Over the course of today, we’ll be breaking down the performance of every player that took the field in the Jets’ preseason game against the Giants. We’ll start with a look at offense and will cover the defense and special teams later on.
Quarterbacks – Mart too broad
Justin Fields opened up with a roll-out and dump-off to the tight end on the first play of the game and didn’t complete another pass as the first team offense had all its success on the ground.
The four incompletions he had were high to the flat under heavy pressure, low to the flat after a bad snap, slightly off target on a back shoulder throw that could have been pass interference and broken up over the middle. Hardly encouraging in terms of the passing game but at the same time nothing dramatically concerning since the offense was still moving the ball on the ground and he didn’t make any terrible mistakes. Will that be it from him for the preseason? We’ll see.
Adrian Martinez was the first man up off the bench and ended up 12 for 21 with an interception. He completed four passes down the field and stepped up and dumped it off for another first down but was off the mark on a couple of throws and the interception, thrown back across his body after he rolled out, was a bad decision.
Undrafted rookie Brady Cook was 6 for 11 for 74 yards and a touchdown, which wasn’t bad considering he had a number of passes dropped. There were no real negative throws from Cook, who completed a first down throw on a similar pass to the one Martinez was intercepted on. He also hit one on a slant and one down the seam and his touchdown throw was to the pylon, although this was perhaps a harder catch than it needed to be.
(Tyrod Taylor did not play)
Running Backs – Braekthrough Performance
Breece Hall didn’t make much of an impact again, although he did burst for 12 yards on his best run of the preseason so far. His other six carries and one target netted just 14 yards though.
Braelon Allen was really the key to the Jets’ running game in a first half where they racked up 85 yards on the ground. He had 34 yards on seven carries, picking up three first downs, including one on 3rd-and-8.
Kene Nwangwu also produced well, as the number three back. He had 31 yards on six carries, with one short yardage conversion and a play where he broke a tackle to turn a loss into a six-yard gain. He picked up the blitz nicely on two plays too, although then he had a pair of plays where he failed to pick anyone up and then got driven back into the quarterback’s lap.
UDFA Donovan Edwards had a big game last week, but in this game he had just 21 yards on eight carries and a seven-yard catch. He did pick up three first downs, though; two in short yardage and one on a 3rd-and-6.
His fellow UDFA Lawrance Toafili actually had the longest run of the day.
Apart from this, his other three carries netted just nine yards but he did pick up the blitz well once.
(Isaiah Davis did not play).
Offensive Line – We mean you no Arm’
Armand Membou seemed to make a bit of progress this week as the Jets had a lot of success running over the right side and he played a role in that. In pass protection, he was cleanly beaten on a Kayvon Thibodeaux inside move but settled nicely after that and looked good on this rep against Thibodeaux, albeit with the aid of a chip.
It was right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker who keyed the running game, though. It’s possible he’s never looked as good as he did in this game, against a formidable front (albeit without Dexter Lawrence). Often working in tandem with Membou he consistently got a good surge off the line and had several run blocks where he made a key impact.
Allen converted a first down on 3rd-and-8 as the Giants lined Abdul Carter up at defensive tackle and Vera-Tucker took control of him and drove him off the line to open up a huge hole. That’s one way to negate a potential strength.
The left side was less effective though. Olu Fashanu had a minimal impact in the running game, although he had one good downhill block and held up well in pass protection.
In his return to the line-up, left guard John Simpson looked rusty with a few early mistakes, although he settled down and had a couple of good run blocks later on.
Back as the starting center, Joe Tippmann had one bad snap but held up well in pass protection and had more positives than negatives in the run game.
Josh Myers took over as the second team center. He had a minimal impact as he allowed penetration on one run and may have screwed up a line call on a play where two unblocked rushers came off either edge. The so-called competition for the starting role hasn’t been close from what we’ve seen so far.
At right tackle, Membou got an extra series with the twos which meant Chukwuma Okorafor didn’t get as much time as the rest of the second unit. He also exited briefly with an apparent minor injury before returning. It was again not very encouraging from Okorafor who was beaten badly in pass protection leading to a holding call and was bull rushed into Martinez’s lap on the play where he was flushed from the pocket and threw a pick.
The rest of the second unit was the same as last week: Max Mitchell at left tackle, Xavier Newman at left guard and Kohl Levao at right guard.
After the right side had outplayed the left side with the first unit, it was the other way around with the twos, as Mitchell and Newman combined well on the left side. Both had multiple good run blocking contributions, although Newman also gave up a pressure and had a play where he allowed penetration. Mitchell held up well in pass protection this week and his run blocking consistency seems to have improved.
