Heading into a new cycle and season the Jets seem to have a handful of position battles going on. We will take a look at a few of them and give our thoughts.
The first one everyone wants to know about is the running back room. The Jets have second year electric runner Breece Hall but signed the 4 time pro bowl and one time all pro Dalvin cook. Hall is coming off an ACL injury which is a huge concern but he seems to be healthy. Cook provides great value in case Hall needs to be eased into the mix. This battle comes down to development for the young guy, or getting the most out of the vet and juke box while you have him. With the contract outlook, Dalvin seems to be in town for just this year. We would expect Dalvin to get a bulk of the carries early while Hall sees more touches later. We expect a 60-40 split.
The tight end race is currently wide open with no clear cut starters. Tyler Conklin is the highest rated tight end but just a 78 overall. C.J. Uzomah is right behind him at 76 overall. Conklin has better hands but C.J. has the height advantage. Speaking of height expect the team to give rookie tight end Zack Kunts some looks this year. He is an ultra athletic but raw tight end. Expect all three to see action this year unless the team brings in someone else from free agency or through a trade.
One of the more surprising battles is at center. Incumbent starter Connor McGovern has a 6 point overall advantage over rookie Joe Tippman but the team seems to be leaning the route of starting youth here. With Joe seemingly winning the starting gig look to see if some teams come in and make an offer for Conner.
Across the defensive line it seems both end positions are up for grabs. the jets have 4 players for two spots. Carl lawson is the highest rated overall of the group but age is not on his side. The Jets also have first round rookie Will McDonald, Jermaine Johnson, and Bryce huff. With the team expecting to compete this season expect Lawson to win one job while the other three battle for the other. The team will be able to use a solid rotation to keep all of them fresh.
The linebacker core is the weakest link of the team. We would go over the battles but garbage can one will start over garbage can two at the olb positions. Rookie linebacker Zaire Barnes will learn from CJ Mosley and hope to earn snaps early on. Barnes has the best shot to be the main user linebacker but he’s just 66 overall.
That’s all to report so far, stay tuned for possible trade rumors and overall
