The Jets season will get underway on Friday, when they’ll face off against the Eagles in Philadelphia for a preseason contest.
With several new additions to the roster, the team will look very different from their squad last season — and fans will finally get a look at the new players, along with several ballers who are heading into their second season looking to grow their games.
So, what should fans be looking for on Friday?
Zach Wilson’s development
Quarterback Zach Wilson’s rookie season was rocky, as he played 13 games and he boasted 9 touchdowns, 2,334 yards with a 55.6% completion percentage, and 11 interceptions.
Coming into the league, he had sky high expectations as the 2nd overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft out of BYU, and fans were hoping he would be the long-sought-after savior of the struggling franchise.
The good news for Gang Green is that Wilson showed flashes of the talent scouts had boasted about in college, and didn’t toss an interception in any of the last 5 games of the season (he recorded 5 total touchdowns during that time).
He’ll need to get the ball out faster, as he was sacked 44 times in his 13-game season, which was the 3rd-most in the league. Fans should be watching for him to make quicker decisions and get off his first read against strong defensive back coverage.
Now, he’ll look to improve with the help of second-year guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, along with 2 new offensive skill position weapons.
Elijah Moore and Garrett Wilson
Moore, who is also going into his sophomore season, and he’s the consensus number-one option in the receiving department. His first year, when he came to New York as a second-round pick out of Ole Miss, Moore played 11 games and recorded catches on 55.8% of targets, and brought in 43 balls for 538 yards in the air, with 5 touchdowns (all the most on the team).
Wilson, meanwhile, is a highly-touted wide receiving prospect who the Jets selected 10th overall in the 2022 Draft. At 6’0” and 192 pounds, Wilson has the physical attributes to succeed in the league, and the Jets will likely look to get him going early, using preseason to give him a chance to adjust to the speed of the professional game.
Fans should look to see chemistry between Zach Wilson and his two top receiving options.
Breece Hall
In the running game, Jets rookie Breece Hall figures to be the lead back, ahead of Michael Carter and Tevin Coleman. First-year rushers are often hit-and-miss coming out of college, but rookies have a tendency to make an immediate impact right away — and Hall has all the qualities to be a true workhorse.
At 6’1” and 220 pounds, with a strong burst off the line and the ability to catch passes, Hall can present real problems for defenses, and should take some pressure off Zach Wilson and the passing game, if he can put it all together.
The Jets made Hall the first running back selected in the draft, so they clearly believe him. Fans will need to wait and see if he can be a true number-one option — and preseason will be a big indicator of that.
O-line depth
The Jets suffered a major blow on Tuesday, when offensive lineman Mekhi Becton suffered a season-ending knee injury.
They had been relatively quiet in the offseason when it comes to their offensive line, so the loss was a significant one. Now they’ll head into the season with a line made up of starters George Fant (LT), Laken Tomlinson (LG), Connor McGovern (C), Alijah Vera-Tucker (RG) and Conor McDermott (RT).
With Wilson’s tendency to get sacked, and the team looking to establish a running game behind Hall, they’ll need to step up to improve their offense, which recorded the 7th-least amount of total yards at 5,208, and allowed the 4th-most sacks at 53.
Fans should be paying attention to how the line plays against the Eagles front on Friday.
Sauce Gardner
On the defensive side of the ball, rookie cornerback Sauce Garden came to the team as the 4th overall pick in the 2022 Draft.
That is a big investment for a defensive back, but clearly the franchise’s front office saw Gardner as a shut-down corner, with long arms and elite athleticism. In his final college season at Cincinnati, Gardner recorded 3 interceptions, 35 tackles, 3 sacks and 4 breakups, according to PFF. He never allowed his man to score a touchdown in his entire college career.
Still, cornerbacks are often slow to adapt to the speed of the professional level, where they are attempting to guard some of the best athletes on the planet — so fans should be keeping an eye out for Gardener, who will be matched up with the Philadelphia wide receiving core led by A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
They’ll need him to make a positive impact early if they have any hope of improving on their 4–13 season, where they gave up the most total yards to opposing offenses in the NFL at 6,760, and the 3rd-most passing yards at 4,409.
