New York Jets free agent position preview: Offensive line

The New York Jets are poised to spend big on the offensive line in free agency. How should they allocate their money at the position? Jets' impending free agents Pat Elflein 2020 cap hit: $829,500 Free agent type: Unrestricted Age on September 1, 2021: 27.1 Free agent G ranking: 18th of 20 Elflein was truly abysmal throughout his short stint with the Jets, showing why the Vikings decided to cut him midway through his fourth season after spending the 70th overall pick on him just three years earlier. From Weeks 12-17, Elflein tied for the second-most pressures allowed among guards (19). On the season, Elflein allowed 24 pressures over 239 protection snaps, a rate of 10.0% that was second-worst among all qualified guards (better than only the next player we will break down in this piece). In the run game, Elflein was also poor, ranking at the 31st percentile among guards with a 56.1 Pro Football Focus run blocking grade. The Jets were very unsuccessful when running in Elflein's direction. Over Elflein's six starts, on rush attempts directed "left guard" (according to the play-by-play), the Jets averaged 3.7 yards per rush attempt and picked up a conversion just 14.1% of the time. The league averages on rush attempts directed "left guard" this season: 4.4 yards per rush attempt and a 24.3% conversion rate. Josh Andrews 2020 cap hit: $732,358 Free agent type: Unrestricted Age on September 1, 2021: 30.2 Andrews played 311 snaps over nine games for the Jets, starting four of those - three at right guard and one at left guard. He was one of the worst offensive linemen in football, earning a 41.2 overall PFF grade that ranked sixth-worst out of 231 qualified linemen. In protection, Andrews coughed up 25 pressures over just 188 protection snaps, an out-of-this-universe pressure rate of 13.3% that was the worst among 82 qualified guards by about ten country miles. The difference in pressure rate between Andrews and 81st-ranked Elflein - 3.3% - is about equal to the difference between Elflein and 70th-ranked Matt Pryor. Yikes. The Jets' offensive line struggles in 2020 primarily had to do with the putrid depth. The starting-5 was still below average and is greatly in need of improvement, but it was a noticeably better unit than the one that preceded it in 2019. However, the backups were downright terrible, a problem spearheaded by Andrews and Elflein. Jets' players under contract George Fant: age 29.1 on 9-1-21, $9.4M cap hit (signed through 2022) Connor McGovern: age 28.4, $9.3M cap hit (signed through 2022) Alex Lewis: age 29.4, $6.9M cap hit (signed through 2022) Mekhi Becton: age 22.4, $4.2M cap hit (signed through 2023 w/option for 2024) Greg Van Roten: age 30.5, $3.4M cap hit (signed through 2022) Conor McDermott: age 28.9, $1.2M cap hit (signed through 2021) Chuma Edoga: age 24.3, $1.1M cap hit (signed through 2022) Cameron Clark: age 23.8, $952K cap hit (signed through 2023) Leo Koloamatangi: age 27.3, $850K cap hit (signed through 2021) Jimmy Murray: age 26.3, $850K cap hit (signed through 2021) The entirety of last year's starting-5 is back, but the Jets can escape the contracts of Fant, Lewis, and Van Roten, so their futures remain up in the air. Here are the cap implications for those three players if cut: Fant: $7.4M savings, $2.0M dead money Lewis: $5.2M savings, $1.7M dead money Van Roten: $3.4M savings, $0 dead money Becton is obviously penciled-in for the next few years after being taken in the first round of last year's draft. McGovern is extremely likely to be back in 2021 as the Jets are on the hook for his entire salary in 2021 and would save nothing by releasing him. They would actually lose $1.3 million in immediate cap room while taking on $10.7 million in dead money, per Spotrac. The Jets could consider cutting McGovern after the 2021 season, at which point they would save $9.0 million by cutting him while eating $1.3 million in dead money. This unit's depth is a major problem, lacking any players that seem capable of performing above a league-worst caliber level. At tackle, Chuma Edoga heads into year three after failing to progress in his second season. Edoga allowed a pressure rate of 9.8% in 2020, second-worst among qualified tackles and even worse than his rookie-year mark of 8.1%. Conor McDermott ranked fourth-worst among qualifiers with a 9.3% pressure rate allowed in 2020. At guard, the only name of note beyond the starting-5 is Cameron Clark. The 2020 fourth-round pick did not appear in a single game during his rookie season. Clark was sidelined throughout the first half of the season, but from Week 9 onward, he was healthy, yet the