Connor McGovern puts on a show in New York Jets’ loss to Arizona Cardinals

New York Jets center Connor McGovern showed every reason why Joe Douglas invested in him with an all-around gem of a performance against the Cardinals. After a breakout season with the Broncos in 2019, Connor McGovern was signed by Joe Douglas and the Jets to a three-year, $27 million deal ($18 million guaranteed) with one mission - provide a long-term solution at center, a position where the Jets had cycled through numerous poor performers following the retirement of Nick Mangold. At 27 years old with only 36 NFL starts under his belt and zero missed games due to injury, McGovern offered a favorable likelihood of fulfilling the entirety of his contract thanks to his prime age, limited mileage, and strong track record of durability. He seemed to be an obvious upgrade for the Jets after a quality season in which he was largely considered top-10 at his position. Things did not start off so glowingly in New York. Over his first three games, McGovern was largely mediocre rather than the rock-solid player he was a year ago. That is a concern for not only the team's present but its future as well. The Jets would save barely any cap space by cutting McGovern next year and would be forced to eat most of his contract as dead money ($1.3M saved, $9.3M dead money if cut after June 1, 2021), meaning he is almost guaranteed to be a starter in 2021. If McGovern fails to turn it around, the Jets will be stuck with a subpar starter on a massive cap hit - who also happens to play a position that is integral to the development of a young quarterback. To prevent that nightmare from becoming reality, the Jets need him to rebound as quickly as possible. Luckily, McGovern appears to be doing just that. McGovern took some big positive steps against the Broncos in Week 4, and last Sunday against the Cardinals, he put everything together for an excellent all-around performance. He is returning to his top-10 form, slowly working towards establishing himself as one of the five long-term puzzle pieces on the offensive line. Let's dig into the film behind McGovern's impressive outing against Arizona. Film McGovern's intelligence is perhaps his best trait, as he excels at quickly processing information, deciphering where he needs to be, and getting there in a hurry. Early this season, McGovern was strangely poor in this area, appearing slow to process the action. He allowed quite a bit of pressure through blitzes and stunts, and was often late to help one of his guards in a one-on-one matchup. Perhaps this could be attributed to the lack of chemistry up front. Chemistry is arguably more important on the offensive line than any other position in the game. No two linemen on this Jets squad had ever been on the same team before. Since there was no preseason to get some reps in, all of these guys are learning each other's tendencies on the fly. As McGovern stacks up reps alongside Alex Lewis and Greg Van Roten - each of whom have not missed a snap this year - he appears to be getting more and more comfortable. McGovern's awareness and processing speed were back in peak form against the Cardinals. Helping out in pass protection McGovern is uncovered against a four-man front on 3rd & 7. After delivering the shotgun snap, McGovern checks for any incoming threats and recognizes none. He swivels his head left and ranges over to blast Lewis' man into the turf, eliminating him from the play. In the process, McGovern creates a huge lane for Joe Flacco, which the veteran quarterback takes for a nine-yard first down pickup. In addition, nice job by Van Roten at right guard anchoring down against the bull rush in his one-on-one matchup. Keep an eye on Van Roten throughout this film review. He also had a fantastic game, easily his best of the season. On this play, McGovern reaches out his left hand to provide help on the 1-technique before passing him off to Lewis, who effectively picks him up. McGovern transitions to his right to help out Van Roten with the 3-tech, knocking him far off the line. Flacco is unable to find an option and throws the ball away, but this is some great protection against a four-man rush. More great help on this play. McGovern prepares to pick up the linebacker over the A-gap, but he drops after the snap, so McGovern immediately swivels his head right to look for work. McGovern digs his hands into the hips of Van Roten's man and drives him up the field, opening up a big throwing lane that Flacco uses to find Chris Herndon for a 15-yard first down. Here, McGovern leaves his right arm extended into the chest of the 1-technique to help Van Roten, but he keeps his head turned to the left, ready to help out Lewis if needed. Once McGovern feels that he can pass the 1-tech off to Van Roten, he bolts to the left and charges into Lewis' man to completely thwart his rush. Blitz/stunt pickups McGovern's biggest issue over the first three games - which was still present in the Week 4 Broncos game even though he was better overall in that one - was his inconsistency with picking up blitzes and stunts, something he was great at in Denver. Just as with his help in pass