The Breakdown

Outside of Quarterback I'd argue there is no position group the Jets have struggled with more the last 7-8 years to get right than the offensive line. Whether it has been bad drafting, bad signings, bad QB play or bad injury luck it just seems like they could never find the right combination of depth and talent. This year finally feels like the Jets not only have the right pieces from a starting 5 perspective but have the quality depth needed to withstand a short or long term absence from one of their starters.

The Jets on opening night in Santa Clara will role out arguably their most talented group at this position since 2009 (09' was better than 10') with future Hall of Famer Tyron Smith, Pro Bowl potential level players in Alijah Vera-Tucker, Morgan Moses and Joe Tippmann alongside quality signing John Simpson from the Ravens. This group has some really high quality athletes then can move bodies in the run game with a new more down hill style approach as well as create quality pockets for their 4 time MVP Quarterback.

Not only did the Jets do a good job of bringing in talent in Free Agency and the Trade Market but they went into the draft to take the best pass protector in this years draft class in Olu Fashanu out of Penn State. This summer i got to speak with Fashanu after the Jets scrimmage and the levels of maturity as well as football IQ was beyond impressive. He got a ton of reps in camp at both the left and right tackle spots and if anything happens to either Moses or Smith he would be able to fill in quite quickly at a quality level.

Interior depth is the biggest question mark facing this group with players like Tippmann and AVT having had injury issues in the past and Simpson (who had a strong camp) being a bit of a 1 year wonder to this point. They have depth but its not as strong as the tackle depth which has the aforementioned Fashanu as well as Mitchell and Warren to back up. This group has top 5 in the league level potential and if the Jets want to reach the heights many think they'll need this group to be at least league average if not better.

The Prediction

As I mentioned earlier this group has some high level potential and is by far the most talented starting Week 1 O-Line the Jets have ran out since the early Rex days. I believe this group will get better as the year goes on and be rolling as they end into late season football. They'll likely suffer a few injuries along the way but because of the depth of this group they will be able to sustain that and head into the playoffs ready to go as a solidified top 10 unit in the league.