New York Jets: How bad is this offensive line?
The ability of the 2018 New York Jets offensive line is yet to be determined, and we can look to the preseason Week 1 performance to see why.
The New York Jets offensive line looked good in their opening preseason matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. A new wrinkle made an appearance to the Jets offense that we didn’t see last year — the zone blocking scheme.
The zone blocking scheme is much like playing zone defense. Instead of the offensive linemen lining up and taking a certain player, they take a particular area of the field and block whichever defender is there. In order to run the zone blocking scheme, you need to have athletic linemen and cohesion. It takes time for an offensive line to develop that.
This is an important wrinkle for the Jets is they’re going to make it a staple of their offense, because football is the ultimate team game. The running game is important to maintain balance so the defense can’t sit on the pass frequently.
The Jets were tied for 19th in yards per attempt as a team, 14th in rushing touchdowns, and 25th in first down runs. Part of this was the offensive line scheme. They ran a power run scheme, which may not have been conducive to the talent on the team.
They were a decent pass blocking team, but their run block left a lot to be desired. That could be due to something known in football parlance and “stopping the run on the way to the quarterback.” That means, even though it’s a running play, defenses will pin their ears back and rush the quarterback, and in doing so be able to stop the run.
One of the biggest things I see is that fans don’t want Sam Darnold to start behind “this offensive line.” That said, if the zone blocking scheme is better for this team than the power-run style, it’ll only help the Jets rookie quarterback, because then teams can’t pin their ears back on every play. They’d have to temper their aggression.
Next. NFL Preseason 2018: Bold predictions for Week 2. dark
Judging this line on the merits of last year when a new scheme is in place is ludicrous. Only time will tell, but even though there aren’t many new faces, a new scheme may just be what the doctor ordered for this line.