Jets continued to sit him behind bottom-of-the-barrel guards. A second-year leap from Clark would be massive for the offensive line's depth and long-term stability. If the Jets find two new starters at guard, they could improve their depth by keeping Van Roten around as a backup. Van Roten had a hot-and-cold 2020 season, but was ultimately around average overall, posting a 63.0 overall PFF grade that was slightly below the league average for guards (63.8). Van Roten's $3.4 million cap hit is a fair price for a top-level backup. On the other hand, Lewis is too expensive to be kept as a backup at $6.9 million, and he is not good enough to be brought back as a starter after allowing a 6.9% pressure rate that ranked 72nd out of 82 qualified guards. From Weeks 1-11 (Lewis' stint as a starter), Lewis' total of 24 pressures allowed stood as the third-most among guards. Top-tier free agents that make sense Brandon Scherff, G, Washington Free agent type: Unrestricted Age on September 1, 2021: 29.7 Free agent G ranking: 1st of 20 Scherff is about as good as it gets at right guard. He is one of the most brutally forceful people-movers in the league, but also has underrated athleticism and movement skills when out in space. In 2020, Scherff posted an 84.1 overall grade at PFF that ranked 10th among all guards and fourth among right guards. He has never posted a season-long PFF grade lower than 72.5 in his six-year career. Injuries are the question for Scherff, as he has played in only 71.9% of possible games over the past four seasons (46 of 64). His lack of durability could land him in the "avoid" section for some, but for a Jets team that is in dire need of help at the guard position and improved support for a potential new franchise quarterback, Scherff is too darn good to pass up even when considering his fragility. Joe Thuney, G, Patriots Free agent type: Unrestricted Age on September 1, 2021: 28.8 Free agent G ranking: 2nd of 20 Thuney is a fantastic technician, dominating as a one-on-one pass protector and consistently taking tremendous angles in the run game. He ranked 10th among all guards and fifth among left guards with a 74.2 overall PFF grade in 2020, his fourth consecutive season with a 74.0+ grade. Over the past two seasons (including the playoffs), Thuney allowed only 34 pressures over 1,243 protection snaps, an elite rate of 2.7%. Never missing a start in his NFL career, Thuney's iron man status gives him an edge over Scherff. Corey Linsley, C, Packers Free agent type: Unrestricted Age on September 1, 2021: 30.1 Free agent C ranking: 1st of 12 If the Jets want to move Connor McGovern to guard, they'll need a very good reason to do it. Linsley is the only player on the free agent market who would represent a clear upgrade at center. He is in the conversation to be the league's best player at the position after leading all centers with an 89.9 overall PFF grade in 2020. Linsley allowed seven pressures over 530 protection snaps (1.3%). Taylor Moton, T, Panthers Free agent type: Unrestricted Age on September 1, 2021: 27.0 Free agent T ranking: 3rd of 20 Should the Jets decide they want to look for an upgrade at right tackle, there are two top-end starters set to hit the market at the position. Moton is the younger of the two, set to turn 27 just before the season begins. He has never missed a game and posted an overall PFF grade of at least 76.0 in each of his three of his seasons as a starter. That includes a career-best 81.2 grade in 2020 that ranked fifth-best among right tackles. Daryl Williams, T, Bills Free agent type: Unrestricted Age on September 1, 2021: 29.0 Free agent T ranking: 2nd of 20 Williams joins Moton as a potential shoot-for-the-moon target at right tackle. He is two years older than Moton and has more injury questions, playing 72 of 96 career games (75.0%), but he was just as great of a player in 2020. Williams posted the fourth-best pass blocking grade (80.0) and ninth-best run blocking grade (76.9) at PFF among right tackles this past season. Bargain free agents to target Ben Garland, 49ers Free agent type: Unrestricted Age on September 1, 2021: 33.4 Free agent C ranking: 2nd of 12 I don't think this is the case, but if the Jets are dead-set on moving McGovern to guard and finding a new center, there are decent options. Garland is one of them, possessing a connection to Mike LaFleur from the past two seasons. While Garland is going to be 33 years old and only has 11 career starts at center (all for the 49ers), he played well in those games. His 71.1 overall PFF grade over five starts in 2020 ranked ninth-best out of 39 qualifiers. Austin Reiter, Chiefs Free agent type: Unrestricted Age on