This past Sunday the Jets made another big time addition to their offensive line by signing veteran guard, Greg Van Roten, a Long Island native. Van Roten had been in talks with the Jets for a majority of the days he was available when the legal tampering period started. He officially agreed to his three year deal on Sunday after talks heated up over the weekend.

The addition of Van Roten is a solid move for the Jets moving forward with their offensive line makeover. He will plug in at RG next to new center Connor McGovern while Alex Lewis will hold down the LG position.

I still strongly believe the Jets will take one of the top tackles in this upcoming draft to plug in at the left tackle position. If that does indeed happen Van Roten will be alongside either 2nd year player Chuma Edoga or newly signed offensive tackle from the Seahawks, George Fant. Joe Douglas has made revamping the offensive line group his top priority as we’ve all seen thus far. Van Roten is one of the main pieces of this plan, fully anticipate more being added in the near future.

The Jets agreed on a one year deal with another former Raven, Patrick Onwuasor, who will come in and most likely have a role on this defense. He started the first five games for Baltimore in 2019 but was then relegated to more of a rotational role for the remainder of the year. He does have experience playing with current Jets start linebacker CJ Mosley as they both started for the Ravens during the 2018 season.

I personally love the fact that the Jets have been bringing in players who were with the former teams of some current front office members of the team now – ie; Chad Alexander (Ravens) & Rex Hogan (Colts). Both of these teams prioritize the specific attributes of their players that will lead to a solid foundation of tough football players, just look at both of those teams.

Things will get interesting now for the Jets as they brought back James Burgess, Neville Hewitt and now bringing in Patrick Onwuasor. Returning next season are CJ Mosley, Avery Williamson and 2nd year linebacker who filled in nicely before he got hurt, Blake Cashman. Avery Williamson is an interesting name to keep an eye on here as he has been brought up throughout the offseason as a guy who can find himself being a cap casualty. If the Jets do decide to cut Avery I believe they will save $7/$7.5M on the cap which can be used at other positions of need that the Jets obviously have.

I’m a huge fan of what Joe Douglas is doing this offseason and I am confident in the types of players he is bringing in. All of these one year deals do not scare me in the slightest because we simply need to fill out our roster and it seems like Douglas wants to infuse the 2020 and 2021 drafts into this roster, hitting on players who can become part of the core that is already in place. If these guys on one year deals impress, Douglas will simply have the first chance to extend these players while they are still under contract with the Jets (Ryan Griffin this past year).

I’m intrigued by this signing and do believe Patrick Onwuasor will be a player many Jets fans speak about throughout this season but there might be a ripple affect because of this signing moving forward.

The Jets brought back another one of their own, Brian Poole, on a one year deal worth $5M – I’m shocked at the length and the amount his deal turned out to be. He looked great this entire season, solid in coverage, physical and was used very well in Gregg Williams defense. To me, this deal for Poole screams “do it again” as I would assume the market didn’t trust his production from last season.

All in all though this is a solid move for Joe Douglas and the Jets who bring back a guy that had 1 FF, 1 INT, 1 TD and 48 solo tackles. As we are officially into the new league year it seems that the Jets are in on Robby Anderson to resign but are not as in on Jordan Jenkins as some might have thought or hoped. More moves to come for the Jets.

After bringing back one of their own, Alex Lewis, the Jets quickly jumped on the opportunity to bring in former Broncos guard/center, Connor McGovern. Believe it or not it later came out that McGovern had the Jets, Vikings and 49ers to choose from leaving him to ultimately decide to join the Jets – wow someone actually chose us? I did not know much about McGovern until this offseason started to get closer to free agency, I knew he would be an option for the Jets at some point – especially if they missed out on a guy like Graham Glasgow, who is taking McGoverns spot in Denver.

I completely envision the Jets plugging in McGovern as their starting center for Sam Darnold, for the first time since the Nick Mangold days the Jets have a legitimate starting caliber center to anchor this offensive line. One telling stat on McGovern that Connor Hughes of the Athletic shared via Twitter was that the former Broncos center started 31 of 32 games the last two seasons, while referees have flagged him just NINE times in 2,510 snaps during his career – thats pretty incredible in my opinion. Also, according to Pro Football Focus – McGovern has a 82.5 pass block grade (ranked 5th among centers), 15 pressures surrendered is the t-6th fewest among qualified centers and he was the 10th ranked center in 2019. After seeing guys like Wesley Johnson, Spencer Long and Jonathan Harrison man the center position over the last three years a top 10 ranked center like Connor McGovern is going to be a welcome sight for the Jets themselves and their fans.

Joe Douglas is not the kind of GM that is going to over pay in free agency and hand out these insane contracts that we’ve been seeing over the past two days. Especially so when there are as many holes on this team as there are. I do expect the Jets to continue to make sound decisions in free agency at the offensive line group, corner, edge and receiver – these will be a fun couple of days a the Jets continue to try and add valued talent to their roster.

After a slow start to the legal tampering period on Monday, General Manager Joe Douglas, decided to kick off Tuesday by bringing back guard Alex Lewis on a three year deal. Douglas brought Lewis in last summer after Baltimore decided they were going to let him go, the Jets brought Lewis in for a 7th round pick and now he’s back with a new deal.

