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4 ways the Jets offensive line has improved


doitny

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sorry if this has been posted yet but i think this is encouraging. but we all knew this from the eye test that they got much better.

 

Offensive line play can either be a boon or a bane for a young team.

For a while this season, it was certainly the latter for the Jets considering how poorly Zach Wilson and the rest of the offense played. But recently, the line has looked solid. The unit has actually helped the Jets stay close in some of the team’s recent matchups.

that improvement wasn’t lost on Robert Saleh, who noted how excited he is about the continued development of the team’s offensive line.

“Our O-line has played very well here over the last few weeks and we anticipate them continuing to play well,” Saleh said after the Jets’ bye week. “We feel really good about our O-line and where it’s at and it’s only going to get better.”

The Jets still rank among the worst in a lot of offensive statistical categories, but a lot of that is on the rookie quarterback, poor running and uncreative playcalling. The offensive line, however, looks significantly better than it did after the Jets’ first two games of the season.

Better pass-blocking

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(Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Zach Wilson was the most pressured quarterback in the NFL at one point. Though he still ranks high in sack and pressure rates, the offensive line has improved dramatically in the pass-blocking department. Wilson was sacked 15 times in the first three games, but just three times in the past two. The unit ranks seventh in pass-block win rate, according to ESPN, and four of the team’s five starters have at least a 90 percent win rate. Morgan Moses and Alijah Vera-Tucker lead the group with a 93 percent win rate. Moses’ mark ranks ninth among tackles.

Fewer penalties

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(Ian Walton-AP)

Nothing plagues a team worse than offensive line penalties. The Jets had six such penalties during the first two games of the season, but have only had two combined over the team’s past three games and none in Week 5. That’s huge for an offense that ranks near or at the bottom in plays per drive and yards per drive.

Picking up first downs on the ground

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(Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)

The Jets’ running game hasn’t been great in 2021. New York ranks 30th in yards per attempt and 31st in yards per game on the ground, but they’ve improved over the past few weeks, especially when it comes to moving the chains.

The Jets rushing attack picked up six first downs and scored twice in Week 5. They rank 12th in the league in rushing for first downs or touchdowns from two yards or fewer, according to Football Outsiders’ Power Success metric. They’ve seen added success running on the left side behind George Fant and Vera-Tucker: New York’s 6.00 adjusted line yards on the left is twice as much as on the right side.

AVT improved

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(Steve Luciano-AP)

Vera-Tucker is arguably the Jets’ best offensive lineman after five games. The rookie looked lost in Week 1 after missing the preseason with a pectoral injury but turned in his best performance against the Falcons. He led the team with a 92.4 Pro Football Focus grade, including a 90.6 run-block grade and an 88.9 pass-block grade. Vera-Tucker ranks 14th overall at his position and ninth in run-blocking, per PFF.

 

 

 
 
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59 minutes ago, GreenFish said:

McGovern is an enigma. After all these games, I still don’t know if he’s a good player or not. Can we pencil him in as a starter next year? ??‍♂️

NO, NO, and again NO... He and Van Rotten have got to go. Linderbaum, and anyone not named Van Rotten.

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1 hour ago, GreenFish said:

McGovern is an enigma. After all these games, I still don’t know if he’s a good player or not. Can we pencil him in as a starter next year? ??‍♂️

Wouldn't surprise me to see him slide into Van Roten's spot and JD draft a center next year...

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11 hours ago, GreenFish said:

McGovern is an enigma. After all these games, I still don’t know if he’s a good player or not. Can we pencil him in as a starter next year? ??‍♂️

I could see the line next year as follows...........Rookie high pick at C, AVT and McGovern at G, and Becton and Fant at OT. I'll leave it to you guys which one is LT.

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14 minutes ago, section314 said:

I could see the line next year as follows...........Rookie high pick at C, AVT and McGovern at G, and Becton and Fant at OT. I'll leave it to you guys which one is LT.

Becton is the enigma here, because that dude has what it takes to get it done, he just needs to get his head on straight or else I'd move him to RT, and draft a new LT. Fant is a good backup on his next contract which should be less $, and this is the kind of strategy I believe JD has in mind in the Baltimore sense of having good core that if someone gets injured, the next man up is very capable.

But Center is the guy we need in the draft next year to continue on the young line build.

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18 hours ago, Hex said:

They're playing much better than the CAR game, that's for sure. What needs to happen now is for zach to trust the line. Hopefully when Becton comes in too it doesn't screw everything up

I hope they leave Moses at RT and use Fant as the swing tackle the rest of the year, maybe have him line up at TE on occasion. But when Becton lines up next to AVT, they’re going plow over defenders in the running game. 

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Just now, slats said:

I hope they leave Moses at RT and use Fant as the swing tackle the rest of the year, maybe have him line up at TE on occasion. But when Becton lines up next to AVT, they’re going plow over defenders in the running game. 

So hawt, was legit about type the exact same thing.  The Becton/AVT combo could be devastating, they are the future.  I'd even rotate Fant and Moses a bit, keep the D guessing.  It's great the line is playing well but Becton is definitely stepping back in at LT when he's healthy.  I'd understand keeping it all the same if the team was contending and the offense was good but it's not, it's terrible.

 

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1 hour ago, slats said:

I hope they leave Moses at RT and use Fant as the swing tackle the rest of the year, maybe have him line up at TE on occasion. But when Becton lines up next to AVT, they’re going plow over defenders in the running game. 

Agreed. This offensive line has a lot of potential if set up in the right way.

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2 hours ago, slats said:

I hope they leave Moses at RT and use Fant as the swing tackle the rest of the year, maybe have him line up at TE on occasion. But when Becton lines up next to AVT, they’re going plow over defenders in the running game. 

They definitely need to re-sign Moses.  Add Linderbaum and move McGovern to guard.  Great read on Linderbaum here.

https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sports/college/columnists/chad-leistikow/2021/07/24/leistikow-what-drives-iowa-tyler-linderbaum-college-football-top-lineman-big-ten-media-days/8021802002/

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