been a while since I’ve posted but I’ve noticed the consistent concern with our o line and negativity towards Mac for not “addressing” this in the draft. Am I the only one that thinks this is overblown / that we have filled holes appropriately in FA / have a lot of upside for growth? Just taking the projected starters: LT - Beachum - another year removed from knee surgery and a more than adequate pass protector. Still in his prime. LG - Carp - fair concerns with the new zone scheme and play drop off last year, but he was borderline pro bowl 2 years ago, a good run blocker and not a JAG by any means. C - Long. If he is average then the entire line improves after covering for the disaster of wes Johnson last year. Fair health concerns, but a great scheme for and we have very strong depth behind him. RG - the ab issue winters dealt with last year was well documented. If healthy, he got that no contract for a reason and is still young. RT - shell is the biggest questionmark but is still ascending and going into a key 3rd year. I expect a big leap from him and he was by no means a “disaster” last year. Even from a depth standpoint, I don’t see where a draft pick would have made the team. Ijilana is a solid back up swing tackle and it would we really rely on a rd 4-6 pick to take over LT if there are injuries? Dozier, Swanson and maybe qvale and Harrison fill out the depth chart. I wouldn’t expect to have more than 9 OL on the final roster. I think this is a great evaluation year and if some don’t develop (shell) or are not fits for scheme or age (carp) we have over 100M next year to address those spots in FA....I’m just not seeing the cupboard totally BARE like some others and outside of the highest paid FA options this year not seeing a viable spot that we could have significantly upgraded the starter roles. Thoughts?
Thoughts? My first thought was don't ever use the word 'optimistic' when referencing the Jets. Bacio della morte. The kiss of death. I just have a ton of trepidation throwing Darnold out there until we see how OL is - or isn't - jelling. Who knows, maybe we make some other additions come roster cut.
I agree with most of your post but, for someone who is optimistic about the OL, you have used “if” an awful lot. It seems like we need some good fortune to get above-average play.
The Jets oline is average. Nothing spectacular but they'll be ok. I agree no need to be concerned about. Next offseason between the draft and free agency the Jets will address the oline. The addition of Long should help the line be better. The qbs this year won't be sittiing ducks. Remember the likes of Adrian Clark, Wayne Hunter to name a few. They were turnstiles. You knew the qbs and rbs were running for their lives. This line they won't be running for their lives. It'll be serviceable.
"If" the Jets offensive line has a good healthy season, this season could be a fun one. I'm not holding my breath.
This is an average unit, by no means a disaster. By the way, people criticizing “lack of depth” on the offensive line always makes me laugh. Every single team in the NFL lacks depth on the offensive line. There aren’t even enough good linemen to satisfy every team’s starting lineup, let alone to have teams stashing 2-3 quality starters on their bench for “depth”. It’s not like the secondary or linebacker groups where you’re constantly rotating and the backups are as important as the starters. The fact of the matter is that if any team suffers multiple injuries along their offensive line they’re sort of fucked.
I think the depth of the OL is actually the strength. The problem for me is there is no star, pro bowl level talent. I’m not one to believe that it was possible to plug all holes in one offseason, nor do I believe we were gonna draft a star quality OLineman in the 3rd rd or later. This draft was about getting the QB, next draft should be about building around that QB. Step 1 done, step 2 to come. If a blue chip LT prospect is available to the Jets in the 1st rd next draft by all means he should be considered.
The problem with the o line is there are no long term answers on it, maybe shell, and as constructed right now it will have to over achieve to be more than adequate while praying there are no injuries or regression.
At least going by the eye test, I thought Johnson was our only truly terrible player. And I thought it definitely affected both guards. Even if Long isnt awful, hopefully he isnt so bad it brings the rest of the line down. Beachum-Carpenter-Long-Winters-Shell does not look like absolute trash to me. I still think OL should have been addressed in the draft in some capacity.
