Every NFL team has a list of core players that they simply can’t afford to lose for a significant period of time, even the top rosters in the league.
For the 2026 New York Jets, most fans would put players like Garrett Wilson, Geno Smith, and Armand Membou at the top of that list.
One player who fans probably did not expect to join the list? Left guard Dylan Parham.
Parham, who got carted off the field with a knee injury on Sunday, doesn’t carry the popularity that guys like Wilson have. However, the Jets better hope that his injury isn’t season-ending, or close to that.
If Parham is out for an extended period, it could be crushing. The veteran left guard has been a standout for the Jets, while the team took a huge gamble in the offseason by choosing not to prioritize the depth behind him.
Parham’s impact
Following an encouraging 2025 season for the Jets’ offensive line, Parham was the only new starter for this year’s unit, replacing John Simpson at left guard, who went back to the Baltimore Ravens in free agency.
Simpson outplayed his initial contract value in two years as a Jet, but it appeared that Parham, 27, profiled as an upgrade over the 29-year-old guard. Parham outproduced Simpson in 2025 despite playing in a less favorable situation.
However, three games into the season, I don’t think anyone expected Parham to play to the level he has.
Entering Week 3, Pro Football Focus had Parham graded as the NFL’s top guard, and he now ranks second in their overall grade (88.3) among 73 qualified guards, trailing only Jonah Jackson of the Chicago Bears by less than a point. He also ranks second in their run-blocking grade (90.4) and 12th in pass protection (75.9).
Parham was carted off the field during Sunday’s loss to the Detroit Lions due to a knee injury and was ruled out fairly quickly. When speaking to the media on Monday, Aaron Glenn said he wouldn’t have an update on the guard until Wednesday.
While it’s important not to jump to conclusions, the early signs aren’t very promising. For a Jets offense that expected to rely on the success of the offensive line this season, losing one of the NFL’s best guards since the start of the season would be a tough blow.
Parham’s loss would hurt most in run blocking. As our guy Michael Nania broke down, the Jets’ overall run blocking has been lackluster over the past two weeks, explaining the team’s struggles to run the ball.
In the run-blocking facet, Parham has easily been the Jets’ best performer and currently the second-best guard in the league, at least according to PFF.
Losing Parham would hurt, but what makes the situation even less bearable is the Jets’ backup plan, or lack thereof.
New York’s backup plan for Parham is comical
One of the most puzzling areas of the Jets’ offseason approach was their decision to pretty much ignore offensive line depth.
In the sixth round of the draft, they selected Anez Cooper out of Miami, who is essentially a pure right guard. Other than that, the team made no significant additions to the backup offensive line until it struck a cutdown day trade with the Las Vegas Raiders for Jordan Meredith, a 28-year-old who has started 20 NFL games at both center and guard.
The Jets received tremendous luck in 2025, trotting out the same five starting offensive linemen for all 17 games (although Josh Myers replaced Alijah Vera-Tucker after a season-ending injury before the year). That is extremely uncommon in the NFL.
It would be egregious to believe that the Jets might enjoy that same level of luck this year. Yet, their lack of investment in the second-string offensive line almost suggested that they indeed believed it would happen again.
And here we are.
A starter missing time, like the Jets could be seeing with Parham three games into the season, is inevitable. In the NFL, there is no such thing as preventing the inevitable. The proactive approach is to always have a firm backup plan.
Backups will rarely replicate the production of the starters they replace, but the league’s top teams typically have competent second-string linemen who can step in and hold their own without sinking the entire unit.
Do the Jets have that?
If Parham were to miss significant time, or even just a few games, it would be ludicrous to believe that the Jets’ replacement option could sniff the level that he’s been playing at since the start of the season. Competency should be viewed as the goal.
While the decision to acquire Meredith in August made sense to aid a weak spot on the Jets’ depth chart, especially for just a late-round pick swap, he showed on Sunday exactly why he isn’t a starter.
Despite playing just 28 pass-blocking snaps after replacing Parham, Meredith allowed five pressures. That includes the game-ending strip-sack on Geno Smith, which Meredith appeared to be at fault for.
To be fair, Meredith has had quality stretches in his NFL career. In 2024, he played really well, posting an 80.8 overall grade from PFF, finishing sixth among guards with at least 500 snaps. Across 399 pass-blocking snaps, he allowed just nine pressures and zero sacks. His 2.3% pressure rate was the third-best at the position, while also tallying a solid 78.4 run-blocking grade.
Even with those numbers in mind, though, it would be tough to be fully confident in him starting a significant number of games. Despite his production in 2024, Meredith struggled enough across his 11 starts in 2025 that the Raiders ultimately deemed him expendable in 2026.
Meredith’s struggles in 2025 could have been a product of moving to center, but his output at guard on Sunday certainly didn’t inspire confidence in the idea that the Jets can comfortably slide him into the starting group.
With Anez Cooper on short-term injured reserve due to a shoulder issue, the Jets’ only other option at guard is Max Mitchell, who would be an even less encouraging option than Meredith.
Mitchell is primarily a tackle. He has a little bit of guard experience in emergency situations, playing 81 snaps at right guard in 2023 and 47 snaps at left guard in 2024, but he looked out of place in both instances.
This is exactly why the decision to enter the season with a weak depth plan was so puzzling. The decision to acquire Meredith was wise, but it shouldn’t have been the team’s only move.
At this point, all the organization can do is hope Parham’s injury isn’t significant and they won’t be forced to trot out Meredith, or another backup, for many snaps this season.
Whether it was Week 1 or Week 15, you could see this situation coming from a mile away. Eventually, the team’s depth would be tested in some way, shape, or form, and the Jets would regret not taking it more seriously in the offseason.