Levao was inconsistent for the second week in a row, although he had one good run block at the point of attack. He also had a holding penalty and gave up a pressure.
Marquis Hayes entered at left guard on the third unit and had some good run blocks, including a couple in short yardage. However, he got stood up and the runner ran into his back on one play.
Samuel Jackson once again worked as the third team left tackle and lost leverage a couple of times in the running game and was beaten around the edge for a pressure. However, he once again flashed some run blocking talent as he pulled out in front of Edwards on a 3rd-and-6 outside run and picked up a block, driving his man down the field to enable Edwards to get the first down. There’s potential here.
Third team center Liam Fornadel had mixed results in the running game and one bad snap but it was noticeable that the interior line didn’t seem to be downgraded with him taking over from Myers. Maybe that was a product of him facing more threes than twos, but teams do rotate their linemen in preseason.
At right tackle Carter Warren was beaten for a pressure and had two plays where he appeared to block completely the wrong man, leading to clean pressure and a run stuff. Maybe those were a bad line call or the fault of the quarterback but it seems like he is prone to lapses in focus. He redeemed an otherwise poor performance with two solid run blocks near the end of the game.
International Pathway Player Leander Wiegand made his debut at right guard this week and it seemed noticeable that the game was moving really fast for him at first as he struggled to find targets in space or control blocks in the trenches. He had one good downhill block near the end of the game, though, so perhaps that’s a sign he was starting to settle down and will be better next week. He also didn’t have any negatives in pass protection.
Wide Receivers – By the Skinner their teeth
Garrett Wilson was shut out again, as Fields failed to complete a pass to him on three targets. One was skipped low to him in the flat and likely would have been blown up for a loss anyway. The other two were broken up with Fields’ ball placement and a possible interference being question marks on the first of those.
Josh Reynolds and Tyler Johnson were not targeted but at least Johnson had a couple of catches last week. Reynolds hasn’t been targeted at all in preseason.
Rookie Arian Smith had issues with drops for the first time in this game, failing to hang onto a quick slant near the marker. He also didn’t haul in a jump ball down the field, although the defender got a hand on that and could have been called for pass interference because he made early contact with the ball still in the air.
There were positives from Smith, though, as he caught 16 and 23 yard passes on in-breaking routes from Martinez. Those were his only catches on six targets, though, as Martinez overthrew him twice. One of those could have been interference too.
Brandon Smith continues to produce in preseason as he had five catches, although three of these were just short dump-offs. He had two nice first downs though. The team also tested him in some run blocking situations, where he did okay but wasn’t perfect.
Malachi Corley again had no touches and remains moored on the third team. There was one play where he could have made an impact, as he ran a sharp whip route to get open on a two-point conversion but Cook threw the fade instead.
Jamaal Pritchett was another player that let himself down with a drop this week. He had a nine yard catch for a first down on a Martinez dump off but otherwise just one yard on four other targets. Xavier Gipson made no ground on him, though, as he was not targeted.
The 6’5″ UDFA Quinten Skinner raised his profile this week with a spectacular touchdown catch.
That wasn’t his only good moment, either, as he had two other first downs, one downfield and the other down the seam. He missed one run block though.
Pokey Wilson had a mixed performance with two catches including an 18-yard first down. However, he had a bad drop and also had the two point conversion go off his hands, although this was a tougher, diving attempt.
Finally, UDFA Dymere Miller was targeted for the first time in preseason but it was incomplete. This could also have been interference as the defender never looked back at the ball.
(Irv Charles, who is on the PUP list, and Allen Lazard did not play)
Tight Ends – Jeremy Rickety
Jeremy Ruckert finally did something positive this week as he drove Carter off the line and to the ground on a run block. It came at the end of a performance where he wasn’t targeted and missed two run blocks, including one that led to a run being stuffed behind the line, though.
Mason Taylor got his feet wet with the first unit this week and caught a short pass from Fields on the first play. We need to see more from him in terms of what he can do as a blocker.
After last week’s strong performance, Andrew Beck was back mostly working with the twos this week and had a lead block where his man bottled up a run and gave up a pressure in pass protection.
Stone Smartt caught two short passes this week but it was his blocking that helped him to stand out. He had one good block where he drove his man off the line and also lit up Carter with a chip.
Zack Kuntz and Neal Johnson were not targeted but Kuntz had one good run block and another where he was pushed back and the run was bottled up.
We’ll be back with more on the defense and special teams later…