I think they’ll be OK and maybe even good if everything comes together/gels but there’s no real ceiling here for a great o-line There doesn’t seem to be any holes but there’s no real star power either. You can get away with this for a year but there’s no doubt that Macc will (should) pay for a top olineman in free agency next offseason and maybe even 2 We’re fine for now and the groans are overblown. If we dont improve a ton this season and then don’t address it in free agency, then I’ll join in
Agreed. Best case is we have a slightly above average offensive line. Worst case is someone gets hurt on the line early, and we just start to shove puzzle pieces in and hope that they fit.
If the oline did one thing right last year was give the qb enough time to make a play. How many times did we see Mcown hold on to it too long or simply not go through progressions quickly enough? Even when Bryce Petty was the starter he had plenty of opportunities to make his reads he just never set his feet correctly and was constantly overthrowing or underthrowing the receivers. For a team with no FQB last year they passed an awful lot, constantly in 4 receiver formations and using that to pass and run draws. The bottom line is pretty simple, average oline, average offensive skilled players will give a team an average offense, you’re not going to get anything more from the cast MAC put together. Jets have the potential FQB, next is a good RB, WR, some stud Olinemen, that in turn will give us the offense we have been clamoring for.
I like your optimism, but think it is probably misplaced. I do think that you're probably correct in the number of OL we keep, but I'm really hoping that we will sign an OL camp cut or two that will upgrade our depth. We're switching schemes, and there is usually an adjustment period with those kinds of changes. Hopefully, the new OL coach can make things better, but they could also be worse. While Long should undoubtedly be better than Johnson, can both Swanson and he stay healthy? Even if so, it generally takes time to build chemistry and cohesiveness when you change a starter on the OL, so things could be a bit shaky early. Carpenter struggled pretty badly in Seattle in their zone scheme. That's why he was available as a FA for the Jets a few years ago. He's not a good fit, and I think that most likely, his play will regress even more than it did last year, and may cause just as much disruption as the poor play from Wesley Johnson last season. Winters should be healthy and that should definitely help, but he was no great shakes before that. He could still prove to not be good enough. Shell is just a guy, maybe average. Hopefully, Beachum will be solid. Ijalana is nice from a versatility position, and he's pretty good at RT, but we'd better pray that he never has to see the field for more than a snap or two at LT. Supposedly, Dozier made a lot of progress last season, but still, how good is he, and has he reached his ceiling? Qvale is just a guy too. He's decent and no Wayne Hunter. That's about the best thing I can say about him.
I think we improved the OL area, but how much? Time will tell. I am not as optimistic as you but if we can improve our run game, that will help the overall performance of the team, more time consumption and less time with Defense on the field. I however feel that the OL needs to improve these ridiculous false starts on crucial downs and short yardage. Irks the crap out of me.
The line as a whole is an average group imo but if we are going to compare it strictly to last season there’s no doubt that it’s upgraded. Going forward though, Macc is going to have to focus on investing a lot of high draft capital and cap space via free agency, into the o line. You do not have an average o line with a 20 year old QB you drafted with the third overall pick. Sure darnold can escape and is good enough where you don’t need a cleaner pocket for ages cause he’s not a statue QB, but Andrew luck got killed behind a bad o line and it’s hampered his progress and the colts in general. I think next season the jets are going to replace beachum and carpenter Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Exactly it takes time for them to gel and that comes with time and playing together,,,,if people think we can just add a player that gets cut after the 3rd or 4th preseason game and not miss a beat they are mistaken. I think Mac s plan is to go into battle with what we have and as I have said before I am not optimistic about our O line , I hope I am wrong
Mac has said that he is not done tweaking the team thru free agency. I'm reading between the lines that if there are better choices to upgrade the OL or WR within reason he might just do that. I never try to look that far ahead, but next year draft should be Offense heavy in search of a LT, WR and RB. Mix in the coveted OLB and we might be going places. They also need to trade someone out and get our second pick back.
The Jets offensive line sounds like the group of names I would slap together in Madden as a kid after I wasted all my money on Wr's and RB's.
