How has each New York Jets offensive lineman performed in 2024?

Change is coming for the New York Jets. It already started in the coaching staff and front office, and it is just beginning for the players.

Still, with all the coming turnover, two areas of the team are likely to stay mostly or entirely intact in 2025: the running backs room and the offensive line.

Perhaps the Jets will seek to unload Breece Hall. He may ask for a trade amidst the chaos, but the odds are that he will remain (especially since his box score numbers have improved after a very rough start). Braelon Allen became everyone’s favorite RB2 early in the season (although he hasn’t done much since). With Isaiah Davis and Israel Abanikanda rounding out the corps, the Jets may not add a single running back in 2025.

More importantly, though, three of the Jets’ starting five offensive linemen are under contract for next season. Another one, Tyron Smith, will undoubtedly be replaced by Olu Fashanu, also under contract.

There is a definite possibility that the Jets’ entire starting front five is on the roster at this moment. When is the last time a New York Jets team could say that? Perhaps it’s a last nod to Joe Douglas for doing the job he notoriously failed at in his previous seasons as general manager.

Still, the Jets’ offensive line has disappointed as a unit. Jets fans expected the talented names on the line to dominate opponents and facilitate an excellent offense. Notwithstanding the struggles of Aaron Rodgers and Breece Hall independent of the line, the blocking upfront has left much to be desired.

Much has been made of separating a running back’s impact from the offensive line’s. In the Jets’ case, perhaps it is equally important to separate the impact of the offensive line from the quarterback’s and running back’s. With individual struggles across the board, what fault truly lies at the feet of the line?

It is notoriously difficult to evaluate offensive line play, both individually and collectively. However, there are enough metrics at our disposal to try to answer this question as accurately as possible.

How has the New York Jets’ offensive line truly performed through 11 games in 2024?

Note: all statistics presented are through Week 11.

Run-blocking

This is the most disappointing aspect of the Jets’ offensive line. Every player on the line had a prior reputation as a plus run-blocker. This was the primary reason that so many of us at Jets X-Factor expected an explosion from Breece Hall in 2024.

If Hall performed at such a high level behind league-worst run-blocking, the thought process was, then he would take his game to a different level with at worst above-average run-blocking.

From the outset, though, the Jets’ run-blocking has been far below standard. Instead of individual underperformance, though, the chief issue has been miscommunication and a clear lack of understanding of assignment. The Jets’ linemen have not necessarily been beaten one-on-one as much as they have simply not known who to block.

Furthermore, many of the issues in the Jets’ run-blocking lie outside the line’s purview. For example, the Jets’ top two tight ends, Tyler Conklin (40.8) and Jeremy Ruckert (44.5), rank 50th and 48th, respectively, in Pro Football Focus run-blocking grade among 53 qualifiers (min. 125 run-blocking snaps).

Many parts of the Jets’ poor run-blocking are also schematic. Not only do the linemen not know who to block, but at times, their assignments themselves make no sense.

It is very difficult to parse out the performance of the Jets’ front five given these limitations. Still, here are the best numbers available.

Cumulatively

There are a number of metrics to evaluate a team’s cumulative run-blocking performance. However, none of them separate the blocking of the five linemen from that of other players.

Since tight end blocking has been such a big issue for the Jets, these numbers should be viewed somewhat skeptically when considering the offensive line specifically.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Jets’ run-blocking has been terrible.

• 4.2 expected yards per carry (xYPC, 24th)
• 0.9 yards before contact per carry (29th)
• 20.9% stuff rate (30th)
• 43.8% rate of contact behind the line of scrimmage (27th)

It is worth noting, though, that the Jets’ xYPC has been 4.6 since Week 6, the seventh-highest in the NFL during that span. The yards before contact per carry and rate of contact behind the line of scrimmage have also improved (to 19th and 21st, respectively), although the stuff rate has remained stagnant.

