a position where the Jets could look to add an ageing veteran who doesn’t want to see too many snaps like Riley Reiff or Cam Erving, or look for a rehab project in Isaiah Wynn or Andre Dillard. If Brown walks away from the game you’d likely do both, and the two additions battle it out to be the primary back up behind Becton.
Draft John Michael Schmitz:
Again, you don’t overthink this one. There are some decent options in free agency like Pocic and Bozemen, but both aren’t much of an upgrade over McGovern. Schmitz gives you an agile, quality centre on a rookie deal for four years and stops us having to think about it for a good long while. You just have to hope he makes it to 43, or I do wonder if JD trades back to the bottom end of the first, or back into the first to ensure he gets Schmitz.
Draft a day three guard:
There’s so many options here, and my only real preference is to go for a guy with some guard/centre versatility that the Jets are losing with Dan Feeney leaving the team. But for the sake of this exercise I’d look at Joe Tippmann from Wisconsin. Tippmann played centre in college, but at 6’6’’ it’s hard to imagine him playing a full-time role there in the NFL. Tippmann is what the Jets have looked for in terms of baffling agility for his size, and not having any pressure to start in his first year will give him time to develop as a solid backup for the team.
The reason I like this approach more than taking one of the first round tackles is the reduced reliance on rookies in year one. There’s going to be new faces on the line this year, as well as two players returning from season ending injuries, but with this approach the only new face is the Centre. This way most of the new faces are in backup roles.
No matter how “pro-ready” a tackle is they are going to take time to settle into the NFL. Ekwonu was by all accounts the best tackle prospect in a long while, and even he sucked the first few games of his first year. Andrew Thomas was so bad his first year with the Giants it was painful to watch.
I think this is a pretty sensible plan, and sure no-one has anything negative to say about it. If you do have any thoughts though go ahead and leave a comment, or shout at me on Twitter about it.
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