NYJ: A Changing of the Guard?

 This offseason, the Jets focused on patching up the offensive line bringing in several veterans for what amounts to 1 year auditions.  With the Left Tackle position locked up with rookie sensation Mekhi Becton and Center Connor McGovern locked up through the 2021 season, the guard positions are clearly up for grabs.

While the Jets cap situation puts them in prime position to compete for some of the big name free agent guards like Brandon Schreff and Joe Thuney, Jets 2020 acquisitions Greg Van Roten and Pat Elflein have an opportunity to claim one of the guard spots for the foreseeable future. 

Van Roten or "GVR" as he is called, is an Ivy League product out of U Penn.  An undrafted free agent picked up by Green Bay in 2012, he played sparingly on special teams his first 2 years at Green Bay before he was released in 2014,  bounced around between the NFL and CFL until Carolina signed him in 2017. After a year playing special teams he was awarded a starting job in 2018 where he played 100% of offensive snaps. His following year he was active in just 11 games before undergoing season ending surgery related to a toe injury.  This is his first season with the Jets, where he has not missed an offensive snap.

Pat Elflein joined the Jets mid season after being waived by Minnesota which selected him in the 3rd round of the 2017 draft as a standout Center from Ohio State. He had a promising 1st year in which he earned PFWA All Rookie team honors. Unfortunately, he struggled through shoulder and ankle injuries his next two seasons that required surgery. After missing just 4 games over 2018 and 2019, early 2020 thumb surgery put him on injured reserve after which the Vikings released him, a move made easier by the 2019 drafting of Center Garrett Bradbury.

This video takes a look at these two players in their Week 12 game against Miami. It highlights only a handful of plays but it is representative of what you get from each player.

It will be interesting to see how each player performs over the next few weeks especially as Elflein has earned another start after the mysterious disappearance of Alex Lewis from the starting line up. 

Both have an extraordinary opportunity to audition for one of the guard positions for 2021.   I personally would love to see Elflein step up but in this transitional year for the Jets, it's anyone's guess how General Manager Joe Douglas will approach the offensive rebuild.