FTN Fantasy, currently the home of DVOA and other associated metrics, has a slightly more nuanced view of the run-blocking.

• 4.08 adjusted line yards (ALY) per carry (25th)
• 70% power success rate (10th)
• 22% stuff rate (29th)

Notes:

ALY assigns running back yardage to the offensive line at 120% for losses, 100% between 0-4 yards, 50% between 5-10 yards, and 0% for 11+ yards. This formula was developed using regression analysis and attempts to separate offensive line impact from running back and credit each accordingly.

Power success rate measures the “percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown. Also includes runs on first-and-goal or second-and-goal from the two-yard line or closer.”

Stuff rate measures the “percentage of runs where the running back is tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage.”

These metrics agree that the Jets’ run-blocking hasn’t been good as a whole. However, they actually give the Jets a decent amount of credit for run-blocking in short-yardage situations.

This is quite surprising considering the amount of criticism the Jets received for much of the season for using Breece Hall in short yardage rather than Braelon Allen. Still, RBSDM data confirms that the Jets have actually been pretty solid in this area.

For what it’s worth, Allen has been successful on 90.9% of his power attempts compared to 50% for Hall. That supports the idea that Allen is far better in short-yardage situations than Hall. It is difficult to know where the run-blocking fits into that equation, though.

Individually

Pro Football Focus gives the Jets’ run-blocking a cumulative grade of 66.4, ranking 13th. Here is how that breaks down among the five starters.

• Tyron Smith: 72.3 (23rd/66, 65th percentile)
• John Simpson: 82.1 (4th/64, 94th percentile)
• Joe Tippmann: 73.9 (8th/32, 75th percentile)
• Alijah Vera-Tucker: 69.3 (23rd/64, 64th percentile)
• Morgan Moses: 61.2 (46th/66, 30th percentile)

That averages out to a grade of 71.8, which would rank 51st out of 162 offensive linemen with at least 125 run-blocking snaps (69th percentile). The average percentile ranking among the five offensive linemen is the 66th. Only one of the five offensive linemen is below average (Moses), and the other four are above the 60th percentile.

However, an offensive line is often only as good as its weakest link. Therefore, with Moses as its weakest link (according to PFF, anyway), maybe that explains why the Jets’ run-blocking looks worse as a unit than it does individually.

That does not bear out in the numbers, either. Among all 32 teams’ worst-graded run-blocking offensive linemen, Moses ranks sixth-highest with his 61.2 grade. His 30th percentile ranking is also the sixth-highest. In other words, the Jets’ weakest link is in the 81st percentile among all weakest links in the NFL. That is not enough to explain the Jets’ objectively poor run-blocking output.

There is certainly the possibility that PFF simply overrates the Jets’ run-blockers. Tyron Smith’s grade seems the most suspect, and Joe Tippmann’s definitely looks a bit high.

John Simpson’s seems high until you look at the splits: his grades were slightly below average for the first five weeks of the season, then took off in Week 6 — exactly when Breece Hall’s yards per carry spiked (he’s averaged 4.9 yards per carry since then after averaging 3.0 in the first five weeks).

That brings us to the only other metric available to evaluate individual run-blockers: Sports Info Solutions’ blown block rate. Although its conclusions have been strange at times, so have PFF’s — so it’s worth including them here.

• Smith: 3.5% (59th/66, 11th percentile)
• Simpson: 1.5% (23rd/64, 64th percentile)
• Tippmann: 1.4% (8th/32, 75th percentile)
• Vera-Tucker: 3% (53rd/64, 17th percentile)
• Moses: 1.7% (30th/66, 55th percentile)

These metrics match the Jets’ cumulative run-blocking-related numbers far more than PFF’s grades do. SIS ranks Tippmann the same way PFF does, but it says Simpson has been above average rather than elite and Moses has been average rather than below average. However, SIS takes a very harsh stance on Smith and Vera-Tucker.

