Primetime Jets

Edition #630

Good morning!

I don’t know why the NFL has to drip feed the schedule, but apparently they do. The full schedule is set to be released today, so we’ll talk about that tomorrow, but we at least know one thing. Aaron Rodgers and your New York Jets will start their season on the west coast as they trek to San Francisco to take on Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers.

If I had to pick a team to start against, it certainly wouldn’t be the defending NFC champions on the road. If I had to pick a matchup for surgically repaired Aaron Rodgers, it wouldn’t be Nick Bosa, Javon Hargrave and company. There’s an argument for getting this one out the way earlier, and if the NFL know what they’re doing they’ll have the Jets facing Arizona in week two to get their west coast swing out the way. But I don’t love this for a week one matchup.

The Jets are making quick work of their rookie contracts signing everyone but Malachi Corley. I’m sure that one will follow soon, but Joe Douglas has wasted no time this year dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.

The Jets also announced that they’d signed WR Hamze El-Zayat and RB Markese Stepp to contracts, and in corresponding moves they waived RB Jacques Patrick and DL Marquise Spencer. El Zayat’s production is pretty limited as he totalled 27 receptions, 360 yards and 2 touchdowns last season, but he did attend the same high school as Robert Salah. Stepp played in 36 games in six seasons with three different teams (USC, Nebraska, Western Michigan) and totalled 1,158 yards and 11 touchdowns on 242 attempts.

ESPN have released their power rankings and they have the Jets slap bang in the middle at #17 - “The Jets were the only team last season to rank in the bottom four in both pass block win rate (50%, 30th) and run block win rate (67.7%, 29th), so they had to do something to beef up Aaron Rodgers’ protection. And they did, acquiring three veteran starters (LT Tyron Smith, LG John Simpson and RG Morgan Moses) and drafting LT Olu Fashanu in the first round. The return of RG Alijah Vera-Tucker (Achilles) will help too. Smith and Moses, both 33, aren’t long-term answers, and Simpson is a middling player, but the line is in better shape than last season. The depth, led by Fashanu, is better too.” Interestingly they have us below the Bears, which I find a little confusing personally.

Mike Clay from ESPN doesn’t agree though. He believes the Jets have the #1 roster in the NFL. Ahead of the 49ers and ahead of the Chiefs. I’m not sure about that, but it’s good to have confidence in what’s being built here. The projection is at 11.6 wins for the Jets. Just as a note, he believes the Giants have the worst roster in the NFL.

Do the Jets have enough interior depth?

That’s a question that comes up pretty consistently when talking about the teams prospects for 2024.

We focused a lot of resources on improving both the quality and depth of our offensive tackles, but have we done enough inside?

The projected Jets starters on the interior are:

LG - John Simpson
C - Joe Tippmann
RG - Alijah Vera-Tucker.

Both John Simpson and Joe Tippmann are coming off relatively healthy campaigns. Simson played over 1,200 snaps for Baltimore and Tippmann missed just one game after being inserted in the line-up in week three.

Alijah Vera-Tucker has been unfortunate to suffer two season-ending injuries in back-to-back seasons. We’re not slated to play in Denver this year so he should be good to go. AVT’s versatility was one of his best traits, but the Jets have committed to keep him at RG this year, hoping that some stability can help prevent injury. Since coming into the league with the Jets in 2021, AVT has played just 1,709 snaps with over 1,000 of those coming in his rookie campaign. He’s also played four different positions, with centre being the one spot he hasn’t filled.

If that trio remains healthy, the Jets are in a good place. But what happens if one or more get injured for significant portions of the season?

Here’s the depth chart behind those players with the number of snaps each player has played at each position.