September 1, 2021: 29.7 Free agent C ranking: 3rd of 12 Reiter is another solid option at center if the Jets want to go this route. His game heavily leans towards pass protection over run blocking. In 2020, Reiter ranked sixth among centers in pass blocking grade (78.3) and 23rd in run blocking grade (63.6). He started 28 of the Chiefs' 32 regular season games at center over the past two seasons, including all six of their playoff games. Reiter gave up only 22 pressures over 1,574 regular season and playoff protection snaps from 2019-20, a 1.4% rate. Chris Reed, Panthers Free agent type: Unrestricted Age on September 1, 2021: 29.1 Free agent G ranking: 5th of 20 Reed is a good depth option at guard. With only 23 career starts at 29 years old and lacking any standout seasons, Reed is not a great starting option and will likely be inexpensive, making him enticing as a backup. Over 14 starts as Carolina's left guard in 2020, Reed ranked at the 79th percentile among qualified guards with a 3.4% allowed pressure rate. His 67.2 run blocking grade landed at the 71st percentile. Reed's 54.5 pass blocking grade in 2020 (39th percentile) and subpar career performance prior to 2020 (composite career overall PFF grade of 55.7 from 2016-19) are causes for concern, but again, we're not looking at him as a starter here. His flashes of solidity in 2020 make him one of the free agent market's best targets for teams in search of a backup guard. What should the Jets' approach be? At guard, the Jets need to be highly aggressive. Period. The two guard spots were the biggest weakness on the offensive line in 2020. Fortunately enough, there are two stars set to hit the open market in Scherff and Thuney. If Joe Douglas is only to take an all-in approach at one position in free agency, this should be the one. Look for Douglas and the Jets to make huge offers for both players, ideally coming away with one of them even if they have to overpay to make it happen. If the Jets miss on both Scherff and Thuney, I would expect them to fold their hand on the guard market. There are simply no other enticing options on the board, even for a stopgap-type role. In this scenario, Van Roten would likely return as a starter while the Jets turn their attention to finding a long-term solution at the other guard spot in the draft. The big X-factors are how the Jets handle the center and right tackle positions. What if LaFleur and company truly do believe that McGovern can thrive with a move back to guard, and that the best course of action is to slide him over and search for one center and one guard instead of two guards? In that case, going hard after Linsley makes sense. An interior trio of either McGovern/Linsley/Scherff or Thuney/Linsley/McGovern would be exciting on paper, but landing Linsley in addition to Scherff or Thuney will be much easier said than done with how much interest those players will command across the league due to the scarcity of options on the market. Even so, perhaps a McGovern/Linsley/rookie trio is the way to go. My personal take would be to leave McGovern at center - he was a top-10 talent there in 2019 and should get back there with better guard play alongside him to make his job easier from a mental standpoint - but the possibility of the Jets looking to slide him over should be entertained. On the right side of the line, the Jets will likely take a look at Moton and Williams but shy away from going overboard if their prices get out of hand. If they can land one of them, that's great - Fant's contract can be easily escaped at that point. If not, Fant is a perfectly fine option to carry into 2021 as a starter. It's especially intriguing to imagine how much better Fant could be in LaFleur's outside zone running scheme, which would make much better use of his athleticism than Adam Gase's offense did. Regardless of what happens in free agency, the Jets need to continue focusing on the offensive line in the draft. As we discussed earlier, this unit's depth was a far bigger problem than its starters in 2020. Outside of Clark, there is no pipeline of young talent being groomed to take over in the future. It will be essential for Douglas to use the draft to establish this long-term pipeline. Exactly how aggressive Douglas should be in attacking the offensive line on draft weekend will depend on what transpires in free agency, but no matter what happens with the Jets' pursuit of the biggest fish, they will still head into the draft with a pressing need for improved depth and more youth up front. Until then, Douglas needs to be focused on doing whatever it takes to add at least one surefire upgrade to his offensive line via free agency.