The Jets’ average percentile ranking in blown-block rate is in the 44th percentile, which would place their cumulative run-blocking at slightly below-average. However, given that their weakest link is in the 11th percentile, that might explain why their run-blocking has struggled so much.

I think there is a way to reconcile PFF’s assessment with SIS’s. Blown blocks merely measure how often a particular blocker made a bad block (what would likely classify as between -1 and -2 on PFF’s -2-to-2 scale of blocking). However, it completely neglects when a blocker makes a good block (between 1 and 2 on PFF’s scale). So while SIS is looking only at the bad, PFF is looking at the whole picture.

PFF also likely has a different take on how often each blocker “blew” a block. The idea of a blown block is completely subjective, making it unsurprising that different sites would draw different conclusions. However, it is undeniable that blown blocks have been an issue on the Jets’ offensive line.

The cause is up for debate (was it the individual player, a miscommunication, or bad scheming?), but the primary reason the Jets’ stuff rate is so high is because of blown blocks for one reason or another.

Still, PFF looks for when a player makes great blocks, too. It’s why Simpson has two games with a 90+ PFF run-blocking grade. Four of the Jets’ offensive linemen have at least one game with a PFF run-blocking grade over 83.0. They’ve certainly had their great moments, although usually not at the same time.

Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable to think that Simpson has had many excellent blocks (resulting in his excellent PFF run-blocking grade) but has also had some blown blocks (leading to his good-but-not-great blown block rate). Moses, meanwhile, hasn’t blown so many blocks but also hasn’t made enough great blocks to offset his misses. Tippmann has been roughly the same in both areas.

It is harder to reconcile Smith’s and Vera-Tucker’s run-blocking discrepancies because of how large they are. Even splitting the difference seems odd. How can a player miss so many times and make enough great blocks to offset it?

That seems more plausible for Vera-Tucker, maybe, because he’s been a great run-blocker in the past and has had many moments of dominance this season in addition to really bad whiffs. But Smith? He’s looked diminished in every area of his game, and zone-blocking was never his forte to begin with.

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, we do split the difference between all five players’ rankings at PFF and SIS.

• Smith: 23rd (PFF) + 59th (SIS) = 41st/66 (38th percentile)
• Simpson: 4th (PFF) + 23rd (SIS) = 14th/64 (78th percentile)
• Tippmann: 8th (PFF) + 8th (SIS) = 8th/32 (75th percentile)
• Vera-Tucker: 23rd (PFF) + 53rd (SIS) = 38th/64 (41st percentile)
• Moses: 46th (PFF) + 30th (SIS) = 38th/66 (42nd percentile)

That would place the Jets’ cumulative run-blocking grade in the 55th percentile, or about average. That reconciles fairly well with their 13th-ranked run-blocking from PFF (59th percentile). Interestingly, from this metric, three of the Jets’ five offensive linemen are below average, but their floor is higher than with just PFF grades (38th percentile vs. 30th at PFF).

It’s still hard to say that a 55th-percentile run-blocking offensive line would rank 24th in expected yards per carry, 30th in stuff rate, 27th in rate of contact behind the line of scrimmage, and 25th in adjusted line yards. Would the tight ends really have that big of an impact?

Therefore, the most rational way to explain the Jets’ rushing woes is via SIS’s blown blocks. Maybe their accounting isn’t perfectly accurate in placing such harsh blame on Smith and Vera-Tucker. But the blown block statistics are emblematic of the state of the Jets’ run-blocking as a whole: on any given play, even if four blockers execute their blocks perfectly, there is always one blocker who messes up and ruins the play.

If run-blocking is a weakest-link proposition, then the Jets’ weakest link is very poor.

That being said, since the Jets’ expected rush yards per carry and rushing output have improved over the last six weeks, perhaps the numbers are closer to PFF’s. SIS (at least its free version) does not provide week-by-week breakdowns of the data; nor does FTN. NFL Next Gen Stats and PFF, which do allow for weekly breakdowns, both measure the improvements more concretely.

