Three on O: Warren, Davis, Conklin
After each game, we'll be highlighting three defensive and three offensive players and looking in detail at their performance. We'll wrap up today with the offense:
This Whole Carter
Carter Warren, a 2023 mid-round draft pick, was looking like he wasn't going to make any kind of a contribution this year as he had only been active twice this season, playing just six special teams snaps.
On Sunday, he was active ahead of Max Mitchell for a change and ended up playing over 50 snaps when Morgan Moses got injured.
Our first look at Warren didn't go too badly on the face of it as he did a decent job in the running game, didn't allow a sack and had one penalty for lining up too deep.
It was a rude awakening for Warren, though, as his very first snap of the season saw an edge rusher blow past him on the inside, forcing a frustrated Aaron Rodgers to dirt the ball.
Despite not being credited with an allowed sack, Warren struggled in pass protection giving up four pressures. That included this one where he was beaten cleanly around the outside and Rodgers was ultimately sacked as he tried to escape.
In contrast to his first pass blocking snap, his first run blocking snap went well as he set up this Breece Hall run.
He also did a good job on the play after his penalty, on which he initially double-teamed Leonard Williams to help Alijah Vera-Tucker seal him off at the point of attack, then peeled off to seal off a linebacker at the second level. Unfortunately, Hall ran for a first down but then lost a fumble.
Moses' status for Sunday is uncertain so we could see more of Warren this weekend. His first game of this year didn't really show much progress from his rookie year, in which he gave up five sacks in five starts. We'll see how he fares if he gets another chance to prove himself.
Can't believe my Isaiah
When Hall missed practice in the week, it looked like Isaiah Davis might get a chance for some decent playing time having previously only been on the field for six offensive snaps in his rookie year. However, Hall was healthy and good to go, so it looked like Davis wouldn't feature.
Ultimately, though, the Jets did cut Hall's workload a bit and mixed in some two back sets so there were opportunities after all, especially as Hall and Braelon Allen were both banged-up during the game. So, Davis got a chance to be out there for a career-high 12 snaps.
His initial impact was almost immediate, as he scored his first NFL touchdown on this well-designed play.
Otherwise, he had a four yard run and a catch for no gain, but did make good yardage on this play as he found an open area and almost got to the first down marker on 3rd-and-26:
60 yards on nine offensive touches so far is a decent output but perhaps more importantly in terms of whether he can earn himself a more regular role will be whether he can stay in and pick up the blitz. Significantly, on the Jets' final snap - an incomplete pass to Garrett Wilson on fourth down - Coby Bryant blitzed off the edge and got off Davis' block to get pressure in Rodgers' face.
It's clear that's probably an area that Davis needs to work at, but from what he's shown so far in preseason and his limited regular season work, he does look like a potentially useful piece.
Tyler the Non-Creator
It's been a while since we checked in on Tyler Conklin but that's probably because there hasn't been much to report. Conklin was talking about wanting to be a pro bowler before the season began but he's practically disappeared from the gameplan since Robert Saleh was fired and the Jets changed their offensive playcaller.
In five games under Saleh, Conklin had 175 yards on 17 catches but he entered the game with just 77 yards on 12 catches in six games under Ulbrich. On Sunday, he was a little more involved as he caught four passes for 32 yards on five targets, but it was still disappointing - especially in the first half where he had three yards on two targets.
His best play came early in the first half as he made a tough low catch after Rodgers couldn't find his primary target:
Conklin's other two catches were a 14-yard gain underneath that was well short of the marker on 3rd-and-long and a juggling first down catch on 2nd-and-1 on which he caught the ball at the marker and fell forward for a four-yard gain.
Once again, his run blocking was inconsistent - as it has been throughout most of his Jets' tenure, so the Jets really aren't getting much value for what they're paying him and will probably think twice before offering him similar money when his deal expires at the end of the season.
In terms of what Conklin does bring to the table, he has been pretty sure-handed with no drops this year. However, he doesn't exactly make a lot of tough grabs because he was just 1-for-6 on contested catches before Sunday.
If he could catch those easy passes and make extra yardage with them, that would be another matter, but he's forced just four missed tackles all season. He's never been someone to break a lot of tackles, though. In fact, that total of four ties his career high as he has forced just 14 on 246 career catches. That's less than one every 17 catches.
With Jeremy Ruckert's development also having been disappointing and Zack Kuntz showing literally nothing since being drafted last year, this looks destined to be a position group that the Jets will be overhauling in 2025.
Previously: Three on D: Stiggers, Davis, Quincy Williams