Three on O: Shell, Tye, Kearse
After each game, we're going to highlight three defensive and three offensive players and look in detail at their performance. We'll wrap up today with the offense:
All's Shell that ends well
Brandon Shell retained the starting job at right tackle and once again didn't give up a sack or hit. However, the youngster still has a few things to work on.
While he once again didn't give up a sack or a hit, Shell got plenty of help with Will Tye or Brent Qvale lined up to his right several times to pick up the edge rusher so that Shell could block down on an interior lineman or even operate as the spare man. That, coupled with the fact that Josh McCown was getting rid of the ball almost immediately a high percentage of the time, made Shell's job easier, which is smart when breaking in a first-time starter.
Even so, Shell was not flawless in pass protection. On on play he lost leverage for a pressure and on another he was beaten by an inside move which drew some help from inside. There was also a play where he was driven back off his spot and allowed his man to get his hand up to bat down a pass.
Nevertheless, he didn't allow any clean pressure and also picked up his man following a pre-snap adjustment a few times.
As a run blocker, Shell tends to be a good drive blocker, especially when blocking downhill, but sometimes loses his man at the point of attack or misses his target in space.
One positive was on the Jets touchdown where McCown went over behind a good surge from the right side of the line and even let Shell spike the football:
However, he had one bad play where he was blown up for a run stuff. He also allowed penetration once, got stood up at the line once and allowed his man to get off his block to get in on a stop.
It seems the Jets are aware of Shell's limitations at this stage of his career and are factoring those into their gameplan. However, to see him holding his own at this early stage of his career is encouraging. He could fare really well if the Jets invest in some more talent for him to play with next year as he continues to develop.
Tye Fighter
Having only become a Jets player a week beforehand, Tye found himself as the only active and healthy tight end after Eric Tomlinson's second quarter elbow injury. This forced Tye to play more than expected and also to handle more reps inline and in the backfield.
Tye's biggest strength is his pass catching ability and he delivered on that front with three catches, showing a good effort on one to battle for extra yardage in a crowd.
Here was Tye's biggest catch of the day, which actually came out of the slot:
Amazingly, both Tye and Tomlinson had a 20+ yard catch. Over the previous two seasons Jets tight ends had just one between all of them, a 44-yard catch by Jeff Cumberland in November 2015.
Tye struggles as a blocker, a problem exacerbated when he had to fill in for Tomlinson which forced him into tougher assignments than he would otherwise expect to handle. He clearly wasn't completely prepared for this role as the Jets ran a play with him in the backfield and McCown had to show him where to line up.
Tye missed his block and lost at the point of attack on a couple of running plays and then got driven back into McCown when trying to pass protect. However, if Tomlinson remains out for the Raiders game, the other options - Neal Sterling and Jordan Leggett - are not renowned for their blocking either, so the Jets will need to scheme around this or even bring someone in.
The Imperious Kearse
Jermaine Kearse was another new arrival thrust into a big role on opening day and he's already taking on a leadership role. With a team high 10 targets, Kearse caught seven passes for just the fourth time in his career, accumulating 59 yards including four first downs.
Here's a good example of his route running ability as he makes a third down conversion having gained that crucial yard of separation by winning at the snap:
That was one of two third down conversions by Kearse. The Jets converted just three third downs through the air in the game.
In future weeks, it would be good to see more variety from Kearse and also more yards after the catch. Each of his catches was either over the middle or a dump off in the flat and he fell over on the only play where he had any kind of room to run.
The three unsuccessful targets to Kearse were an endzone fade that was broken up, a low and wide throw by McCown that was out of his reach and the final interception which sailed on McCown causing it to arrive late so the safety could easily jump on it. There wasn't anything he could have done about any of those.
Kearse also played almost every snap and didn't make any mistakes as a blocker.
PREVIOUSLY: Three on D: Adams, Lee, Wilkerson