Therefore, perhaps the average between SIS and PFF is the best way to evaluate the Jets’ run-blocking — which has been average for the season as a whole even if it was so bad for the first five weeks that it created an impossible hole to dig out of statistically.

Pass blocking

When it comes to pass-blocking, any Jets fan will brush aside the metrics by pointing out how quickly Aaron Rodgers releases the ball. According to PFF, Rodgers has the second-fastest average time to throw in the NFL (2.53 seconds). Therefore, they argue that the Jets’ pass-blocking is worse than it looks statistically.

Let’s take a look at the pass-blocking numbers and try to parse out the offensive line’s impact compared to Rodgers’.

Cumulatively

NGS and PFF agree that Rodgers has been one of the least-pressured quarterbacks in the NFL. NGS ranks him as the third-least pressured (25.3%), while PFF has him as the second-least (26.5%).

When Rodgers holds the ball for more than 2.5 seconds, his 47% pressure rate ranks 14th-lowest out of 37 qualifiers. That means that even when Rodgers doesn’t get the ball out quickly, he is still pressured less than the average quarterback.

When adjusting pressure rates for league-average rates of releasing the ball in under 2.5 seconds, Rodgers’ 30.4% pressure rate is still the sixth-best among qualified passers. In other words, his pass-blocking would still rate well even if he didn’t get rid of the ball so quickly all the time.

Rodgers’ average time to pressure (2.63) is shorter than the league average (2.69), ranking the 15th-fastest out of 37 qualifiers. However, 45.7% of his pressure has come in under 2.5 seconds, which is at the league average.

Rodgers’ 4.20 average time to sack is the fourth-fastest among quarterbacks, hardly surprising due to his age and lack of mobility. Still, the Jets’ 6.3% adjusted sack rate (taking into account intentional grounding penalties, down, distance, and opponent) is the seventh-best in the NFL.

That being said, Rodgers has been hit at a very high rate. According to Pro Football Reference, Rodgers’ 40 hits are the fifth-most among 36 qualified quarterbacks, and his 9.6% hit rate is the seventh-worst. 48.8% of his pressures have resulted in a quarterback hit, which is the fifth-worst. Rodgers doesn’t get pressured that often, but when he does, he’s hit almost half the time.

It is worth noting, though, that a decent chunk of the pressure Rodgers has faced is his own fault. PFF blames him for 9 of the hits he’s taken, the most they blame any quarterback for. They also blame him for 4 of his sacks. Overall, they place 16.3% of Rodgers’ pressure on his own account, the 11th-highest mark among qualified quarterbacks.

It does seem like Rodgers gets hit unnecessarily a fair amount. Even taking away all nine of those hits, 31 quarterback hits is still high (it would be the 12th-highest among quarterbacks), but it doesn’t hit quite the same way.

Furthermore, PFF blames the offensive line for only 75% of Rodgers’ pressure, the fourth-lowest mark among all quarterbacks. (The overwhelming majority of that — 29.4% — comes from the left tackle spot.) Given that Rodgers is already among the least-pressured quarterbacks in the NFL, the fact that his offensive line is also among the least responsible for his pressure paints the line in an even better light.

The total numbers suggest that Rodgers doesn’t get pressured a lot, even considering how quickly he gets the ball out, and often brings the pressure on himself. When the offensive linemen do get beaten, though, they often get beaten quickly and badly, resulting in a high number of quarterback hits.

Individually

When it comes to a quarterback who releases the ball very quickly, I am a little more skeptical about an offensive lineman’s pressure rates than I would be for a typical quarterback. That is why I never trusted the pass-blocking numbers for the Miami Dolphins’ offensive linemen, as Tua Tagovailoa releases the ball more quickly than any other quarterback in the NFL.

Still, that’s where the concept of true pass sets come in. PFF states, “‘True Pass Set’ excludes plays with less than 4 rushers, play action, screens, short dropbacks and time-to-throws under 2 seconds.”

