If the New York Jets are going to show real improvement in 2025, one rookie in particular will need to rise to the occasion.
Every year in the NFL, each team has certain players or groups of players that won’t hold any surprises for the fans, good or otherwise. Either everyone knows they’ll be at the top of their game or they know that these players will likely see just a handful of snaps. Between these two groups you have the ‘X-factors’, the small circle of players who could go either way.
For the New York Jets, ESPN has identified their X-factors in 2025 as their young offensive tackles: rookie Armand Membou and second-year player Olu Fashanu. Seth Walder, an NFL analyst for ESPN, had this to say about New York’s young bookend tackles: “Fashanu ranked 43rd out of 66 tackles in pass block win rate (88%) as a rookie, but both tackles have the chance to be plus starters. [Quarterback Justin] Fields has been known to take a sack (or three), and good (or not) pass protection could be the difference between this offense being efficient (or not).”
Not exactly a strong vote of confidence, but it’s hard to blame Walder for not getting too hyped up for a franchise as historically incompetent as the Jets or a quarterback as unreliable as Fields. Whether you agree with the glum tone of his assessment or not, Walder is right. Fields needs more protection than the average NFL quarterback in order to produce, and that means the Jets’ O-line needs to be better than average.
New York's defense is almost certainly going to be good, especially under the tutelage of renowned defensive mind Aaron Glenn. But if the Jets want to have a prayer of ending their league-leading 14-year postseason drought, they’re going to need the offense to be at least somewhat competent this season, and that starts and ends with Fields and the offensive line. If Fashanu and Membou, along with the interior, can give Fields the time he needs to find an open receiver, the Jets should be a genuine threat in the AFC East. If they can’t do that, then it will likely be another long season for Jets fans and another new quarterback in 2026.
Category: Football
