The New York Jets’ preseason opener takes on a whole new meaning with Aaron Glenn’s announcement that the starters will take the field.
It’s a bold and necessary decision by Glenn, who continues to walk his talk as the leader of New York’s cultural movement.
Each and every Jets starter on the field will be under the microscope. This is the first opportunity for a new regime to evaluate them in a real game against an opponent wearing different colors (well, partially, in the case of the Packers).
The preseason offers too small a sample size (and too vanilla a game plan) to use players’ production for making projections. However, it is our first chance to see if players have made any noticeable changes to their play style, fundamentals, physique, or athletic profile since we last saw them in a live-game environment seven-plus months ago.
If you want watch tonight’s game like a coach, here is one thing to watch for from each Jets starter.
QB Justin Fields: Release speed
Justin Fields averages 3.24 seconds from snap to throw in his career, which is higher than last year’s league leader. He must get the ball out faster to cut down his extremely high sack and fumble rates.
It is also imperative to get the ball out quickly in Tanner Engstrand’s offensive scheme, which projects to borrow heavily from the Detroit Lions’ quick-hitting passing attack.
The Jets’ coaches will have a stopwatch ready to go on every Fields dropback. If he consistently takes over three seconds to make decisions, it suggests that he has a long way to go until he can be considered a different player than the one he’s always been.
RB Breece Hall: Decisiveness
Few running backs in the NFL have Breece Hall’s breakaway speed, but he failed to maximize it in the 2024 season, largely due to his tendency to dance around in the backfield.
Hall picked up at least four yards on just 43.5% of his carries last season, which was below the NFL average (46.2%). He was the only one of the Jets’ three running backs who finished below that mark.
Behind what projects to be a good offensive line, Hall will likely have plenty of holes to work with in 2025. He needs to hit them hard. Tonight, Hall can begin to show that he is focused on running with a more downhill mentality in Year 4.
TE Jeremy Ruckert: Anything
At this point, Jets fans would be happy to see anything of substance from Jeremy Ruckert. He was one of the NFL’s lowest-graded blockers at the tight end position in 2024, and he has been dropping passes galore at training camp this year.
Despite his pass-catching woes, it would be nice for the Jets if Ruckert can at least be a competent blocker. That would be enough for him to justify a roster spot in an extremely thin tight end room.
WR Garrett Wilson: Downhill YAC mentality
Garrett Wilson is about as talented with the ball in his hands as any receiver in the NFL, but he has not generated the production to match. Despite leading wide receivers with 25 missed tackles forced last season, he was just 49th at the position in YAC over expected (39).
Wilson tends to dance around in the open field when he doesn’t have to, leaving yardage on the table. In 2025, Wilson must focus on sticking his foot in the ground and getting downhill with the ball, using his speed to rack up large chunks of yardage instead of juking horizontally for minimal gains.
5 ways Garrett Wilson can improve to justify $130M Jets dealWR Josh Reynolds: Blocking
Josh Reynolds is a reliable veteran who has proven that he can do what is asked of him in the passing game. There isn’t much unknown to evaluate from him in that area. But it will be interesting to see how big of an impact he can make as a blocker.
Reynolds has a lengthy frame at 6-foot-3, and he has typically graded well as a run blocker in his career. To boot, he has familiarity with some of the concepts that Engstrand will call. Look for him to spring some big plays for the Jets’ run game.
WR Allen Lazard: Effort
I don’t have to tell you to keep an eye on Allen Lazard’s hands. That’s a pretty obvious one.
I am more interested in Lazard’s effort. His motor and focus waned over the past two seasons. Lazard seemed to take plays off as both a blocker and route runner, while his proneness for penalties indicated a lack of attention to detail.
Will Lazard kick his effort into high gear now that his roster spot – and possibly his career – is on the line?
LT Olu Fashanu: Technical refinements with experience
In his film review of Olu Fashanu, Jets X-Factor’s Joe Blewett highlighted three areas where the talented left tackle needs to improve his technique in Year 2:
- More control in his base
- Needs to add variance to punches (consistently uses the same style of punch)
- Needs to eliminate flat-angled run blocks
Already around a middle-of-the-pack starting left tackle as a 21-year-old rookie, Fashanu can push toward top-10 status if he makes these improvements.
LG John Simpson: Tighter hands
John Simpson was already very good for the Jets last year, but he can take another step forward with some technical improvements, especially as a run blocker.
In particular, Simpson tends to lose blocks from having his hands too wide, allowing defenders to get into his chest. Look out to see if he engages defenders with his hands tighter.
C Joe Tippmann: Snap accuracy, awareness
While Joe Tippmann avoided catastrophic snaps in 2024 after a tumultuous training camp, he still launched inaccurate snaps for most of the year. That can throw off the quarterback’s rhythm. Tippmann needs to come out in the preseason and prove that his snap issues are a thing of the past.
In addition, Tippmann must improve with his awareness in pass protection. He is already a pretty solid one-on-one blocker, but he tends to miss blitzers or help in the wrong spot.
RG Alijah Vera-Tucker: Keep doing what you’re doing
Alijah Vera-Tucker stayed healthy in 2024, and in doing so, he ascended to the level that he was always capable of reaching. Vera-Tucker thrived in both phases, and all the Jets want to see is that he can keep it up.
RT Armand Membou: Consistency in run game
For some reason, the media tends to label Armand Membou as a mauling run-blocker first and foremost, but he actually comes to the NFL with a much better resume in pass protection. Both in terms of his statistics and his film, he is more NFL-ready as a pass blocker.