In other words, true pass sets separate out the plays that make offensive linemen’s assignments easier and focus only on snaps where the offensive line truly had to go head-to-head against pass rushers without significant advantages.

For any offensive lineman, performance in true pass set situations is more indicative of their overall performance. When it comes to a quarterback who releases the ball quickly, though, true pass sets are particularly crucial in evaluating their play, as they have so many plays with easier assignments.

I also use the metric “adjusted pressure rate” to adjust an offensive lineman’s performance according to a league-average rate of true pass sets. This metric weights the blocker’s pressure rate in true pass sets and non-true pass sets according to the average rate of true pass sets and non-true pass sets for the position.

Not all quarterback pressures are created equal. Impactful pressure rate measures the rate of pressures that result in a sack or quarterback hit. Even if an offensive lineman allows pressure, if he can keep the quarterback from being hit, it still makes it easier for a positive play to ensue.

I choose not to utilize PFF grades for pass-blocking since there are many other metrics that evaluate individual pass-blocking performance.

Additionally, it is very hard to know how to treat Olu Fashanu. It was easy enough to ignore him for run-blocking purposes because he has only 80 run-blocking snaps, well under the 125-snap threshold I used to determine qualifiers. However, Fashanu has 203 pass-blocking snaps, well above the 150-snap threshold for pass-blocking qualifiers.

Furthermore, Fashanu played 118 of his pass-blocking snaps at right tackle and another 23 at right guard. Fashanu is a natural left tackle who never even practiced on the right side until midway through training camp this year. He had never played a snap at guard in his entire professional career (college or the NFL) until he was thrust into action against the Texans, and the results were predictable.

Fashanu’s pass-blocking grades have stabilized since he moved back to his natural position of left tackle. Still, it may be unfair to entirely ignore his performance at right tackle.

Therefore, I will include Fashanu as a sixth offensive lineman with his statistics, but I will ignore his snaps at right guard. For team evaluation purposes, I will include only Tyron Smith’s numbers for now.

	Pressure rate	Impactful pressure rate	True pass set pressure rate	True pass set impactful pressure rate	Adjusted pressure rate
Tyron Smith	5.7% (36th/72)	40.9% (53rd/72)	12.6% (62nd/72)	52.9% (67th/72)	6.7% (54th/72)
Olu Fashanu	7.9% (65th/72)	28.6% (28th/72)	18.2% (70th/72)	25% (26th/72)	9.1% (67th/72)
John Simpson	2.2% (4th/69)	66.7% (65th/72)	2.6% (4th/69)	50% (61st/69)	2.2% (4th/69)
Joe Tippmann	2.7% (10th/34)	33.3% (24th/34)	6.9% (25th/34)	27.3% (18th/34)	3.3% (17th/34)
Alijah Vera-Tucker	3.1% (11th/69)	72.7% (72nd/72)	3.9% (9th/69)	60% (65th/69)	3.2% (15th/69)
Morgan Moses	2.7% (6th/72)	33.3% (36th/72)	4.3% (4th/72)	20% (10th/72)	3% (6th/72)

Four of the Jets’ five starting offensive linemen have pressure rates significantly better than the average, and three are above the 80th percentile. Even Smith’s overall pressure rate is average. Fashanu’s pressure rate is the lone putrid mark and has actually been slightly worse over his last two weeks at left tackle (8.1%).

However, the true pass sets tell a slightly different story. Smith has been among the league’s worst tackles in true pass sets; not only has he allowed a lot of pressure, but those pressures have been alarmingly impactful. Tippmann has also struggled in true pass sets, although his pressures have been less impactful than Smith’s.

The Jets’ other three offensive linemen have excellent pressure rates even in true pass sets. However, both guards’ pressures in true pass sets have been very impactful.

