July 24, 2023

As a part of the Jets offseason, they revamped and retooled their offensive line after a disastrous performance in 2023.  Behind the terrible offensive line in 2023, the Jets were 5th in sacks allowed, 30th in passing yards, and 22nd in rushing yards.

Starting at the left tackle position, the Jets signed Tyron Smith from the Cowboys which was the biggest signing of the offseason. In the offseason, he signed a 1 year $20 million deal and now the 33-year-old tackle will be entering his 13th year in the NFL and his first time with a new team after 13 years in Dallas. Smith has been one of if not the best tackles over the past decade he has 8 Pro Bowls, 5 All-Pro nods, All-2010’s decades team, and the PFWA 2011 All-Rookie team. For the past few years, Tyron has been plagued by injury, not playing a full season since 2015, and dealing with neck, back, knee, ankle, hamstring, and elbow injuries. If he can stay healthy he can still be an All-Pro level player.

Moving to the left guard position, Gang Green signed the Ravens guard John Simpson to a 2 year $12 million deal. Last year in 2023, Simpson had a very weak run protection having a 56.9 PFF run block grade and 66.3% run-block win rate which were both near the bottom of the league. But for his pass blocking, it was great, he had a 4.19% pressure rate, 92.5% pass block win rate, and 1 sack allowed while playing in 99% of snaps last season. The Jets are getting what they need out of a guard, a pure pass blocker.

At the center position, the Jets have the youngest player on the offensive line 23-year-old sophomore Joe Tippmann. Last year Joe Tippmann was very impressive, especially during the second half of the season where he truly broke into the scene. In the second half of the season, he was the 14th overall ranked center, 5th in run blocking, and 5th in pass blocking according to PFF. The Wisconsin product is also coming off a season where he caused 8 penalties and allowed 3 sacks.

On the right guard position nothing changes for the Jets, they still have Alijah Vera-Tucker who is entering his 4th year. In the past 2 seasons, Vera-Tucker has been hit with injuries, having 2 season-ending Achille tears early in the 2022 season and 2023 season. During his time in 2023, Vera-Tucker had a 73.8 PFF grade which was the highest of all Jets O-linemen last year by 11 points.

At the right tackle position, the Jets brought back former Jet Morgan Moses who was in New York in 2021. Moses is coming off 2 seasons in Baltimore where he played 88.5% of snaps and only allowed 10 sacks those seasons. Since 2020 Moses has an 88.4 run-block grade which is 6th in the league among tackles since 2020, 85.0 in QB pressure rate allowed which is 10th among tackles, and he played 3,887 snaps since 2020.

One of the main additions this offseason is someone who we might not see due to his development and learning, that is rookie Olu Fashanu who the Jets selected with the 11th pick. In college with Penn State Olu was a Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year in 2023, first-team All-American in 2023, first-team All-Big 10 in 2023, and second-team All-Big 10 in 2022. In 2023 Olu allowed 10 QB pressures and 0 sacks and in his college career, he did not allow a single sack. 

Now it finally looks like the Jets have a very good offensive line for the first time in years and when it comes together it has the chance to be one of the best in the league.