Membou has a high ceiling in the run game, but he was very erratic in that phase for the Tigers. As he develops in the NFL, his consistency in the run game will be critical.
EDGE Will McDonald: Speed to power
Will McDonald scorched tackles with his speed and finesse in 2024, combining the threat of his outside rip move with a devastating inside spin move.
Now imagine if he can threaten tackles with a top-notch bull rush, too.
McDonald enters the 2025 season with a bulked-up 250-pound frame, a 15-pound increase. Tonight is our first chance to see him play with the added muscle.
Keep an eye on the impact of McDonald’s bull rush when he converts his outside speed rush into a power move. Is he creating significant knockback on tackles? If yes, he could be in for a massive season.
EDGE Micheal Clemons: Run-game awareness
Micheal Clemons’ path to carving out a role on the Jets’ defense is to establish himself as a reliable run defender. He has the frame for it, standing at an imposing 6-foot-5 and 263 pounds with 34⅞-inch arms. What he has yet to show is the fundamentals.
Clemons’ physique is rendered meaningless when he is constantly vacating the edge. Whether it’s a pre-snap shift/motion or a read option, Clemons is easy to bait with eye candy.
We saw it in Week 1 of the preseason last year; Clemons bit hard on the inside fake, and Jayden Daniels took advantage of a vacated edge for the touchdown. This was a sign of things to come, as multiple opponents beat Clemons in this way throughout the season – most notably, Josh Allen and the Bills on a Week 6 game-sealer.
Clemons will always be limited by his lack of agility, but if he can sharpen his awareness, he is capable of being an average run defender.
DT Jay Tufele: Pass-rush upside
Outside of Quinnen Williams, no other defensive tackle on the Jets’ roster has posted more than three sacks in an NFL season. This unit is desperate for some semblance of pass-rush upside.
Jay Tufele is a dark-horse candidate to provide it. While he only has a half-sack in 34 NFL games, there is pass-rush talent somewhere deep inside of him. He was a fourth-round pick of the Jaguars in 2021 after posting five sacks for USC in his final college season.
Over his first two NFL seasons, Tufele showed pass-rush upside over a tiny sample, posting a 71.2 pass-rush grade at PFF over 77 pass-rush snaps. Since then, he’s dwindled to a 55.8 pass-rush grade on 160 pass-rush snaps.
Tufele has drawn praise from the coaching staff in camp, though, so they must see something in him. For whatever it’s worth, he was placed in the second-string defensive line on the first unofficial depth chart, one spot ahead of Leonard Taylor III.
DT Derrick Nnadi: Gap-plugging
It would be a minor miracle if Nnadi even picked up a single QB hit for the Jets this season (he has one over his past 51 games), let alone a sack. He is a total zero as a pass rusher.
Nnadi remains in the NFL for his run defense. But it’s not as a tackling machine; he is averaging just 1.3 tackles per game over the last three seasons. Rather, Nnadi is in New York for his reputation as a player who can eat up blocks and plug gaps.
Nnadi might not make a tackle tonight, but watch out for his ability to clog running lanes and tee up tackles for his teammates. He must excel in this area to carve out a role on the team, because he won’t provide anything else.
LB Jamien Sherwood and LB Quincy Williams: Blitzing effectiveness
In a blitz-heavy scheme under Steve Wilks and Aaron Glenn, the Jets’ starting linebackers will be sent after the quarterback far more often than they were under the light-blitzing Robert Saleh.
Both top-tier athletes for the position, Jamien Sherwood and Quincy Williams have exciting pass-rush upside in the new scheme. Tonight will be our first chance to see whether they can make the most of these new opportunities.
CB Sauce Gardner: Tackling aggressiveness
Sauce Gardner tackled poorly last season. He knows it, and he has made it a point of emphasis going into 2025.
One or two tackles in a preseason game will not squash these concerns, but it would be promising to see Gardner approach his tackle opportunities with a newfound aggressiveness that we did not see last year. Gardner seemed to shy away from ball carriers; tonight is a chance to prove that will not be the case anymore.
CB Brandon Stephens: Ball skills
We discussed Brandon Stephens’ ball skills ad nauseam throughout the offseason, and we will finally get to see them (maybe) in a real game.
If he is targeted with his back to the quarterback, watch Stephens’ eyes. Can he get his head turned around and track the ball into the receiver’s hands? All without panicking and committing a penalty? If he can check these boxes, it is a promising sign.
NY Jets Film Breakdown: Is Brandon Stephens over-criticized?CB Michael Carter II: Quickness
Michael Carter II established himself as one of the NFL’s best slot cornerbacks in the 2023 season. He struggled in 2024, but he was battling through nagging injuries that began in the summer. Carter II looked a step slower, causing him to get beaten on quick-hitting routes that he usually shuts down.
It’s been a healthy summer for Carter II so far. The preseason is a chance for him to show that he’s in peak condition and ready to reclaim his status as one of the sport’s premier nickel defenders.
S Andre Cisco: Tackling angles
Like Sauce Gardner, tackling is a point of emphasis for Andre Cisco, who had his own woes with the Jaguars last season.
With Cisco, though, it is more about angles than tenacity. Cisco can take over-aggressive angles from the deep part of the field, causing him to whiff. Let’s see if the Jets’ coaches have worked with him on taking safer angles and keeping everything in front of him as the last line of defense.
S Tony Adams: Tackling angles
Tony Adams has the same issue as Cisco. Adams is a physical box player who isn’t afraid to lay a big hit, but his aggression can lead to whiffs. If Adams can play with more control, he shouldn’t have a problem locking down a starting safety spot.