This tracks with the fact that Rodgers has been hit a lot. Several Jets offensive linemen have been excellent as a whole, but when they do allow pressure, those pressures tend to be quarterback hits or sacks at a rate far higher than average.

When adjusting pressure rate for a league-average true pass set rate, Simpson and Moses have been elite (above the 90th percentile), Vera-Tucker has been very good (78th percentile), Tippmann has been average (50th percentile), and Smith has been bad (25th percentile).

The average percentile ranking in adjusted pressure rate for the Jets’ starting offensive linemen is the 68th percentile. That suggests an above-average average pass-blocking offensive line. It tracks with many of Rodgers’ metrics.

Still, since Fashanu did play a significant number of pass-blocking snaps, let’s adjust the metrics to include the snaps that Fashanu took at left and right tackle. The left tackle statistics measure Smith’s and Fashanu’s left tackle snaps, and the right tackle statistics measure Moses’ and Fashanu’s right tackle snaps.

• Left tackle: 6% pressure rate (42nd/72), 13.8% true pass set pressure rate (65th/72), 7.2% adjusted pressure rate (61st/72)
• Right tackle: 4% pressure rate (16th/72), 7.6% true pass set pressure rate (29th/72), 4.6% adjusted pressure rate (29th/72)

The numbers at both tackle spots take a hit, but more so at right tackle. Instead of elite pressure metrics, the numbers are closer to average.

Including Fashanu’s numbers in the equation, the average percentile ranking in adjusted pressure rate for the Jets’ five offensive line positions is the 59th percentile. That’s still above average but shows even more discrepancy at left tackle than the rankings with just Smith do, as the left tackle position combines to rank in the 15th percentile.

Consequently, is unsurprising that 29.3% of Rodgers’ pressure comes from that spot, the fifth-highest mark among all quarterbacks.

Although Smith and Fashanu have been the primary liabilities in the Jets’ pass-blocking, Tippmann has had his struggles in true pass sets, as well. Most of the linemen are prone to allowing impactful pressure, which is why the Jets’ pass-blocking often seems worse on the screen than it does in the metrics.

NFL Next Gen Stats adds a few more metrics to the equation — primarily time to pressure.

• Smith: 2.55 (70th/72)
• Fashanu: 2.43 (72nd/72)
• Simpson: 2.61 (63rd/69)
• Tippmann: 3.12 (17th/35)
• Vera-Tucker: 2.97 (31st/69)
• Moses: 3.13 (21st/72)

This reinforces the idea about impactful pressure. When a blocker allows quick pressure, those pressures are more likely to turn into quarterback hits or sacks. Simpson hasn’t allowed a lot of pressure this season, but when he does, it tends to come quite quickly. Smith and Fashanu allow a lot of pressure that usually comes very quickly. The other three are somewhere in the middle.

When it comes to one-on-one quarterback pressure rate, NGS ranks Vera-Tucker, Simpson, and Smith as excellent (88th, 87th, and 86th percentile), Moses as very good (76th percentile), Tippmann as roughly average (47th percentile), and Fashanu as well below average (24th percentile).

Smith’s number is highly suspect (most of his pressures have come from one-on-one reps), which makes it more difficult to trust the rest of the numbers. The only question is if a poor running back chip mitigates some of Smith’s one-on-one numbers.

The other metric assessing pass-blocking is, once again, SIS’s blown block rate.

• Smith: 5.2% (48th/72)
• Fashanu: 5.1% (45th/72)
• Simpson: 1.8% (15th/69)
• Tippmann: 1.2% (12th/34)
• Vera-Tucker: 2.1% (20th/69)
• Moses: 3.2% (22nd/72)

While this metric does not truly capture the awfulness of Smith and Fashanu, it does a fairly good job capturing the blown blocks of the other four offensive line spots. The other four were between the 65th and 78th percentile in blown block rate, meaning they blow quite a bit fewer blocks than the league average.

When taking into account both the individual and cumulative numbers, these are my conclusions.

