The New York Jets had a very busy 2024 off season. After the hype heading into the 2023 season only to see the end result forced the team to take a hard look at the roster and realize that Aaron Rodgers suffering a season ending injury was not the only issue.
The Jets had inefficiencies all over the offensive side of the ball. The defense was top-notch, but it was always on the field, never getting a chance to catch their breaths and never getting a respite from having to play near-perfect football. The defense essentially dragged the offense to seven wins.
And it wasn’t just the quarterback that hampered the offense. Sure, the quarterbacks were terrible but that wasn’t the only issue. The Jets had no wide receivers outside of Garrett Wilson who could make defenses work and the offensive line was a turnstile in the passing game and generated zero push in the run game.
That’s where the Jets really went to work this offseason. Along the offensive line. The Jets replaced three of their five offensive linemen in a sweeping move to start off free agency. They said goodbye to the guy who was as reliable as that 2002 Pontiac Aztec in Mekhi Becton, as well as the failed experiment in Duane Brown and the always played, but never well Laken Tomlinson. They signed one of the highest performing guards in John Simpson, a future Hall of Famer in Tyron Smith and drafted Olu Fashanu with 11th overall pick in the draft.
Which leads to our player who can be the X-Factor on the season, Morgan Moses. The Jets traded for Moses early in free agency, sending a sixth-rounder and swapping a few spot in the fourth round with the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for the right tackle.
Moses was with the Jets in 2021 — the first year of head coach Robert Saleh’s tenure. He started 16 games for the club that year and played 94 percent of the team’s offensive snaps. In 2023, Pro Football Focus graded Moses as 10th best tackle out of 81 qualifying players.
The Jets believe they have the interior of the line set with Simpson and returning starters Joe Tippmann at Center and Alijah Vera-Tucker returning from his Achilles injury at Guard. With Tyron Smith ready to man the left tackle spot and Olu Fashanu waiting in the wings to back him up, it all comes down to Morgan Moses.
If the Jets offense is going to perform to the level that the team expects this season, they are going to need to have sustained drives that end in points. That means being able to run the football and protect their 40-year-old quarterback. That will require all five offensive linemen playing at a high level all season. Moses is certainly capable of not only playing every game but playing the position at a high level. He is a true leader on the team and believes he can help the team succeed.
The Jets have the weapons in Garrett Wilson, Mike Williams, and Breece Hall as well as the field general in Aaron Rodgers, now they just need the horses to let those weapons do their thing. Both Moses and Tyron Smith are 33 years old this season and while the Jets have a backup plan for when Smith needs to miss time in Olu Fashanu, there really isn’t much depth behind Moses.
Robert Saleh has said they feel comfortable with Fashanu playing right tackle, but he has never played the position in his football career. The great Fox NFL analyst Mark Schlereth once told me about offensive linemen switching sides, “try wiping your ass with your other hand. You will get it done, but you are going to wind up with shit on your hand.” The only real backup the Jets have to Moses is Max Mitchell, who had a promising rookie season in 2022, but was terrible in 2023.
So, Moses will be the lynchpin for a rebuilt Jets offensive line as they attempt to turn around what has been a putrid offense for years and a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in over a decade. I think he has the ability, the only question at 33-years-old is, does he have the durability?
