NFL Kickoff: The New York Jets are Hoping Their New Offensive Line Can Gel on Sunday
Blending in four new starters on an offensive line in a traditional preseason is a challenge in and of itself. Doing it without the benefit of offseason workouts, minicamp or preseason games is a monumental order.
Such is the life of New York Jets head coach Adam Gase and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains in an offseason that was drastically overhauled by COVID-19, throwing off the integration of his rebuilt offensive line.
Oh, and they are facing one of the best defenses in the NFL in Week 1. And on the road.
There remains only one carryover starter from last season’s offensive line, left guard Alex Lewis. The assimilation of three signings in free agency and the selection of Mekhi Becton in the first round of April’s NFL Draft had to take place entirely in preseason and via Zoom meetings.
“It’s going to be a challenge. This is a good unit and they do a really good job running three- and four-man games, which tests the chemistry of your offensive line,” Loggains said on Thursday in a virtual press conference.
“We’ve we need to be able to pass those things, but we also see it in practice from our defense. And everyone has the same number of practices, same number of reps, so we’ve got to go out and execute and do it. We’ve been practicing it, we give them all the looks that they’re going to see in the games, and we have to go do it.”
A season ago, the Jets had one of the worst offensive lines in football. It was a talent-deficient unit that then got battered with injuries.
It is a completely new offensive line now featuring five new starters from this time a year ago.
Gase has talked up the line as has general manager Joe Douglas, the duo obviously making an upgrade of the unit a priority this offseason in order to protect franchise quarterback Sam Darnold.
A centerpiece of this rebuilding of the line is Becton, taken No. 11 overall and expected to be a franchise left tackle. The entire offensive line will face a challenge on Sunday against an aggressive Bills defensive.
It already would have been difficult enough in a normal situation. Now without any preseason games to work together and getting timing down, it will be a serious concern for the Jets against a playoff time a year ago.
The Bills were second in the league in total defense in 2019.
“That’s the tough part of it. You’re talking about learning on the run a little bit in this game, the speed, the tempo. I know we’ve gone through practice, I know our defense does a lot, but it’s a little different when we get into a real game,” Gase said on Friday. “Those juices start amping up, things just really start picking up and I’m sure they’ll have some things that we haven’t seen them do before. I’m sure [Bills head coach] Sean [McDermott] will have something he usually does. We’re going to have to make adjustments during the game, we’re going to have to keep working through any kind of mistakes we make, but that’s part of the NFL in 2020 right now. We’re not going to be the only team going through any kind of adjustment like this.”
And Gase is certainly right, they aren’t the only team facing uncertainty heading into 2020. But no one else in the league has five brand new starters on their offensive line from what they started a year ago. It is asking a lot for this unit to be ready to step-in immediately and be flawless in their protection.
And yet on Sunday with a franchise quarterback directly behind them, that’s what they will be asked to do.
