Solving the RG problem...
The Jets have an issue with execution, especially in the run game and a lot (not all) of the responsibility is on GVR. Here we take a look at the issue and look at some alternatives.
š½Good morning Jets fans. The football week officially starts tonight with a mouth-watering game between the Green Bay Packers and the Arizona Cardinals, and while we have a few more days until Jets football, that should certainly wet your appetiteā¦or turn you green with envy as two high-flying offenses battle it out for supremacy in the NFC.
Let Mike Cook šØāš³
šRobert Saleh announced that Mike White will start Sunday against the Bengals which really isnāt a surprise. Mike White has been here from the start and itās reasonable to expect he has the best handle on the playbook.
Despite trading for Joe Flacco on Monday, the former Super Bowl MVP isnāt guaranteed to dress on Sunday as heās not expected to arrive at the facility until Friday. The Jets said that they knew he wouldn't arrive until Friday when they made the trade.
Thats a little odd to me. They traded for Joe because they needed immediate QB help, but they were happy to agree to him not arriving until it was almost too late for him to dress for the game. Philadelphia is a 2 hour drive from NY, Flacco must be Flintstoning his way to Florham Park.
Coach Saleh did confirm that if Flacco isnāt ready to go on Sunday which is dependent on how well he picks up the playbook, then Josh Johnson will be activated to the active roster and act as QB2.
Mike White threw a TD on his first career pass in relief of Zach Wilson on Sunday and despite two bad turnovers, he did flash a little game so itāll be interesting to see how he does come Sunday.
The Problem š«
šOver the course of the last 3 games, the Jets offensive line has cleaned up a lot of their issues. Fant is playing at a good level in place of the injured Mekhi Becton, whose return is still undecided. AVT is playing at a pro-bowl level as outlined in yesterdayās newsletter and Connor McGovern while not perfect, is passable. Then you had Morgan Moses who is blocking people into the stands as shown in the below video.
So if 4/5ths of the Jets offensive line was playing at an average or above level, why are we constantly seeing runs stuffed in the backfield. The Jets offense right now looks pretty rough:
Total Offense: 31st
Running Offense: 32nd
Passing Offense: 29th
Scoring Offense: 32nd
When youāre ranked that low across the board, itās never down to one player. Itās a combination of multiple players not executing, the scheme not playing to the strength of the roster and the wrong play calls at the wrong time. But there is a glaring weakness on the Jets offensive line and his name is Greg Van Roten.
Letās just take a look at a couple of examples:
Incident #1 - Here itās 4th and 1, a chance to get a new set of downs in enemy territory. As Michael points out, this is a decent play-call and the vast majority of the lineman execute this perfectly. Unfortunately, GVR gets beaten off the snap, the defender gets across his face and makes the tackle. As pointed out by former Jets lineman Damien Woody in a follow-up tweet, there is no excuse for getting beat across the face like that. He should know where the play is designed to go and as such if he gets beaten on the outside shoulder, it doesnāt really matter, getting beat on the inside shoulder blew the whole play up. If you donāt have confidence in your blocking, or even if you do, on a play like this you cheat inside to make sure there is no possible way that the 4-tech can get across and make that play.
Incident #2 - This will look quite familiar because it looks a lot like the play above. This is the first play of the game. The Jets want and need to get off to a good start coming off their bye week. The play is blocked well to the right but the scheme is for the play to go left. Knowing this as the right guard, you absolutely canāt get beat across your face, thatās the direct line to the ball carrier. Unfortunately, GVR once again gets beaten across his face, unable to handle the speed or power of the defender. The result is Michael Carter getting hit before he makes it back to the line and barely being able to pick up a yard.
Incident #3 - This is on the 2-point conversion. Here I have a problem with the play-call and the execution. As mentioned in yesterdayās newsletter, the Jets have one of the better run-blocking guards in the league in left guard AVT. Instead of running a key play behind him it goes to the right. Now was this schemed or was this a decision by the RB, thatās not clear, but in this situation, you tell your RB to get into the back of AVT and churn the legs. Instead, GVR gets stood up, hand placement allows the defender to shed the block without any trouble and the 2-point conversion fails.
The issue here is that Iāve only highlighted three key plays from the game on Sunday. These werenāt the only three poor plays by GVR on Sunday, but these were notable. This has been a running theme all season, itās hard to execute, itās hard to stay on the field and open up your playbook when you have someone not executing the small details. As I said in my tweet, Iām sure GVR is a good dude, a nice guy and one heck of a dancer, but we have to point out what we see, and what I see is a liability on the line.
šWhat do the stats say?
3 sacks allowed, the most on the Jets
18 hurries allowed, 6 more than anyone else on the Jets
22 pressures allowed, 5 more than anyone else on the Jets
The lowest pass-blocking efficiency of anyone else on the team
The lowest graded pass-blocker on the Jets
The 2nd lowest graded run-blocker on the Jets (Fant)
The 63rd rated guard in the NFL in terms of pass-blocking
The 40th rated guard in the NFL in terms of run-blocking and that seems generous.
Only 4 guards in the NFL have allowed more sacks than GVR
No guards in the NFL have allowed more hurries than GVR
Only 3 guards have allowed more pressures in the NFL
šIn short, the stats and the film combined donāt lie. Greg Van Roten is playing like one of the worst guards in the NFL. But hereās the kicker, his grades are aligned with his career averages. Heās faring worse than usual in pass-blocking and faring better in run-blocking, but at the end of the day his performance shouldnāt come as a surprise.
