Robert Saleh Blasting His O-Line On 'Hard Knocks' Evidently Wasn't A Total Ham Job For The Cameras
Seeing a lot of folks lay into Robert Saleh for calling out his offensive line from last night's second episode of Hard Knocks. I guess on the surface I could see where some people are coming from. Defensive-minded head coach. Loves that he has a new legend at quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. His defense is killing it. Then the offensive line is fucking everything up. But it's one thing to address them as a unit at practice. It's another to call them out in front of the entire team. The big uglies in the trenches who block for all the touchdown-makers get little praise when things go well, and perhaps too much blame when everything goes to shit.
...In this instance, though, I'm on Saleh's side. Like he said, the New York Jets proved they were a 7-10 football team last year with a good defense and a "mediocre" offense. His word not mine. Because I would say they were a pathetic offense, largely thanks to their QB play from Zach Wilson, Mike White, etc.
Now that Rodgers is in town, there's more hope for Gang Green than there's been in quite some time. But Saleh is dead on: If the line can't block for Rodgers in his age-40 season, the Jets won't meet expectations.
Joint practice on Wednesday against the Buccaneers, who aren't expected to do much of anything in 2023, did not go well for New York's offensive line to say the least. SNYtv's Connor Hughes was clearly dismayed by what he saw — and wondered why former first-round pick Mekhi Becton wasn't more in the mix.
SIX SACKS in team drills. WOOF.
I've thought all along that the Jets were going to take a huge step forward this year. They finished fourth in total defense in points allowed in 2022 with such atrocious underperformance at the most important position on the field. With Rodgers in the fold, almost by default their floor felt like a 10-win team even in a loaded AFC. The struggles for the offensive line have been a consistent narrative throughout training camp. Looks like it ain't going anywhere anytime soon.
Until New York settles on its final starting five, it'll take a minute to develop chemistry.
Let's look at the flip side of this, though. There's still three weeks before the regular season starts. Wednesday's practice was also without some key contributors:
Nevertheless, you can't bank on all five of your preferred starters staying healthy. The preseason reminds football fans more than anything else that o-line depth around the NFL is pretty awful.
New York's in-flux o-line reminds me a lot of my beloved Cincinnati Bengals when they overhauled their line last offseason. During a 0-2 start, that group looked worse than the trash-ass unit Joe Burrow dragged to the Super Bowl. Eventually, they really came into their own. HOWEVER, La'el Collins went down midseason with a blown-out knee, Alex Cappa got hurt right before the playoffs and Jonah Williams was injured in the Wild Card Round.
Joe Brrr is like that, where he can go into Buffalo, beat the piss out of the Bills 27-10 with three backups protecting him. Elite QBs can elevate a team. Rodgers is certainly in that category. So maybe the sky isn't quite falling. I'd be lying if I wasn't alarmed by all the reports about the Jets right now, though.
In this 2023 Jets team's case, they're breaking in a rookie in Joe Tippmann who's evidently still trying to find his way. The second-round pick out of Wisconsin is trying to wrest the starting enter job away from Connor McGovern. That's such a key position for protections and snapping the ball to Rodgers. Until that's decided upon or committed to, that'll likely create communication and consistency issues up front.
As for Becton, he's played in just one game since his rookie campaign in 2020. I agree with Hughes that he can't be worse htan whomever the Jets are trotting out right now despite stil working his way back into "football shape." How the fuck is Becton supposed to do that if he doesn't, you know, fucking play more snaps?
Very-old left tackle Duane Brown is on the PUP list and is expected to start at left tackle. Alijah Vera-Tucker can literally play any of the five positions, and until the rest of the picture is sorted out, where he lines up is unclear.
Long story short, there's a lot to sift through until this Jets o-line puts its best five guys on the field and gets on the same page. Until then, alarmist stories are just part of the circus and storm the team will have to endure. That's what comes with a massive media market and the overnight Super Bowl expectations from the Rodgers trade.
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