• Rodgers is pressured a lot less than average, even in situations where he holds the ball for longer than 2.5 seconds.
• The overwhelming majority of Rodgers’ pressure has come from Tyron Smith and Olu Fashanu. Joe Tippmann also struggles in true pass sets.
• When Rodgers does get pressured, many of those pressures knock him down in some way, which is why the Jets’ pass-blocking seems worse in-game than it does in the metrics. Even the Jets’ best pass-blocker, Simpson, tends to be beaten badly when he does allow pressure.
• Despite those quarterback hits and sacks, most of the Jets’ offensive linemen don’t blow a ton of pass blocks.
• On the whole, Simpson, Vera-Tucker, and Moses have been very good pass-blockers this season.

Penalties

Penalties have been the bane of the Jets’ existence for many seasons now. They rank among the league’s worst in penalties and penalty yards per game.

I ranked penalties in the form of penalties per 1,000 offensive snaps.

• Smith: 10.14 (46th/70)
• Fashanu: 10.60 (48th/70)
• Simpson: 6.35 (45th/68)
• Tippmann: 1.48 (4th/35)
• Vera-Tucker: 5.70 (40th/68)
• Moses: 9.65 (41st/70)

Five of the Jets’ six primary offensive linemen rank between the 31st and 41st percentile in penalty rate. The only one keeping his penalties down is Tippmann.

Conclusions

Statistically, the Jets’ run-blocking has been worse than the sum of its parts. That comes primarily due to miscommunication, poor scheming, and the propensity for one blown block causing each play to fail. Some aspects of the run-blocking have certainly improved as the season progresses.

In particular, John Simpson’s performance in recent weeks has propelled Breece Hall to far better outcomes (despite Hall’s own generally lackluster performance and inability to create beyond his blocking). Alijah Vera-Tucker and Tyron Smith have had the biggest issues with blown blocks causing plays to fail.

As a pass-blocking unit, the Jets have mostly been extremely solid, save for the left tackle position. However, the tendency for pressures to turn into sacks and quarterback hits is worrisome and has certainly contributed to the wear and tear on Aaron Rodgers (and his injuries).

On the flip side, Rodgers tends to bring pressure on himself by stepping directly into it rather than stepping up in the pocket or not getting rid of the ball when he should.

The Jets have gotten mostly excellent pass-blocking from Simpson, Vera-Tucker, and Morgan Moses this season. Smith and Olu Fashanu are major liabilities, though, and Joe Tippmann can struggle when he doesn’t have the benefit of a screen, play-action, or a quick release.

Penalties continue to be an issue for the unit as a whole, although there is no particular player who stands out as extremely terrible in this area.

Obviously, there are still six games remaining in the 2024 season, and a lot can change in that time. But as of now, the Jets can feel fairly comfortable with the three returning starters on the offensive line for next season. Although it is difficult to parse out the coaching impact on the Jets’ blocking, the decline in play from several of the run-blockers is most easily attributable to Keith Carter.

It is fair to say that Tippmann’s lack of growth as a pass-blocker is not ideal, and Vera-Tucker’s run-blocking has been a disappointment after his previous dominance. As stated before, Vera-Tucker’s issues could stem partially from schematic issues, but he also has a tendency to blow blocks badly and immediately.

Re-signing Moses seems like a no-brainer move. The biggest question mark (as expected) is whether Fashanu can improve his game. If he continues to play the way he has until now, handing him the left tackle position in 2025 will be a daunting prospect, particularly if the Jets bring in a rookie quarterback.

Still, it’s hard to blame Joe Douglas for the way the Jets’ offensive line turned out this season. He actually put them in a fairly stable position moving forward. Obviously, if Fashanu turns out to be a bust, that will change things. Still, the report that Douglas did not even want Tyron Smith further highlights the excellence of his signing of John Simpson and trade for Morgan Moses.

The Jets will see a lot of turnover on their roster next season, but for once, the offensive line should not be one of those areas.