Sometimes, NFL front offices put together a sound process to come to a roster decision, but the results just don’t work out, whether it’s due to injuries, scheme fit, or a player simply not living up to expectations. That’s football—not every smart decision pans out.

Other times, though, a questionable process leads to a negative result, and those are the decisions that front offices should primarily be knocked for. If the decision was difficult to justify in the first place, then the outcome falls on the GM.

Three games into the 2026 season, the Jets are paying the price for one of the most bizarre offseason processes displayed by their second-year GM, Darren Mougey.

Play silly games, win silly prizes

One of the Jets’ most bizarre decisions (or lack thereof) in the offseason was the choice not to address the center position. They chose to run it back with Josh Myers as the starter without adding a semblance of competition.

In 2025, the Jets started Myers at center for all 17 games. Myers, though, was the backup center, and the fact that he started all 17 games does not change that. He only started because right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker suffered a season-ending injury just before the year, forcing the starting center, Joe Tippmann, to slide over.

The Jets signed Myers to a one-year, $2 million contract in March 2025, and his performance in 2025 looked every bit as good as you’d expect from a player with that price tag. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the second-worst starting center in the NFL.

Yet, the Jets signed Myers to a two-year, $11 million contract extension during the season. That’s mid-level starting center money; his $5.5 million salary currently ranks 12th among centers, per Over The Cap. The deal, especially given its proactive nature, raised a concerning red flag that the Jets thought Myers had earned a starting job for the 2026 season.

Maybe, though, the Jets planned to add competition for Myers, and at worst, he would be a useful backup. After all, they had a hole at backup center, too. So, with ample cap space and four top-50 draft picks to address the weakest position on their offensive line, it would stand to reason that they would invest in a center at some point, right?

Heh, heh. Wrong!

Free agency, the draft, the summer, all of training camp, and the preseason went by, and the Jets did not add a single center to their team.

Not one.

That’s right—the Jets rolled through the preseason with Myers as their starter, career practice-squad player Xavier Newman as their backup, and reserve/future signing Liam Fornadel as the only other player with center experience.

Newman was waived by the Jets and is currently on the New England Patriots’ practice squad. Fornadel was waived and is not on a roster.

While New York traded for versatile interior backup Jordan Meredith in late August, shoring up the depth issue to a degree, it made little sense not to challenge Myers with a starter-caliber free agent or draft pick. His 2025 production and career track record did not justify a starting spot without competition, especially given the resources Mougey had at his disposal.

Now, the Jets are reaping what they sew for handing their starting center job to a backup.

Three games into the 2026 season, the Josh Myers Experience has been as expected. He is clearly the line’s weakest link and has shown up as a liability in both phases.

In pass protection, Myers has been credited with allowing six total pressures, per Pro Football Focus, tying for the fourth-most among centers. That includes a critical red-zone sack in Week 3, when Myers allowed Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill to beat him one-on-one and ruin a drive that had come within seven yards of the goal line.

Myers has also committed two penalties. One was a costly holding penalty that took a Braelon Allen touchdown off the board in Week 1. The other was for ineligible man downfield while the Jets were in the red zone in Week 2, and it was a legitimate mistake, not one of the classic instances of a quarterback holding the ball too long on a screen.

Perhaps the greatest consequence of starting Myers has been his impact on the Jets’ disappearing run game.

The Jets have rushed for a measly 125 yards over their two-game losing streak, with their running backs averaging 2.2 yards per carry over that span. That is largely the fault of the blocking, as the duo of Breece Hall and Braelon Allen averaged just 0.5 yards before contact per carry over those two games.

Myers frequently pops off the film as a culprit for the many run stuffs New York has been allowing. He generates little push and often whiffs on blocks.

The numbers back it up. When the Jets run in Myers’ direction, they go practically nowhere.

Over the last two games, on rush attempts through either A-gap (between the center and either guard), the Jets have picked up 12 yards on seven carries, just 1.7 yards per carry. That includes a whopping 2 yards before contact (0.2 per carry).

To recap, Mougey extended a backup center on a mid-level-starter salary, handed him the starting job without the slightest inkling of competition or depth, and is now watching that backup center sink the Jets’ offensive line as its obvious weakest link.

That… is not sound roster-building.

And there isn’t much the Jets can do about it until next offseason.

The only feasible option is turning to Jordan Meredith, although his resume isn’t much better. Meredith has started 11 career games at center, all coming in 2025, but he earned a 57.7 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, ranking 29th out of 34 centers.

While that was four spots ahead of Myers (52.9), a handful of PFF-grade points is not enough to suggest that he’d really be much of an upgrade, especially after his ugly Jets debut against the Lions.

Meredith came in at left guard to replace Dylan Parham and allowed five pressures on just 22 pass-blocking snaps, a 22.7% pressure rate, which is horrendous. It’s especially concerning because, entering 2026, Meredith’s career production at guard was much better than at center.

Not to mention, if Parham is out for an extended period, the Jets will have to use Meredith at left guard, eliminating him as an option to replace Myers (who is a pure center and has not shown the ability to play guard).

Technically, the Jets could also turn back to Joe Tippmann at center, although the team seems committed to leaving him at guard. When Tippmann spoke on Sept. 2 about the last time he snapped a football, it sounded like he hadn’t lined up at the position in practice since last summer.

Unfortunately, the Jets are probably stuck in this situation, barring a trade. Mougey made this bed, and now Geno Smith has to lay on the turf in it.