Trystan Colon is another depth signing for the New York Jets OL, but he provides more upside than backups typically do
The New York Jets have made another addition to their offensive line, although it is yet another backup who will not fill one of the team’s vacant starting spots. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports the Jets have signed former Ravens center/guard Trystan Colon, who was a restricted free agent and became free after the Ravens did not tender him.
The #Jets are signing G Trystan Colon, source says. Former undrafted free agent of the #Ravens wasn’t tendered as a restricted free agent, so he was free to sign elsewhere. Heads to Florham Park after three years in Baltimore.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 17, 2023
Garafolo added that Colon visited the Atlanta Falcons but chose to sign with New York.
Colon actually visited the #Falcons today but decided to sign with the #Jets.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 17, 2023
The 24-year-old Colon is a former undrafted free agent who was not tendered by his team as a restricted free agent, so the truth of the matter is that he should be considered a fringe player who will probably have to scratch and claw for a roster spot in New York.
I’m not here to convince Jets fans that Colon is a secret gem discovered by Joe Douglas. However, I noticed some intriguing parts of Colon’s resume that seem to suggest he has a higher ceiling than most backup linemen who are being signed at this stage of free agency.
While Colon played very sparingly over his three seasons in Baltimore (20 games with 4 starts), he actually posted some respectable numbers when on the field. Colon allowed only four pressures over 144 pass-blocking snaps. That’s a pressure rate of 2.78%, which is great for an offensive lineman at any position.
The majority of Colon’s offensive snaps have come at center – 244 of 323, to be exact. He’s also played 53 snaps at right guard and 26 snaps as a sixth offensive lineman.
When playing at center, Colon has allowed only three pressures on 113 pass-blocking snaps, which is a pressure rate of 2.65%. That would have ranked 13th-best out of 34 qualified centers in 2022. The league average for centers was 3.37%.
This is an extremely small sample size, so Colon’s numbers should be taken with a grain of salt, but it’s not often that you see a backup with such solid production – especially one who is only 24 years old. While the numbers are obviously overselling him to some degree (or else he would have been tendered by Baltimore), they do suggest there could be some untapped potential within Colon.
Further adding to Colon’s resume is his preseason production. He’s been utterly dominant against the lowly competition presented by the preseason. In two preseasons with Baltimore, Colon allowed one pressure on 157 pass-blocking snaps (0.63%).
The biggest concern with Colon is a severe physical limitation he will always have to work around: his extremely short arms. Colon has some of the shortest arms of any offensive lineman in the NFL at 30.5 inches, which is shorter than 99% of NFL offensive line prospects in the history of the combine, per Mockdraftable.
For comparison, the Jets’ Alijah Vera-Tucker is often criticized for having short arms, and he is way up at 32.25 inches, nearly two full inches longer than Colon. Even that places Vera-Tucker at just the 8th percentile for offensive linemen.
Colon also came into the league with significant strength concerns and it’s unclear whether he has addressed those in the NFL. He benched 11 reps at the 2020 combine, which is the third-fewest ever recorded by an offensive line prospect, according to Pro Football Reference. Interestingly enough, one of the two players who benched fewer reps was Kent State guard Brian Winters, who became a third-round pick of the Jets and went on to have a solid career.
We shall see if Colon merely comes and goes as a bottom-of-the-roster lineman who casual fans never knew existed, or if he can fulfill the potential suggested by his statistics and become a diamond in the rough.
