Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\nJohn Metchie, acquired during the season for Michael Carter II, also showed some potential of his own when given more opportunities. Metchie did have some drops but also had a few touchdowns and should provide quality depth. Tight End Mason Taylor had 44 receptions as a rookie and if not for a season-ending neck injury, would have easily put up better numbers.<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s one area that finally doesn\u2019t need a major overhaul, it\u2019s the offensive line.\u00a0 The Jets return four of their five starting offensive linemen from last season.\u00a0 Armand Membou was terrific in his rookie season at right tackle and Olu Fashanu showed improvement in his second year at left tackle. Joe Tippmann performed very well moving to right guard after the season ending injury to Alijah Vera-Tucker. Center Josh Myers was brought back on a two-year extension after filling in for Tippmann after he moved to guard to replace AVT.<\/p>\n
The Jets have to make a decision between keeping Vera-Tucker or John Simpson as both are unrestricted free agents. They each have their strengths as well as their weaknesses. But, for the first time in a long time, the offensive line is no longer a major liability.<\/p>\n
The biggest decision the Jets will need to make on offense is at running back, where Breece Hall is an unrestricted free agent and it’s unknown if he has any interest in returning to the team that drafted him.\u00a0 There are multiple reports indicating the Jets could use the franchise tag or the transition tag on Hall, which would give them an idea of what his market will look like and the opportunity to match any offer he receives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In my personal opinion, Hall is overrated. \u00a0While he had his first 1,000 yard season of his career last year, it took a long touchdown run in garbage time against the Patriots to eclipse that mark.\u00a0 In 10 of the 17 games he played last season, Hall rushed for less than 75 yards, which is very disappointing for a player who received over 200 carries and running behind an above average offensive line. \u00a0\u00a0His attitude is also an issue with the numerous cryptic tweets he posts for sympathy from the Jets fans and meda.<\/p>\n
In the event Hall walks in free agency, the Jets have two running backs on the roster who deserve the opportunity for bigger roles. Braelon Allen was a fourth round pick in the 2024 draft and his physical running style has been impressive at times, but not enough to determine if he’s capable of being the top running back on the team. Allen only played four games last year due to an ankle injury, but he averaged over four yards a carry on the ground and close to eight yards per reception. Those numbers over a full season could be just as good as Hall’s numbers at half the price with Allen still on his rookie contract.<\/p>\n
Isaiah Davis was selected in the same draft as Allen and has been a good complimentary back. He’s averaged over five yards a carry in each of his two years in New York as well as close to nine yards a reception. He also contributes on special teams as a returner. This doesn’t mean the Jets shouldn’t try to bring Hall back as he is dangerous out of the backfield. But, the cupboard isn’t necessarily bare either if Hall decides to leave New York.<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, the quarterback will always be the glue that keeps the offense together.\u00a0 Without the right player under center, the offense will be like driving a poor used car.\u00a0 It\u2019ll have its moments where it runs like a dream, but ultimately stall more times than you would like.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Jets have been linked to every quarterback available, including Kyler Murray and Kurt Cousins.\u00a0 In a recent Jets Wire article, I recommended Philadelphia Eagles backup Tanner McKee as the potential answer.\u00a0 Other options could be Jacoby Brissett (trade), Tua Tagovailoa (trade) and Marcus Mariota (free agent).\u00a0 The 2026 draft is not an option for an immediate starter this year, but could be a possibility as the starter in 2027.<\/p>\n
The Jets have tried and tried to find the answer and still haven’t find the solution. Whether through the draft, trades or free agency, nothing has worked.\u00a0 It’s been a combination of poor coaching and bad luck. There are plenty of teams in the league that have done more with less talent on offense and that\u2019s primarily due to finding the right quarterback that made those players better. The Jets have no choice but to keep trying until they hit at the most important position on the field.<\/p>\n
For anyone who was a fan of the old NBC show Heroes, the most popular line that fans remember was “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World!”. For the 2026 New York Jets, the tagline should be “Find the Quarterback, Save the Season!”\u00a0 If they find the right quarterback, they’ll also save the head coach\u2019s job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 25, 2026, 6:45 a.m. ET The NFL is a few weeks away from the start of free…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[679,9,11,10,1673,1674,948,60683,3708,22286,60682,35704,950,1675,932,947,39889,691,949,60684,682],"class_list":["post-144733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-accessfree","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-sstssportsnfljets","tag-sstsnjets","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagbraelon-allen","tag-taggarrett-wilson","tag-tagjohn-metchie-iii","tag-tagjosh-myers","tag-tagmarcus-mariota","tag-tagnational-sports","tag-tagnew-york-jets","tag-tagnfl","tag-tagnfl-hub","tag-tagolu-fashanu","tag-tagoverall-neutral","tag-tagsports-news","tag-tagtua-tagovailoa","tag-typestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}