Jets Get Their Starting Center

Edition #381

Good morning!

We’ve been calling for the Jets to find a long-term solution at the center position and that’s exactly what they did last night taking Wisconsin’s Joe Tippmann.

You’ll all know that I preferred JMS who landed in New York as a Giant a handful of picks later, but I also absolutely loved Tippmann so I’m very excited for this pick.

Tippmann has the potential to become one of the best centers in football, his floor is lower than JMS, but his ceiling is higher. I have no problem with the Jets going with the higher ceiling option.

(Housekeeping: Later today my wife is heading into the hospital for the induction of our second child, so TJW may be a little all over the place over the next week while we all settle into having two little monsters instead of one)

I’m a physical, dominant player. Athletic as well. Someone who’s hopefully going to be able to get out and pull. As far as for the Jets, first things first, I need to earn the trust and respect from the rest of my teammates before anything, I guess.”- Joe Tippmann on what he’s about.

“Fired up to add big Joe (Tippmann) to the team and his Wisconsin waterfall. Probably the best mullet in the Draft right now. Again, excellent size, has excellent feet, can bend, great on the move, I feel like he’s a natural fit for our offensive style and a guy that even though he’s only played center, with his size of 6’6”, 300 pounds, his athleticism, he can provide a lot of versatility to our interior which has been a hallmark of our interior. Just fired up to have him” - Joe Douglas

“I mean he’s a guy that’s an unbelievable communicator. A very intelligent, quick grasp of the offense there in Madison and able to control the huddle. That means a lot, the center has to be the core of the interior, core of the offensive line, so has to be able to communicate, take control.” - Joe Douglas on Tippmann’s communication.

“He’s a fun guy to talk to. You can tell how passionate he is about the game. He’s got a Jets connection as his high school coach was Jason Fabini, former o-lineman here. That’s a cool thing. I didn’t talk personally to Jason, but he talked to a few people in the building and he loves Joe. He’s (Joe) got a great personality, he’s got just a blue-collar demeanor, so he’s going to fit right in.” - Joe Douglas on what makes Tippmann special.

There were three centers in this draft that I really liked, JSM, Tippmann, and Wypler. We drafted one, one went to the Giants and the other is still available heading into round four.