Wrapping up a much-improved second half of the season, Connor McGovern went into New England and shined against Bill Belichick’s defensive front.
Graded as the NFL’s seventh-best center from Weeks 9-17 of the 2020 season with a 74.0 overall grade at Pro Football Focus, Connor McGovern put a cherry on top of his second-half sundae with a sprinkling of sweet blocks on an icy Foxborough afternoon. McGovern allowed zero pressures over 38 snaps in pass protection, and in the run game, he helped lead the New York Jets to a delectable average of 5.5 yards per carry over eight rush attempts directed through the A-gaps.
Let’s dig into the film behind McGovern’s impressive season finale.
Pass protection
The Jets get the ball out quickly here, but I like this rep from McGovern (center, #60).
With a 1-tech DT shaded heavily to the inside over both A-gaps, McGovern throws out both arms off the snap. McGovern hits his target on each side, stifling both DTs to prevent any detrimental interior penetration. He might have gotten away with a little bit of facemask contact on the right side, but it’s minor.
On this play, McGovern assists in picking up three different defenders to create a pristine pocket for Sam Darnold.
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Something that gets overlooked with the offseason, we could sign big name OG and OT because we can cut players to create cap space on top of the big load of cap space that we already have.
Let’s say we say we signed Alejandro Villanueva for a 3 year 48 million deal and cut Fant at the same time. The two moves combined makes not that big of a cap hit. Same thing with signing Thuney or Scherff and cut Lewis at the same time.
Agreed. In particular, the decision on whether or not they cut Fant will be one of their biggest this offseason. I think they’ll look for a replacement knowing that they can cut him and free up plenty of space if they find one, but if they don’t find a clear upgrade I do think they will be willing to stick with him for one more year.