Three on O: Seferian-Jenkins, McGuire, Shell
After each game, we're going to highlight three defensive and three offensive players and look in detail at their performance. We'll start today with the offense:
My idea of Shell
There was a lot of focus on Dakota Dozier this week and how he might handle his match-up with Ndamukong Suh, but that actually distracted from the fact that Brandon Shell is just as inexperienced and also facing a perennial pro bowler in Cameron Wake. This meant that on those occasions where he was getting a break from Wake by having someone outside him to pick up the edge, allowing him to block down, he also ended up having to block Suh as well.
Predictably the youngster was overmatched and had a bunch of negative plays in pass protection and in the running game, although it wasn't all bad.
He was beaten several times in pass protection, including two plays where he was blown past outside - once for a sack, with the other setting up another Dolphins player to make the sack as Josh McCown stepped up.
He was beaten outside one other time, late to react to a stunt leading to another pressure and had a couple of plays where he was leveraged into the backfield, including on the McCown touchdown pass where his man created pressure low and almost disrupted McCown's ability to step into his throw:
To get beaten so many times is not very impressive, especially when McCown apparently got rid of the ball faster on average than every NFL quarterback other than Eli Manning this week (per ESPN). However, with the added challenge of helping Dozier out with Suh, that perhaps put a bit more onto his plate than he's used to.
The Jets are going to gradually increase his role and hopefully he'll slowly continue to develop. However, he's been a little overmatched so far and if anything it's impressive that the Jets have been able to scheme around that.
In the running game, Shell did have some positives, often working in tandem with his linemates. He had two good second level blocks, set the edge well on one run and even had a play where he controlled Suh at the point of attack with initial double team help from Dozier who then peeled off.
However, there were also mistakes in the running game too. He was leveraged into the bath of the ball carrier once, let his man get off his block a couple of times to get in on the tackle and also was stood up at the point of attack once.
Hopefully, he'll start to grade out better as he stays in the line-up, but for now there is some encouraging signs in terms of the line playing better as a unit, perhaps as the rest of his linemates are starting to focus more on their own jobs rather than babysitting him.
Fumbled it when it came down to McGuire
Elijah McGuire kind of ruined his performance with a late fumble for the Jets only turnover. That play was nicely blocked and McGuire looked set to pick up some nice yardage off the right side but Byron Maxwell punched the ball out (literally, he used a balled-up fist) at the second level and knocked it loose. McGuire then compounded the error by forgetting to make the tackle because you're not down at the NFL level if you scoop up a fumble and aren't contacted.
This should be a learning experience for McGuire, who was in the process of bringing his left hand up to create the fifth point of contact as he braced for a hit at the second level. Maxwell's punch hit the ball square on the nose a literal split second before McGuire could secure it but his technique was still inadequate because he wasn't holding the ball high and tight, exposing it to Maxwell's thievery. He probably only had three or maybe even two of the five points of contact secured as Maxwell hit the ball. Next time, he'll hopefully adjust by getting that ball secured tightly before he hits the second level, not as he does so.
Prior to that, McGuire had looked sharp again. Here was his best run, finished off with a nice spin move at the second level to fall forward beyond the marker:
All seven of his touches went for positive yardage as he gained 34 yards in total. He also broke a tackle to gain eight off the edge and took a red zone carry around the outside to the four yard line.
In an unusual quirk this week, none of the running backs were thrown to at all, unless you include Lawrence Thomas' catch and run. McGuire wasn't called upon to pass block this week, although he stayed in ready to pick-up the blitz once.
Austin Delivers
Austin Seferian-Jenkins already played several games with the Jets last year, catching 10 passes, but it seems like we've been waiting to see the new ASJ on board for ages. He did not disappoint, making some decent contributions, including this tough catch for a first down:
Seferian-Jenkins ended up with 31 yards on his five receptions, but no other first downs. His biggest gain was 12 on a dump-off where he got some nice yards after the catch due to a powerful stiff arm.
The only time he was unsuccessfully targeted was on the fade route to the end zone where he seemed to slip before he could jump up to contest the catch.
He made some good run blocking contributions though, including on the McGuire gif above. He had two good downhill blocks plus one driving block off the line and set the edge well on another run. His only mistake saw him whiff on a block that led to a run being stuffed.
Seferian-Jenkins looks like he's going to deliver on his highly touted offseason and be a productive player for the Jets this year. If he can continue to block well too, that will expand his role even further.
With Eric Tomlinson and Jordan Leggett still due to return from injury and Will Tye having made some contributions so far, the Jets could have a comparative wealth of riches at the positon in a few weeks in contrast to what they've had in the past few years.
PREVIOUSLY: Divide and Conquer