Addressing the offensive line is priority No. 1 for the New York Jets this offseason, but the versatility that Alijah Vera-Tucker brings to the table provides GM Joe Douglas with some flexibility in how he goes about tackling that major need.
“I think we’re in a really good situation,” said Joe Douglas at the NFL Combine, “particularly because of the flexibility that AVT (Alijah Vera-Tucker) provides us.”
Throughout Vera-Tucker’s three year career with the Jets, just about wherever they have needed him along the offensive line, Vera-Tucker has stepped in.
As a rookie, Vera-Tucker played 1,027 snaps at left guard. Since then, he has played 70 snaps at left tackle, 333 at right guard, and 279 at right tackle over two injury-shortened seasons.
“We won’t have any decision on exactly where he’s going to line up, but his ability to play four different spots and play four different spots well gives us a lot of flexibility moving forward in our roster building, O-line building.”
Regardless of where Vera-Tucker has lined up, he’s consistently graded out well as a run-blocker by PFF’s metrics. However, from a pass-protection standpoint, he has taken some lumps at each position as well.
Vera-Tucker’s ability to play multiple spots will allow Douglas to find the best available player, whether that be through free agency, the draft, or likely both, knowing that he can move Vera-Tucker wherever he is needed.
Douglas won’t be pigeonholed – or at least not right away – into signing or drafting someone who fills one specific role.
However, while at this stage of the offseason, the Jets are taking a flexible approach on where Vera-Tucker is going to line up, once they find a spot for him, that is where he is going to stay. Although Vera-Tucker’s versatility has come in handy for the Jets, it’s resulted in instability for him as he has been moved up and down the line.
“The one thing we are going to do this year,” added Douglas, “we’re not going to move AVT around. We’re going to have a spot for him and leave him there for the season.”
Vera-Tucker is currently working his way back from an Achilles injury that he suffered in Week 5 of last season. At the Combine, Douglas said that Vera-Tucker was in a “great place” and that rehab is going “outstanding.”
Realistically, the Jets are in the market for three starting-caliber offensive linemen this offseason, with Joe Tippmann the other anticipated Week 1 starter alongside Vera-Tucker.
If the Jets view Vera-Tucker more so as a tackle, then they likely need a left tackle and two guards. If they would prefer to have Vera-Tucker at guard, then the Jets probably need two tackles and a left guard. But, again, where Vera-Tucker goes could depend on how free agency and the draft play out.
Tippmann seemingly solidified himself as the starting center. Although he was at right guard for the first four games of 2023, once at center, Tippmann surrendered just three sacks and 15 pressures while grading out well as a run-blocker the remainder of the year.
However, like Vera-Tucker, perhaps the Jets would consider operating with some wiggle room when it comes to Tippmann’s position, moving him back to right guard if the right center comes along.
For what it’s worth, PFF named the Jets as “potential landing spots” for free agent centers Lloyd Cushenberry, Aaron Brewer, and Evan Brown, with the thought process being that Tippmann would move to guard. PFF also named the Jets a possible landing spot for tackle Josh Jones.
The return of Aaron Rodgers this season will automatically turn things around for this Jets team, but how high their ceiling is, and how good they can be, is going to be significantly impacted by how well Douglas is able to address the offensive line this offseason.
“It’s a lot of pieces,” said Douglas of the holes on the offensive line, “but we just had some unbelievable meetings with our coaching staff, free agent meetings. We feel like there’s three different avenues we can do this: there’s trade, free agency, and draft.
“So going through where we are, the meetings we just went through, the flexibility of AVT, I feel like there’s some guys that can come in and be the right type of fit for us, in terms of the intelligence, the reliability, there’s some good candidates out there that can come in and help us.”