In the NFL, one of the most well-worn axioms is this: Games are won in the trenches.
Usually, teams with the best offensive and defensive lines reside in the upper echelon of the standings and reach the playoffs.
That puts the Jets halfway there.
Their defensive line looks fearsome. The problem is that their offensive line is something they fear.
The disparity between the two sides of the Jets lines of scrimmage is gaping at the moment.
If they’re going to be the team they think they can be this season with the ballyhooed addition of Aaron Rodgers — and now Dalvin Cook — that gap must be shrunk before the Sept. 11 season opener against the Bills.
The Jets are so deep and talented on the defensive line that head coach Robert Saleh and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich gleefully are able to send wave after wave from their embarrassment-of-riches rotation after opposing quarterbacks.
If you watched the Jets’ 27-0 preseason whitewash of the Panthers on Saturday night in Charlotte, N.C., you had to be salivating at the possibilities for this defense in 2023.
With their four top defensive line starters (Quinnen Williams, Carl Lawson, John Franklin-Myers and Al Woods) not even dressed for the game, the Jets still harassed the Panthers’ offense with the back half of their D-line rotation dominating the Carolina starters for the first portion of the game.
The Jets’ defensive production – with constant pressure on Panthers quarterbacks Bryce Young and Matt Corral, who combined for 113 passing yards on 28 passes – was heartening, even though it was the NFL debut for Young, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
The Jets produced five sacks against the Panthers, who managed just 165 net yards and a 3.4 yards per play average.
Jermaine Johnson, a first-round pick in 2022, was extremely active, with two quarterback pressures. Will McDonald, a first-rounder this spring, also had two pressures. Quinton Jefferson, Bruce Hector and Deslin Alexandre all had solo sacks. Hector’s was the play of the game — a sack, strip and fumble recovery.
“Those guys are psychos,” Jets’ third-year quarterback Zach Wilson said after the game.
“We like to say the team goes as we go,” Johnson said.
That can be the case only if the other side of the line of scrimmage cooperates. And right now, there are more moving parts on the Jets’ offensive line that Saleh or Rodgers would like, with both tackle spots uncertain.
Duane Brown, considered the Jets’ best tackle, remains on the physically unable to perform list as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery, though Saleh insists he’ll be ready to man left tackle for the opener.
On the right side, Max Mitchell, a second-year player coming off a rookie season prematurely halted by blood clots in his right leg and lung, and Billy Turner, a journeyman playing for his fourth team, have been sharing time in camp.
A wild card is Mekhi Becton, the team’s first-round pick in 2020. He was expected to be a franchise left tackle, but has played only one game over the past two seasons due to knee injuries and is being treated with kid gloves this summer.
The Jets were celebrating the fact that Becton got through 27 snaps in Charlotte as he slowly tries to regain confidence in his surgically repaired knee.
So, he hardly seems like an option to start any time soon.
Another wild card is Alijah Vera-Tucker, the best pure player on the Jets’ line. He’s a natural right guard, who’s so good and smart at what he does he can plan anywhere on the line, which is what he did last season because of injury issues, moving to right and left tackle before his season ended with a torn triceps injury in Week 7.
Vera-Tucker has played exclusively during training camp at right guard, which is where he’d prefer to remain. But it’s not out of the question to move him to right tackle and slide veteran center Connor McGovern to right guard. That would open the center spot for rookie Joe Tippmann — if the coaches believe he’s ready (he’s been practicing all camp with the second and third teams, though he had a strong game against the Panthers).
“My optimistic side will say we have time,’’ Saleh said of settling on an offensive line that’ll properly protect Rodgers and open holes for the running backs. “But as a coach, you want it done yesterday. We want these guys rolling, we want confidence, we want to start humming.’’
His defensive line is humming.
His offensive line is idling and, at times, sputtering.
Saleh needs his offensive line to catch up to his defensive line.
If he can make that happen, then the Jets should be on their way to a first playoff berth since the 2010 season.
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