We're not asking for perfection...
Why GVR has become public enemy #1
Good Morning!
What a fine morning it is now the New York Football Jets are in the win column. There was so much to like about the overtime victory against the Titans, but as we so often do, we also like to point out where it could have been better.
As I was sharing information on the victory on Twitter on Monday, I happened to share the PFF offensive line grades for pass blocking. Zach had only hit the turf once, so I was fully expecting it to be a positive look.
Alijah Vera-Tucker had come away with his best pass grade of the season to date, both Moses and Fant had help up the outside and after all, we were celebrating a fine victory with head coach Robert Saleh still working the Gatorade bath smell out. There were two players who didn’t hold up quite as well, center Connor McGovern and right guard Greg Van Roten.
If you take one peak at the comments, you’ll see that both came under intense scrutiny but Greg Van Roten more than anyone. There are two reasons for that:
1) Greg Van Roten hasn’t been very good at his job this season. He’s allowed 3 sacks, and 18 pressures, and while his run blocking hasn’t been as bad, it hasn’t been good enough to mask the deficiencies in pass protection.
2) He came out and said that Zach Wilson (the chosen one) had to learn to get the ball out quicker, at least appearing to pass the blame. Now there was an element of truth to what he said, but if there’s one thing you don’t do, its openly appear to criticize the rookie QB when you’re not doing your job very well.
The interesting point here is that GVR hasn’t always been a bad pass-blocker. The 29.4 mark came on just 10 offensive snaps in Carolina. He was then average to slightly above average in this regard over the first four years he started. So there’s something about this new system that just doesn’t sit well with him.
He enjoyed one of this best seasons with the Jets in 2020, allowing 3 sacks and 24 pressures in 752 snaps, the fact he’s allowed the same amount of sacks and just 6 less pressures in only 253 pass-blocking snaps should set alarm bells ringing.
Oh Marcus!
Marcus Maye’s agent has been focal this season in trying to secure his client a new contract from the Jets or a trade to a team that would fork out the money. However the agent is going to have his work cut out now following the news that Marcus is facing charges and a suspension. Here’s Connor Hughes with a few more details:
First and foremost he’s lucky that this didn’t lead to a far worse situation, and the fact that everyone was safe is the key point.
If the Jets were hoping to trade Maye, a player they drafted in the 2nd round back in 2017 then it just got a lot tougher. If Maye is suspended and reading the above, I’d be surprised if he wasn’t suspended at some point, then that lowers his trade value.