New York Jets Given Mediocre Grade for Offseason Moves

The New York Jets season seemingly lies on the shoulders of their quarterback, but did they do enough around him to help their Super Bowl chances?

USA Today Sports’ Barry Werner handed out his offseason grades as teams prepare to ramp up their preparations and he clearly wasn’t a huge fan of what New York did, giving them a ‘C’ grade.

“More than four plays. That’s what the Jets need from Aaron Rodgers in 2024. Nothing else is seriously going to matter unless the elite quarterback is on the field early and often,” said Werner.

That is very true, but Rodgers will still need help on the field and they’ve done some good things to make his job easier coming off a major injury.

The most important move was completely rebuilding the offensive line that will be protecting him.

They have three new important offensive tackles at their disposal in Tyron Smith, Morgan Moses and Olu Fashanu.

Smith will be the Day 1 starter at left tackle and was a huge pickup. He’s been one of the best offensive lineman in the NFL for a long time. He’s made eight Pro Bowls and five All-Pro squads (as recently as 2023).

Moses isn’t the same caliber of talent at right tackle, but is still a much needed upgrade. He missed a couple of games last season, but has been consistently healthy for most of his season.

Fashanu was a great pickup in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft for both the future and immediate insurance behind some older offensive lineman.

They brought back their two best interior players in Alijah Vera-Tucker and Joe Tippmann while bringing in another new face in John Simpson.

Out wide, the additions of Mike Williams and Malachi Corley give Rodgers better options than he would have had at his disposal a year ago.

Though he’s struggled with injuries lately, Williams offers a big-bodied threat for both down the field and in the red zone. His role last year was taken by Allen Lazard who had just 23 catches for 311 yards.

Corley was highly-coveted for a third round selection. He’ll work mostly in the slot and in short-yardage situations. There are hopes that he can become a Deebo Samuel-type in the NFL.

The other big move on offense was upgrading the depth behind Breece Hall with Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis in the draft.

There weren’t a lot of moves made on the defensive side of things, but there really wasn’t a need for many.

Bryce Huff leaving to the Philadelphia Eagles could hurt, but they did pick up one of the best pass rushers over the past few seasons to make up for it.

While the Haason Reddick era hasn’t gotten off to a wonderful start, the product on the field should take over the story once the season starts. That is if he ever takes the field after all.

It wasn’t the flashiest offseason of all-time, but the biggest needs were addressed well.