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New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is unequivocally the most important piece of the team’s Super Bowl aspirations. Playing the most important position and offering the biggest improvement from last year’s team, the Jets need him to be successful. And they made the moves to make that possible.
New York prioritized the offensive line early in the offseason, signing left tackle Tyron Smith and left guard John Simpson and trading for right tackle Morgan Moses. © Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK But this unit will not live up to its potential if right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker and center Joe Tippmann don’t hold up their end of the bargain.
So far, so good. The Jets ranked sixth in Pro Football Focus’ offensive line rankings after Week 2, and they have their second-year center to thank. “This unit put together arguably the best performances by a Jets offensive line in recent memory,” Zoltán Buday wrote.
“The front-five was responsible for just one pressure — albeit a sack — on 33 dropbacks, which led to a league-leading 97.0 PFF pass-blocking efficiency score. “Although he was the one responsible for the lone pressure, center Joe Tippmann appears to have improved from his rookie season.
The Wisconsin product has allowed pressure on just 1.5 percent of dropbacks this season, which ranks sixth among NFL centers. Last season, he gave up pressure on 3.
6 percent of pass plays.” Related: Robert Saleh, Jets Prepared for 'Familiar' Patriots Team Given the struggles Tippmann had simply snapping the football over the summer, his strong start to the season is remarkably encouraging. While many were optimistic about his development, the possibility of him being the weakest link on this line was real, and threatened the viability of this passing offense.
Instead, Tippmann is progressing nicely and the unit is exceeding expectations. As Rodgers gets more comfortable and the team reaps the benefits of a Canton-bound signal caller, the offense should as well..