Alex Lewis stepped in nicely last year when the Kelechi Osemele experiment ran its course, he started week 5 up until he was placed on injured reserve to close out the season. I fully envision Lewis being the Jets starting left guard going into the season, because Lewis is back in the fold I do not believe this takes the Jets out of the running for drafting an interior lineman at some point during this 2020 draft. The offensive line needs to be re-tooled from top to bottom – starters and depth need to be brought in and improved.

Lewis became one of my favorites last season because of his improved play for the line as a unit and the fire he brings to the team as a whole. This Jets team needs more guys who are going to bring that passion for the game and I’m glad Alex Lewis can continue to be that for us in 2020.

The Jets have started off slowly this free agency period, but as the first day comes to an end they have agreed to a three year deal with offensive tackle, George Fant – formerly of the Seahawks.

I anticipate Joe Douglas and the Jets to be more active when it comes to the second and third tiers of players. Douglas comes from a Ravens background which focuses on smart signings not the tier one, mega deals that we saw today. I trust in the Jets front office and the new direction they will steer this team in.

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Creating mock drafts are always tough, but they are especially difficult when it’s only January. At this point it isn’t full blown “draft season” just yet, but it will be as soon as the Super Bowl is over – come February 2nd. Most importantly we still have the free agency period right around the corner which will most likely alter the way any team attacks their draft, not just the Jets.

In my Jets only mock draft for this January I focus on the obvious positions of need – wide receiver, offensive line, edge rushers and I throw in a late round running back. A position of great need that I left out was cornerback, but non of the corners in this mock were of value when the Jets were picking. In this mock we would have to hope the Jets bring in multiple bodies for the secondary through free agency, two names that I would love the Jets to pursue would be Jalen Mills (Eagles) and James Bradberry (Panthers). Neither of these guys are number ones per say who can lock down a single side of the field but they are solid players at their positions who can contribute with Bless Austin, Arthur Maulet and Maurice Canady.

Now I am not one of those Twitter handles or websites that breakdown prospect film and is dedicated to draft analysis, but I do have an idea of what the Jets need at given positions and the types of players they should specifically look to bring in

RD1: CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma

All of the top tackles were off the board at this point, for what it’s worth if one of them was there (Wirfs, Thomas or Wills) that would be my pick. But the play-making receiver out of Oklahoma was sitting there, it would be hard for me as a Jets fan to see them pass up on a player of his talent if he is still on the board at 11. Pairing him with Sam Darnold who desperately needs a true #1 receiver would be very beneficial for this offense for years to come.

RD2: Mekhi Becton, OT, Louisville

Grabbing the mammoth tackle out of Louisville in the second would be an steal for the Jets who can plug him at left or right tackle for the 2020 season. The combination of Bectons size and athleticism leads me to believe that he will sneak into the first round or will be plucked at the beginning of round two. But stranger things have happened in the draft .

RD3: Jonathan Greenard, EDGE, Florida

A strong, rangy and fast edge presence has been missing from the Jets defense since Aaron Maybin had a solid 4 games for us back in 2011, yeah it’s been THAT bad. Greenard had 53 tackles this past season, 16 for loss and 10 sacks. Impressive numbers that shouldn’t be ignored when he’s on the board in the third round. The Jets get a guy here who can hopefully develop into an edge threat to further round out Greg Williams defense.

RD3: Zack Baun, EDGE, Wisconsin

In round three the Jets nab two edge defenders who posted double digit sacks in their 2019 seasons. With their second third round selection they take senior edge rusher Zack Baun out of Wisconsin. Baun posted 53 tackles and 12 sacks in his 2019 senior season. Bringing in two legitimate edge players to play, rotate and develop in this defense alongside Jordan Jenkins (If resigned) will hopefully reshape the position moving forward.

RD: 4 Isaiah Wilson, OT, Georgia

The Georgia Bulldogs had two absolute studs at both tackle positions this past year. The Jets unfortunately miss out on one of them in the first round in Andrew Thomas. But with some luck they select his teammate Isaiah Wilson who stands at 6’7. Wilson, the Brooklyn native, will come to the Jets as depth if they resign Beachum and either plug Becton in at the other starting spot or sign another veteran tackle in free agency. But if Wilson can develop in 2020 he could find himself in the starting lineup towards the end of the season or going into 2021.

RD: 5 John Simpson, IOL, Clemson

RD:6 Lamical Perine, RB, Florida

RD: 7 Kalija Lipscomb, WR, Vanderbilt

The beauty about the Jets needs at this point is these are positions that play-makers and starters are easier to find then the previous need the Jets have been searching for in years, quarterback. If the Jets select and hit on a decent amount of players at the positions of need listed at the top, they could be in line to turn this roster around faster than many think.

Winston Hill was one of the first three names announced for the 2020 Centennial Class who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. The 8 time NFL All star who excelled at both left and right tackle will be the newest member of the “Green & White” inducted into Canton.

Jamal Adams has been voted to First Team All-Pro for the first time in his career and he absolutely deserved it. At times this year Jamal would take over a game by making a game changing play (ask Daniel Jones). That is the exact energy and talent the Jets need to first KEEP and continue to build around as this roster moves forward.

Jamal finished the season with impressive numbers – 75 combined tackles, 61 solo, 10 TFL, 1 INT for a touchdown and 1 fumble recovery for a touchdown; all while missing two games towards the end of the year with a sprained ankle/foot.

I fully anticipate a contract extension in the near future for Adams as Bears safety Eddie Jackson just set the market as the highest paid safety – Jamal will fetch more hopefully sooner rather than later.