MOBILE, Ala. — While the Jets’ search for a quarterback is dominating the headlines, it’s not the only place they need help.
Anyone who has watched the Jets knows that the team needs to upgrade the offensive line in 2023 to protect whoever is playing quarterback for them. Injuries and ineffective play caught up to the Jets line as the season began, and offensive failures down the stretch were plentiful. To do with the boys in front.
The Jets will need to add at least two offensive linemen this offseason — likely a center and a tackle. The search for those players begins with the College All-Star Games, which continue into this week’s Senior Bowl.
Jets assistant general manager Rex Hogan said the offensive line has been one of the better positions he’s seen early in the draft season, but maybe not in the first round.
“I don’t think it’s as much as it has been in the past, but I’d say there’s been some good players overall with him,” Hogan said Wednesday. “I would say it’s more spread throughout the draft because you have a dominant top-five, top-10 type of guy here.”
These college all-star games are important for all players, but the linemen get the added bonus of being here. Teams like to rotate players and see a tackle play guard and left tackle play right tackle and guards play center. If he can prove versatility at the position here, it could benefit him come the draft.
The Jets drafted Max Mitchell in the fourth round last year after he impressed in the Senior Bowl. Mitchell started five games as a rookie for the Jets and could be the starter in 2023.
Projecting college offensive linemen to the NFL has become more difficult with the proliferation of spread offenses.
“It’s the volume of plays they run,” Hogan said. “They’re just volume, volume, volume and trying to get more plays so there’s not as much finish in the game except for a handful of teams that run traditional NFL power, gap, do, those types of runs. . . . In the inside-out zone you have to take what those guys play inside and outside of the movement and what kind of physicality they show in them and the project. That can be difficult.”
As Joe Douglas’ right-hand man, Hogan has been heavily involved in building the Jets’ roster. That roster is in better shape this offseason than it has been in the last three years that Douglas and Hogan have been with the Jets. But Hogan acknowledged he still has work to do after the team went 7-10 and missed the playoffs for the 12th straight season.
“We want to continue to build and continue to improve,” Hogan said. “We’ve gone from four wins to seven wins and now we have to take the next step and everybody recognizes that and understands that and understands the importance of that. Is.”
The Jets can celebrate the offensive and defensive rookies of the year next week, with Sass Gardner expected to be a finalist for the defensive award and Garrett Wilson for the offense. The 2022 draft class could be a turnaround class for the Jets, with not only Gardner and Wilson, but also Bryce Hall looking like a star, and Jermaine Johnson, Mitchell and Michael Clemons showing plenty of potential.
“Obviously, it feels great,” Hogan said of last year’s draft success. “The college scouting staff did a great job identifying the talent, the traits and then the football character and personal character and how those guys fit and what they’re going to bring to the locker room and the field. “
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