First-year general manager Darren Mougey has addressed most of the New York Jets’ roster holes in one way or another throughout the first week-plus of free agency. While most of his additions were on the cheaper, lower-risk side, he has at least done something at most areas of need.
That is, except for one: blocking tight end.
The Jets have only signed one tight end thus far, Stone Smartt. While Smartt offers intriguing potential as a receiver, he does nothing to solve the Jets’ complete lack of blocking ability at the position. Smartt is an undersized tight end at 226 pounds, and his lackluster blocking is a weakness in his game.
Beefing up the blocking at tight end was a key need for New York as soon as the regular season ended. Between Tyler Conklin and Jeremy Ruckert, the Jets suffered from some of the NFL’s worst blocking at the tight end position. Among 73 qualified tight ends, Conklin ranked 66th in Pro Football Focus’ run-blocking grade (42.9) while Ruckert ranked 72nd (39.0).
This was an issue the Jets needed to improve regardless of what scheme they switched to in 2025. It was one of the main reasons New York’s run game was lackluster despite seemingly having a solid offensive line on paper.
However, tight end blocking became an even bigger need once the Jets hired Tanner Engstrand as their offensive coordinator. Engstrand hails from a Detroit Lions offense that heavily utilized 12 personnel packages (2 tight ends) and loved to run the ball out of those packages. If the Jets are going to replicate this style of play, they must have at least two tight ends who can be trusted as blockers.
While we do not know how closely Engstrand will mimic the Lions’ offensive tendencies, the Jets’ likelihood of mimicking Detroit’s heavy usage of 12 personnel became even greater when they committed to Justin Fields as their starting quarterback.
Fields is a quarterback who will have many designed run plays integrated in the offense for him. Designed QB runs are often intended to go toward the sideline, which emphasizes the importance of having tight ends who can open up running lanes on the edge. A heavy dosage of 12 personnel is an ideal complement in an offense built around a rushing QB; hence the Ravens and Eagles consistently ranking highly in multi-TE usage since committing to Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts.
Yet, right now, the Jets have precisely zero reliable blockers at tight end. The Jets’ current tight end room features the following players: Stone Smartt, Jeremy Ruckert, Zack Kuntz, and Neal Johnson. Smartt and Ruckert have established track records of poor blocking, while Kuntz and Johnson have combined for three career offensive snaps.
The Jets cannot take this role lightly if they are serious about giving Fields his best chance of evolving in 2025. If he is to fulfill his potential as an overall player, the Jets must maximize his best ability, his legs, which means creating an environment where Fields can be a top 2-3 rushing quarterback in the game (if not the best). That will not happen with poor blocking at tight end.
For as overlooked and subtle of a factor as tight end blocking may be, it can be just as essential in deciding the outcome of a play as the offensive line’s performance. The Jets saw this firsthand in 2024. Their offensive linemen run-blocked pretty well when evaluating them as individuals, but the tight ends’ woes were enough to sink the run game in spite of the O-line.
Blocking tight ends do not require lucrative assets. New York can still land an inexpensive veteran free agent like Mo Alie-Cox to raise their floor in the blocking department. In what is considered a deep tight end class, they can select a talented block-first tight end with a Day 3 draft pick. It can be argued that quality blocking tight ends are among the best values in the sport when it comes to impact-per-dollar.
If New York does not address this need, it will hurt them dearly in the regular season. It will be far down the list of popular narratives that attempt to summarize the Jets’ woes, as the mainstream media does not care a lick about tight end blocking, but I am here to tell you right now that it will be one of the Jets’ most crippling issues on offense if nothing of significance is done about it from this point forward.