protection, McGovern's pickup ability seems to be improving as he builds camaraderie with his guards. Against Arizona, McGovern was back to eating up blitzes and stunts with regularity. McGovern initially blocks the nose tackle, but then recognizes the linebacker attempting to blitz through the A-gap. Trusting that Van Roten will be there, McGovern passes the nose to his right and shuffles left to pick up the linebacker, combining with Le'Veon Bell and Lewis to shut him down. The nose tackle does not actually rush to Van Roten's side and instead ends up looping to the other side, but nevertheless, a great show of trust by McGovern. The Jets contain the five-man rush and open a scrambling lane for Flacco. Nothing too flashy here, but McGovern sees the stunt coming from a mile away and stops it with ease. With the 2i-technique remaining in his spot and rushing Lewis head-on, McGovern leaves him to Lewis and turns his attention to the right. He immediately notices the outside linebacker looping inside and the 2-tech rushing to the outside. McGovern establishes perfect position to pick up the linebacker and prevents any damage. Here, the 3-technique crashes down straight into McGovern, and McGovern does an excellent job of absorbing him. McGovern catches the defender and establishes a firm grip, grabbing the defender by jersey near his right armpit and also grabbing his left wrist. McGovern uses the defender's momentum against him and drives him way out of the play. Nice play by Van Roten there as well, passing the 2i-technique inside (who skipped over McGovern to Lewis) and combining with Bell to pick up the blitzing linebacker. On a beautiful deep shot from Flacco to Jeff Smith that should have been a touchdown if not for a drop by Smith, McGovern and Van Roten were instrumental in allowing the touchdown chance to happen. McGovern looks to his right following the snap and teams up with Van Roten against the 4i-technique, who appears to be rushing the A-gap. However, the 4i pulls out at the last second, allowing the outside linebacker to barrel in with a full head of steam. McGovern and Van Roten both anchor down to absorb the rush, allowing Flacco to step into his throw and deliver it without obstruction. With just a few more inches of penetration, Flacco would have been stepped on and the throw would have been awry. Timely play by McGovern and Van Roten to create what should have been a touchdown. Working in space as a run blocker McGovern has very good athleticism and is capable of making some big plays on the move as a run blocker. On this pitch to Bell, McGovern fires off the ball and hits top gear as he pulls to the outside, beating the play side linebacker to the spot and setting up a 13-yard gain for Bell. That run was a true team effort. Van Roten, Crowder, Herndon, Chris Hogan, and Chuma Edoga all pitched in with great blocks to carve the lane for Bell. While this run only amounts to three yards on 1st & 10, McGovern throws an impactful block at the second level. McGovern immediately hits the second level, runs an accurate route to meet the linebacker head-on, loads up, and fires his hands into the linebacker's chest, sending him flying. Dirty work in the run game McGovern made some key blocks at the line of scrimmage as well. On this play, McGovern and Van Roten double the slanted 1-technique. Van Roten gets the 1-tech moving outside before heading to the second level. Using the momentum created by Van Roten, McGovern continues driving the 1-tech and creates a lane that Bell runs through to pick up nine yards. McGovern takes the back side 1-technique himself on this play and does not allow any penetration, staying low and quickly firing his hands into the defender's chest while showing a strong anchor. McGovern's block keeps the left A-gap clear for Bell to pick up seven yards. Check out Van Roten on the pull from right-to-left, taking out the outside linebacker. The McGovern/Van Roten duo was beautiful to watch in this game. In addition, that run is the exact type of play in which Jonotthan Harrison would be driven into the lane in 2019, leaving Bell with no options. Just a few more inches of penetration may have closed the lane for Bell and shut down the run, but McGovern gets the job done thanks to his effective technique off the snap, doing his part to help create a productive gain. McGovern creates a ton of lateral movement on the front side 1-technique here, opening up a four-yard chain-mover for Gore on 2nd & 3. Although it did not end up affecting the play, Van Roten got out to the second level and gained complete control of the linebacker. If Edoga did not get rag-dolled, Gore would have had a huge gain and possibly a touchdown thanks to the blocks of McGovern and Van Roten. Nevertheless, another pair of great blocks by the center/right guard duo. This was a wonderful showing from McGovern, exhibiting many of the traits that made him a very good center last year. If he can maintain this level of play over the next 11 games, the Jets can feel confident about having two strong long-term pieces locked down on the offensive line between McGovern and Mekhi Becton - perhaps George Fant can join them and make it three.