Can the NY Jets Revamp Their Offensive Line Enough for Aaron Rodgers to Have Success?

[JetNation]

The offensive line is on the mind of so many Jets fans and tackle is usually the first question mark. Robert Saleh discussed Mekhi Becton, Duane Brown and Max Mitchell at the Owners meetings today. With Laken Tomlinson and AVT at guard the Jets are set there. What about center? Saleh was asked about Titans center Ben Jones who is a free agent, and even though he is 34 he is certainly a possibility.

The draft is most likely where the Jets will look to find their long term starter at center.

In this short video, Dylan Tereman breaks down the center position with a handful of prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft. Can the Jets revamp their offensive line enough for Aaron Rodgers to have success?

The post Can the NY Jets Revamp Their Offensive Line Enough for Aaron Rodgers to Have Success? appeared first on JetNation.com (NY Jets Blog & Forum).

Click here to read the full story...

[Dunnie]

I think it's a legit glaring question yet to be answered.

Can Svelt Becton still play ?

Do we have a legit center ?

Who plays guard besides avt?

...
...

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

[WeCantDraftGoodQBs]

You can also change the name of this thread to “Can the NY Jets Revamp Their Offensive Line Enough to Have Success?” leaving Aaron Rodgers out of the question, because without a good OL that can give any QB we have time to throw to our WR’s and opens up the holes for our RB’s to establish the running game, its impossible to achieve success just relying on our defense to win every game for us.

Another way to ask this question should be “If The Jets Ever Want To Have Success Again They Need to Build A Very Good OL”.

[jbt]

Sign Ben Jones, draft a tackle and center in draft.  Oline will be fine with a QB who knows how to play the position and will get the ball out fast

[Sonny Werblin]

19 minutes ago, WeCantDraftGoodQBs said:

You can also change the name of this thread to “Can the NY Jets Revamp Their Offensive Line Enough to Have Success?” leaving Aaron Rodgers out of the question, because without a good OL that can give any QB we have time to throw to our WR’s and opens up the holes for our RB’s to establish the running game, its impossible to achieve success just relying on our defense to win every game for us.

Another way to ask this question should be “If The Jets Ever Want To Have Success Again They Need to Build A Very Good OL”.

So, true. The failures of the recent past can be directly traced to the refusal to use early round picks on the O line.  Which is shocking because the drafting of Brick and Nick paved the way for years of success. How the Jets failed to notice this fact is astounding to me.

[Flightattendant]

So if we draft a tackle in the 1st, and Becton can stay healthy, I think we'll be okay.

[JetPotato]

I'd feel better if we had a starting center on the roster, for sure.

[PepPep]

1 hour ago, jbt said:

Sign Ben Jones, draft a tackle and center in draft.  Oline will be fine with a QB who knows how to play the position and will get the ball out fast

Pretty much. And if you sign a vet center who you can plug in as starter, you are not relying on the draft to fill a massive hole left on the O-line  by McGovern. It gives you flexibility as to where and when you take a C in the draft. For example, even if the Jets love JMS, but he looks like he will be off the board late in Rd. 1, they don't have to trade up to snag him- they can wait and take a developmental Center later on. Its up to them- flexibility. 

You would imagine Brown is penciled in at LT and while Becton will have a shot to surpass him, he is assumed to start at RT with Mitchell backing him up. Again, flexibility. A LT at 13 makes a ton of sense if one of the 'top 3' are still on the board. After all, Brown is ancient, Becton is unreliable and his 5th year option is looming, and Mitchell has yet to show he can play on the left side. So taking a guy who can step in next year and start on the left side makes a ton of sense.

However, if the top OTs are off the board, suddenly it makes less sense to go OT at 13. Can't pass on a top 10 talent just to address a position of need. So again, flexibility. With Brown, Becton and Mitchell the Jets DO have some flexibility to draft a developmental OT later in the draft. Guys like Dawand Jones and Cody Mauch immediately come to mind...but there are others. 

In general- the answer to this question "Can the NY Jets Revamp Their Offensive Line Enough for Aaron Rodgers to Have Success?" is a resounding YES. But it will depend heavily on the health (and how they bounce back from injury) of Becton, AVT and Brown. As well as the overall chemistry of the line once everyone is finally healthy and playing together.  

[Bobby816]

100%. Go OT at 13 and C at 42. Maybe the C can sit and learn behind Jones maybe. And put pressure on Laken as well as a G. That would give us 4 nice young pieces on the OL for a long time.

[WeCantDraftGoodQBs]

Yes, it seems such an easy thing to understand but it’s not very popular whenever you actually draft or trade for the OL. When comes to the draft fans love to get players for their D or skill positions for your offense. Offensive linemen rarely have flashy personalities who talk a lot of smack and attract a lot of media buzz.

I think of 2 of the most famous coaches in NFL history who both truly appreciated the importance of building a good offensive line. The first coach of course was Vince Lombardi with Jerry Kramer & Fuzzy Thurston, and the second coach was John Madden with Art Shell & Gene Upshaw, and then later as an announcer who loved to talk about the Washington Redskins “Hogs” OL with Russ Grimm, Joe Jacoby, Mark May, Jess Bostic.

I think most people agree these coaches knew something about football and Lombardi & Madden both believed you start building your team like you go about building your house with a strong foundation.

I think it’s important that we remember this as we are now officially less than a month from the draft.

[OilfieldJet]

Completely agree about focusing on OL in this years' draft. Let's please start there.

 

@PepPep. Developmental players, super concept, for both Guard and Tackle. Someone else had a great observation about the Jets; we seem to do the reverse in bringing on older players to backfill these positions and neglecting drafting younger guys, development pieces,  that could start in 2-4 years.  

