Throughout the regular season, NewYorkJets.com reporters Eric Allen, Ethan Greenberg, Randy Lange, Caroline Hendershot and John Pullano will give their responses to a series of questions regarding this year's Jets.
Today's question: Which Jets young player will benefit the most from these final five games?
EA: Breece Hall is dealing with a knee injury, but I like this young RB stable that also includes rookies Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis. Despite this being his third pro season and Hall having 608 NFL touches, Hall is just 23. After the Jets' 26-21 loss to the Seahawks on Sunday, Hall said, 'I feel like this has probably been like the most trying year of my life.' Hall talked about expectations and lamented a lost fumble that hurt the Jets in another close loss. The Jets have lost possession on two of Hall's six fumbles, but he's still been a very productive player. Hall leads the Jets with 1,093 scrimmage yards (10th in the NFL) and 6 TDs. He and Saints RB Alvin Kamara are the only two players with 600+rush yards and 400+receiving yards. With five games remaining, Hall is 308 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard rush season. He'll need to average 62 yards per contest to get that done and he's only 2 rush TDs from setting a new personal-best. He needs 493 yards from scrimmage (99 yds/g) to top the 1,585 he amassed his sophomore campaign. Even in a trying year, Hall is 10th in the NFL in the scrimmage yards and remains one of the league's top young talents.
EG: Joe Tippmann. Tippmann has taken a second-year jump as he ranks No. 9 among all centers with a 75.9 offensive grade on Pro Football Focus. He ranks No. 5 among centers who have taken at least 80% of their team's snaps. Down the stretch, the 2023 second-round pick can continue to learn from future Hall of Fame QB Aaron Rodgers and direct an offensive line that's shuffled pieces at tackle as Olu Fashanu replaced Tyron Smith in the lineup after the latter was placed on injured reserve with a neck injury. Tippmann's had a solid sophomore season after dealing with some snapping issues in training camp and I'd like to see him finish on a high note.
RL: All the young men on the roster should benefit from this final stretch of 5 games, 3 against division opponents, but the player that I think could grow in leaps and bounds is Olu Fashanu. The 11th pick of the draft came to the team as a left tackle and with the possibility of seeing not much time at all behind future Hall of Famer Tyron Smith. Fashanu played no offense for 2½ games, then filled in for injured RT Morgan Moses for 2½ games. Three more weeks of "seasoning" and he was pressed into duty for a half-game at RG for Alijah Vera-Tucker and injured backup Jake Hanson. Now with Smith (neck) sidelined for at least the next 3 games and possibly all 5, No. 74 has an opportunity to put a streak of 7 straight starts onto his NFL résumé. In his 350 offensive snaps, he's allowed by one count just a single sack and has been flagged for 2 holding penalties, promising numbers. It should be fun to watch the continued improvement of No. 74 that will take him, the O-line, the offense and the team into the great unknown of '25.
CH: I think Olu Fashanu is going to benefit the most from the Jets' final five games. Fashanu has taken over the starting left tackle position since the Jets placed Tyron Smith on injured reserve and already has shown improvement. Against the Seahawks last week, he was credited with 0 pressures in his 42 pass block snaps, earning him a 100.0 pass-blocking-efficiency grade from Pro Football Focus. Interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said, "The more opportunities [Fashanu] plays, the better he gets. He just builds on each performance." Over the final five games this season, he will face the Miami Dolphins twice, a playoff participant each of the last two seasons, and a Buffalo Bills team that has won five consecutive AFC East titles. That will be a good test for Fashanu.
JP: Rookie WR Malachi Corley. The Jets' third-round pick was targeted twice and had 1 rush attempt vs. Seattle last week. On the carry, he picked up 8 yards and flashed the explosive run ability that put him on the Jets' radar in April. Over the final 5 games, it would be beneficial for him to get more opportunities. Of the four opponents remaining on the Jets' schedule, three rank in the bottom half of the league in yards after catch allowed including the Jaguars, who rank second to last (139.4 yds/g). Over the first 13 weeks, Corley was targeted 6 times, 5 of which came in the last 3 weeks. With an increase in playing time over these final 5 games, Corley could set himself up for a breakout second season in the NFL.
