Pop quiz: Which position touches the football on every single play? If you said quarterback, you are wrong. There are moving sweeps, wildcat formations, direct snaps and all that other fun stuff offensive coordinators dream up when they are tripping balls.
The correct answer is the center. And the Jets have a budding problem with theirs.
Joe Tippmann, the second-year player out of Wisconsin whom the Jets took in round two of the 2023 NFL draft is the unquestioned starting center as the Jets enter camp. He began last season on the bench in favor of the veteran Connor McGovern but worked his way into the lineup at guard within a few weeks and eventually took over the center spot when McGovern went down with a season ending injury.
The only problem with all that is Aaron Rodgers wasn’t around for any of it considering he only lasted four offensive plays into the season. So, this training camp is the first time Rodgers and Tippmann are working together, and it is not going well.
According to multiple reports, Joe Tippmann is struggling snapping the ball to Rodgers, especially in the shotgun.
Tippmann is in list territory pic.twitter.com/Zsd20Vuqo9
— nicole esther (@njrealtornic) July 29, 2024
The bad snaps caught the attention of SNY’s Connor Hughes who attended Jets practice and he noted on his X account “The poor snaps from Tippmann are becoming a trend. He’s had a couple each practice. Monday marked the first time Rodgers wasn’t able to survive them. He had to one-hand catch one before throwing it away. Another was so off that a lineman (couldn’t tell who) stepped on him as he was trying to get it, causing him to fall down on a handoff to Breece Hall. Tippmann later went off to the side and practiced with a positional coach. More alarming: The problems continued there. This is worth monitoring.”
ESPN’s Rich Cimini got cute with the issue.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh told reporters after practice that "there’s clearly something going on" with Tippmann but that he's confident Joe will find a way to get it fixed. Saleh, who is on the hot seat this season, can’t afford to watch his savior QB unable to get the ball in his hands because of poor snaps.
The Jets spent big to fix their offensive line this offseason but they (and the media) expect big things from Tippmann this season. Unfortunately, the quickest way for Tippmann to lose his job is to be unable to get the ball into Rodgers’ hands.
Rodgers already puts a lot of pressure on the offensive line with his cadence. He is a master at keeping defenses on their toes when it comes to his snap count and often gets the proverbial “free play” by making defenses jump off-sides and then getting the ball snapped. All of that can’t happen if Tippmann and Rodgers aren’t on the same page.
It’s a problem worth monitoring as camp continues.