[rangerous]

22 hours ago, Sonny Werblin said:

So, true. The failures of the recent past can be directly traced to the refusal to use early round picks on the O line.  Which is shocking because the drafting of Brick and Nick paved the way for years of success. How the Jets failed to notice this fact is astounding to me.

Yep, the unfortunate thing is that the players Douglas has brought in have been injured. Imagine if becton, Clark, avt, and max were all playing on the oline for a full season? I’d even throw in fant and McGovern. This would be a pretty stout line. It’s too bad the jets not gotta go back into the draft pool to get oline.

[Barton]

Oline is in shambles right now. Need a legit starting vet plus draft pick in the 1st or 2nd round. 

[Flashlite80]

On 3/28/2023 at 9:32 AM, Sonny Werblin said:

So, true. The failures of the recent past can be directly traced to the refusal to use early round picks on the O line.  Which is shocking because the drafting of Brick and Nick paved the way for years of success. How the Jets failed to notice this fact is astounding to me.

Becton and AVT were early first round picks.  Tomlinson was an ALL pro when signed.

Joe D has invested more than enough in the O-line.  He just built 3 different crappy lines from the ground up.  Let's hope #4 is better.

[FidelioJet]

Jets OL is fine.

The question really isn't can they revamp it - it's basically fine as is - as long as they add a C.

The question is can they stay healthy.

Brown - Tomlinson - Center - AVT - Becton

That's a solid OL - if healthy.  That's the huge issue though.

[peebag]

No.

[RichardTodd27]

Love that we didn’t bring back McGovern. A very average center.

Drafting a center and BJ would be great.

[Flashlite80]

Joe D has made a mess of the 3 different O-Lines he has built.

There are injury questions on all three tackles.  One hasn't been in shape in 3 years and out the last 2.  His All pro guard signing was a huge flop.  We have no center.

What we have is Vera Tucker.  Any wonder our quarterbacks were constantly running for their lives and the running backs were hit so often in the backfield?

Yes, Becton is finally in shape and could take one tackle.  Brown is pretty decent when healthy and Mitchell showed potential.  We have finally replaced the O-line coach who orchestrated those disasters.  We do expect Breece back.  And finally, we have a quarterback with a quick release, who recognizes pressure and burns you for leaving your zone.  All this could prove successful if they get a solid center and at least 1 solid depth tackle.

[PepPep]

4 hours ago, peebag said:

No.

[peebag]

3 hours ago, PepPep said:

At the end of the upcoming season....TAUNT ME BRO!!!!

?

[freestater]

Need a C and a T. Hopefully the first two picks we make in the draft 

[Averagejetsfan1421]

I think a lot of our line problems are going to be helped by rodgers calling the defenses and making adjustments , getting the ball out quicker 

[bitonti]

10 hours ago, Flashlite80 said:

Joe D has made a mess of the 3 different O-Lines he has built.

 

The laken tomlinson signing was an atrocity 

[WeCantDraftGoodQBs]

On 3/29/2023 at 11:53 AM, FidelioJet said:

Jets OL is fine.

The question really isn't can they revamp it - it's basically fine as is - as long as they add a C.

The question is can they stay healthy.

Brown - Tomlinson - Center - AVT - Becton

That's a solid OL - if healthy.  That's the huge issue though.

I'm not sure that I was watching all the same games last year as everybody else. In most of the games I watched I don't remember our QB's having a lot of time to find the open receiver or our RB's (after Breece Hall went down) finding big gaps to run through that our OL opened up for them.

I realize that Rodgers has a quick release and that will help us tremendously! But he is going to be 40 yrs old, so he will only be able to withstand so many hits & sacks before getting hurt like every QB who has ever played for us. I think any help we can give him from our OL is like buying insurance just in case he might ever need it. I remember when Brady was playing for the Pats he actually gave up some of his salary just to free up cap space so he could have the best possible OL to protect him. I hate Brady, but I got to give him credit for recognizing the stronger his OL was the longer he could keep playing football.

So if Aaron Rodgers becomes our QB and says our OL is good enough for him . . . then I will definitely agree with you that our OL is fine.

[Greensleeves]

One thing I don't think we can have is a rookie protecting Rodger's blind side in possibly the only year he plays. We can't just say let's draft the best left tackle in the draft and put him in right away without it being extremely risky in the early going. One blown assignment in the first game and we risk injury to Rodgers. We have plenty of pieces aside from center. Our line was the most injured line in the league last year. They aren't injured anymore. Put together a line of vets and draft a couple rookies - center and tackle - and work them in when they are ready.

[FidelioJet]

2 hours ago, WeCantDraftGoodQBs said:

I'm not sure that I was watching all the same games last year as everybody else. In most of the games I watched I don't remember our QB's having a lot of time to find the open receiver or our RB's (after Breece Hall went down) finding big gaps to run through that our OL opened up for them.

I realize that Rodgers has a quick release and that will help us tremendously! But he is going to be 40 yrs old, so he will only be able to withstand so many hits & sacks before getting hurt like every QB who has ever played for us. I think any help we can give him from our OL is like buying insurance just in case he might ever need it. I remember when Brady was playing for the Pats he actually gave up some of his salary just to free up cap space so he could have the best possible OL to protect him. I hate Brady, but I got to give him credit for recognizing the stronger his OL was the longer he could keep playing football.

So if Aaron Rodgers becomes our QB and says our OL is good enough for him . . . then I will definitely agree with you that our OL is fine.

the OL was terrible last year - but it's because they were injured.

Becton was out

AVT was out

Brown should have been on IR....

If health the OL is more than adequate.  Being healthy is another question though.