If you were a cynic, you might take Alijah Vera-Tucker’s assessment of the Jets’ offensive line – “the best room I’ve been a part of since I entered the league” – as scathing praise.
In the three NFL seasons that Vera-Tucker played, the Jets were not exactly the best on offense.
In 2023, a line that didn’t look great from the start was decimated by injuries.
And it’s easy to be optimistic, as the next big game against the 49ers on Monday Night Football is almost two weeks away.
At the same time, the five-man group consisting of Tyron Smith, John Simpson, Joe Tippmann, Vera-Tucker and Morgan Moses – three of them are new additions – looks significantly improved on paper.
And, as Vera-Tucker tells us, this didn’t just happen on the pitch.
“Just a different vibe (than before),” he told the Post after practice on Tuesday. “Everyone likes everyone, everyone gets annoyed with each other. Everyone knows we want to come in and work every day. We don’t really have anyone who just comes in to mess around. So that’s one thing.”
“Plus, we just have a lot of talent in this room this year.
The 1s, 2s and even the 3s included guys we signed who stood out in this camp.
So there are a lot of people in the room who just want to work and who are good at it.”
Let’s assume that no matter what the substitutes looked like during practice, the best case scenario for the Jets is that their top lineup stays as healthy as possible for the next 18 weeks or more.
If there was one positive to the change they had to make last season, it is that they now feel better prepared for any deviation from the ideal that will inevitably be thrown at them this time.
“I think in football, in any sport really, there are going to be injuries. Fingers crossed, we don’t have as many this year,” Vera-Tucker said. “Especially in the O-line room after the last few years. I think the last few years have really developed a few guys in the room. If unfortunately someone goes down, the guys have a lot of repetitive training.”
The new faces – Smith, Simpson, Moses – all have an excellent reputation.
“I want to give a special shout out to John Simpson, he’s not talked about in this whole thing,” coach Robert Saleh said. “I thought he was phenomenal during training camp. He goes up against Quinnen (Williams) every day. I thought he had a really cool battle with Dexter Lawrence during Giants week. Had a really cool battle with the D-tackles in Carolina, who are some of the best in football. And then the same thing in Washington.”
And what about the tackles?
“I think with Tyron it’s kind of self-explanatory,” Vera-Tucker said. “He’s been doing this for a long time. If you watch his film, it’s the same thing over and over again, so he’s a real technician. The same goes for Morgan Moses.”
“So you bring in two experienced players like him, bring in Olu (Fashanu) and other young tackles, they can learn from that. And that’s what we’ve seen so far in this camp, it’s been really cool.”
It’s easy to be in a good mood before Labor Day. And if you’re looking for a reason to be cynical, the snapping issues that plagued Tippmann during much of camp remain a question mark until proven otherwise.
But the Jets see a noticeable improvement here. And it’s hard to disagree with that.