Having signed a contract for 3 years and $10.5 million, so the price was reasonable, but the price was reasonable for a reason. The good news for the Jets is that GVR can be cut at the end of this year and there will be $01 and the cap saving will be $3.5 million. I donāt think even Joe Douglas would consider bringing him back considering his performance.
Who's responsible for the Jets QB pressures in 2021? According to PFF the breakdown looks like this:
QB - (16.4%)
LT - (11.0%)
LG - (17.8%)
C - (11.0%)
RG - (28.8%)
RT - (24.7%)
TE - (6.8%)
Other - (4.1%)
Is there an alternative for 2021?
šA lot of people have been calling for the mullet man to be given an opportunity. Dan Feeney found his way into the hearts of Jets fans by chugging some beers at a New York Islanders game. Chugging beer and blocking lineman are worlds apart though, and there is a reason we havenāt seen Feeney, despite the struggles of GVR.
Statistically, Dan Feeney has been one of the worst guards in the league when heās played. He allowed 4 sacks and 33 pressures in just 729 pass-blocking snaps last year and 5 sacks and 43 pressures in 669 pass-blocking snaps the year before. Dan seems like a fun guy to be around and he may be a good teammate, but we saw in the pre-season that heās no starter in this league.
šCameron Clark may have been given a shot but the Jets 2020 4th round pick out of Charlotte found his way onto injured reserve in August due to a spinal cord injury, his season put to bed before the sun could even rise.
šThe Jets have got two players on their practice squad with experience at the position in former Eagle Ross Pierschbacher and former Viking Dru Samia.
Samia has the athleticism and a mean streak, but he was also a walking flag and turnstile last season with the Vikings. He gave up 4 penalties in 272 snaps and allowed 3 sacks and 14 pressures in 136 pass-blocking snaps.
Pierschbacher has experience in college at both guard and center but after being selected in the 5th round of the 2019 draft by the Redskins, he failed to make their active roster and despite attending powerhouse Alabama and starting for all four years, heās a great unknown in this league. While he may be worth a look, I imagine there is a reason he hasnāt caught on yet.
2022 & Beyond
šYou could look at some options at the trade deadline, but itās likely weāll have to roll with GVR for the rest of the season. Jacksonvilleās Andrew Norwell has been mentioned, and at 30 years old he still has plenty left in the tank. Heād instantly improve our pass-blocking having been one of the better pass-blocking guards in the league over the last few years, but his run-blocking isnāt that much better than GVRās, and do you want to give up more draft capital in a season thatās looking largely lost? Iām not so sure, especially when heās a free agent after the season anyway.
So you then turn your attention to 2022, and how to fix the problem. If itās not an internal fix, and right now we donāt have an internal fix, then we need to look outside. Protecting Zach and improving the run game is a priority, investing in the line is never a bad idea.
2022 Free Agency
šThere are a few free agents that the Jets may be interested in. In no particular order here are some of the top available guards in 2022 and their PFF grades for so far for 2021:
Brandon Scherff - Washington (69.0 in pass pro, 71.2 in run pro, 0 sacks, 5 pressures)
Laken Tomlinson - 49āers (79.2 in pass pro, 72.5 in run pro, 0 sacks, 5 pressures)
Wyatt Teller - Browns (63.4 in pass pro, 85.8 in run pro, 1 sack, 10 pressures)
Trai Turner - Steelers (72.0 in pass pro, 60.2 in run pro, 1 sack, 7 pressures)
Connor Williams - Cowboys (71.6 in pass pro, 76.2 in run pro, 1 sack, 5 pressures)
Austin Corbett - Rams (65.1 in pass pro, 70.6 in run pro, 0 sack, 12 pressures)
Alex Cappa - Buccaneers (65.2 in pass pro, 70.5 in run pro, 1 sack, 14 pressures)
šAll of these guys would be an improvement over GVR, and Iād be happy with any of them. Thereās obviously a little bit of familiarity with Laken Tomlinson whoās been with the 49āers since 2017, and I could see the Jets having interest there, especially when he can take people for a ride like this:
šConnor Williams is another name that interests me. He has issues with penalties (leading the league this year for guards), but heās also just 24 and has started 43 games in total. Joe Douglas will have options and itās key he targets the right ones if he wants to solve the RG issue through free agency.
2022 Draft Class
šIf you know me, you know that if Iām not conducting the Tyler Linderbaum train, then Iām certainly in the front row. There is a possibility that you can take Linderbaum and then move McGovern to RG, but if youāre looking to just grab a top-tier guard in the draft, you have a couple of notable options.
Kenyon Green - Texas A&M
I have to admit that a jolt of excitement fizzes through me whenever I think about adding Kenyon Green to this roster. If you put him at RG and bring back Moses at RT, this line is ready to rock. Technique, physicality, technical ability, athleticism, powerā¦you name it, Green has it. Heās one of the most dominant linemen Iāve seen and he can lineup just about anywhere. His stock is only going to rise.
Ikem Ekwonu, NC State
The other clear first-round guard for me is Ekwonu. Heās not as technically sound as Green and doesnāt play with as good a base, but he is pure class throughout. Heās mean, he finishes plays, he has this pure competitive nature and heās not afraid to get into a dog-fight, heās a mauler. Heās not a one-trick pony though, he has a ton of athleticism and packs one of the most powerful punches in pass pro.
Quite Notes
The Jets designated Jarrad Davis, Braden Mann & Kyle Phillips to return to practice. Davis is a huge addition considering the issues at LB.
Former Jets 2nd round pick Devin Smith has been signed to the Carolina Panthers practice squad.
That will do it for today. As always thanks for reading and if you like the content, Iād really appreciate any shares.