The 2024 New York Jets will go down in history as a team defined by its myriad of individual disappointments. Players such as Aaron Rodgers, Breece Hall, Sauce Gardner, and Greg Zuerlein among many others fell well short of their personal standards.
Those disappointments cannot take away the deserved shine from the players who did live up to expectations. Yes, there were quite a few of them, despite the Jets’ 4-11 record.
Jets fans are well-informed about the exploits of Olu Fashanu and Will McDonald, the team’s two most recent first-round picks. But what about the tantalizing young Jet who was taken six first-rounders ago? Overshadowed by the five first-rounders who followed him, his development has seemed to fly under the radar in 2024. Quietly, he has put everything together, finally building the strong campaign that the franchise has been waiting for.
Alijah Vera-Tucker was one of the Jets’ brightest stars over the first three years of his career. Expectations were high for the USC product after the Jets traded up to select him 14th overall in the 2021 draft, and he delivered – when on the field.
“AVT” had a transformative on-off impact on the Jets’ offense in his second and third seasons. From 2022-23, running back Breece Hall averaged 6.08 yards per carry with AVT on the field compared to 3.97 with him off. Meanwhile, the Jets had a .583 win percentage and averaged 21.2 points per game when AVT played, versus a .318 win percentage and 14.1 points per game when he did not.
The uniquely athletic 308-pounder’s only issue was staying on the football field. Season-ending injuries limited him to seven games in 2022 (torn triceps) and five games in 2023 (torn Achilles). If not for these injuries, AVT was on track to make serious All-Pro bids in each season.
A large part of AVT’s All-Pro case would have been his versatility. After playing both tackle and guard in college, AVT projected out as a Swiss Army knife at the NFL level, and he provided that skill in dire spots for the Jets across his first three seasons. AVT started at every position on the offensive line except for center, stepping up to single-handedly patch the unit together when injuries mounted.
Going into 2024, however, AVT was finally promised an opportunity to stick to one position: right guard. With a plethora of key additions to both the first and second-string units, the Jets finally had the depth to let AVT stay at one position, barring extreme circumstances.
This was appealing for multiple reasons. For one, AVT arguably played his best football at the guard position, and it’s the position New York intended for him to play when he was drafted. Secondly, both of AVT’s season-ending injuries occurred while he was playing tackle after switching positions mid-season.
Perhaps this was coincidental, but after occurring in two consecutive seasons around the same time of the year, it is definitely a warning sign worth heeding.
The stars were aligned for his best on-field success. The only thing AVT needed was good luck on the durability front. While it has not been a perfect year of health for the 25-year-old, he has finally managed to suit up for the majority of the year for the first time since his rookie season. Through 15 games, AVT has made 13 starts and played 83.9% of the Jets’ offensive snaps.
With a cleaner bill of health, AVT has finally delivered the full season of quality play that New York has yearned for. Even if his transformative impact on the offense has not continued (particularly on the run game), his individual production has been strong.
At Pro Football Focus, AVT has a run-blocking grade of 74.1, which ranks 14th out of 61 qualified guards (min. 500 snaps) and ninth among right guards.
AVT’s run-blocking success is nothing new. What truly elevates his 2024 campaign is his improvement in pass protection.
AVT has been an indisputable difference-maker on the ground since day one, but his pass protection was somewhat questionable over his first three seasons. While Jets fans would sing his praises, some metrics claimed AVT was only average as a pass blocker. Others even viewed him as poor.
In 2024, though, AVT has put forth his best season in pass protection by a wide margin, establishing himself as a two-way difference-maker unlike ever before.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, AVT has allowed a pressure rate of just 4.4%, which ranks third-lowest among right guards behind only Brandon Scherff and Quinn Meinerz. He also has a career-high pass-blocking grade of 72.9 at PFF, which ranks 15th out of 61 qualified guards and sixth among right guards.
The only other right guards who rank top-5 at the position in pressure rate (per NGS) and top-10 in run-blocking grade (per PFF) are Kevin Dotson and Quinn Meinerz. That bodes well for AVT’s future contract negotiations, as both players are currently on contracts worth at least $16 million per year (placing each of them in the top six among right guards, per Over The Cap). Dotson ranks sixth ($16M/year) while Meinerz is fifth ($18M/year).
AVT was always a dominant road-grader on the ground. Now, he can be relied upon to be just as impactful when protecting the QB.
A full, healthy season at one position has done wonders for his development, and he is living up to his potential as one of the best guards in football. He should be viewed as a core building block in New York for years to come and will likely be paid accordingly.
