The New York Jets shored up their guard rotation by signing John Simpson during the offseason. The hope is that replacing veteran Laken Tomlinson – who gave up seven sacks last year – with a younger player who only gave up one sack should provide an upgrade over the next few years.

In terms of quality depth, however, they’re counting on Alijah Vera-Tucker as the starting right guard and Wes Schweitzer as the primary interior backup to be healthier than they were last season, as they were limited to just 11 games between them.

Vera-Tucker is a stud when healthy, but he’s coming off a serious Achilles tendon injury. On paper, Schweitzer is an ideal reserve, as he’s started 62 games in his career. However, if injuries strike again, the Jets might once again be forced to dig deeper into their rotation.

There are still some moves that could be made. Connor McGovern returning in a reserve role seems likely, as long as he can prove he’s recovered from his own injury issues. Tomlinson or Billy Turner coming back seems less likely, and the team could revisit the option of Max Mitchell moving inside after he started the Chargers game there in 2023.

Otherwise, we could see the team adding a journeyman, or perhaps drafting someone who can provide depth there.

In 2023, they had to go extra deep into the rotation, as multiple players that were on the practice squad ended up in the starting lineup. The likes of Xavier Newman, Chris Glaser and Jake Hanson are still on the roster, so it’s worth considering whether any of these showed that they could provide useful depth in a pinch this year and beyond.

Let’s take a quick look at each one, in turn:

Xavier Newman was unexpectedly called into action against the New York Giants, having only been signed to the practice squad 24 days earlier. Moreover, having entered the game at right guard due to an injury to the starting center, he found himself forced to take over the center duties due to another injury.

He had some shaky moments, including some bad snaps, and the team had zero success running the ball with him in there. However, he was praised for his composure in getting the ball snapped on the game-tying drive and showcased some physicality.

Newman was praised for filling in during a difficult situation in what was ultimately a win, and rewarded with starts against the Las Vegas Raiders in week 10 and the Miami Dolphins in week 12. He struggled badly in each game, with a particularly costly moment that ultimately sunk the Jets’ last-gasp attempt at a game-winning drive.

After this, he didn’t play again until week 17, as he came off the bench against the Cleveland Browns and then started in the win over the New England Patriots. These were by far his most consistent games. It should be noted that Trevor Siemian was in at quarterback for these games and the offensive line unit was far more settled with him at the helm than with Zach Wilson or Tim Boyle.

In all, Newman played 244 snaps at right guard and another 36 at center. He gave up 12 total pressures, including three sacks, and had one penalty.

Jake Hanson, a former teammate of Aaron Rodgers, was signed in November and started from weeks 14 through 17.

Despite being inconsistent overall, Hanson had some positive flashes where he looked pretty good.

He played all 244 of his offensive snaps at right guard and gave up nine pressures and one penalty but didn’t allow any sacks. However, he was also clearly overmatched at times.

Hanson started well against the Cleveland Browns, but he ultimately left the game with an injury and was replaced by Newman.

While Newman had played most of the time with Wilson as his quarterback, Hanson only played one full game with Wilson, and it was arguably his best game of the season versus the Houston Texans.

Chris Glaser, who has been with the team on and off for a few years, didn’t get as many opportunities as Newman or Hanson, but he started in the loss to the Buffalo Bills and played another 26 snaps in a reserve role.

In all, he played 83 snaps, including 29 at the center position. He had two penalties and gave up this half-sack.

To his credit, Glaser only gave up one other pressure, and while he had at least one bad snap at the center position, he showed some promise as a run blocker.

The Jets also brought in Vitaliy Gurman, who had spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders, but he has yet to make his NFL debut.

Conclusions

Unless they’re particularly high on one of these three individuals, the chances of the Jets heading into the season with any of them considered to be anything other than emergency depth seem remote.

However, as last season showed, sometimes your emergency depth gets thrown into the fire. Each of these players had a few positive flashes while struggling overall and is young enough that they could potentially develop further if given more opportunities. None of them, however, did enough to establish themselves as clearly a better option than the other two, so the most likely scenario will see all three thrown into the mix in camp with plenty of opportunities to outshine one another during preseason. If one does, this should be viewed as a bonus.

In an ideal world, Simpson and Vera-Tucker will stay healthy all year and the Jets won’t have to exhaust their depth options this time. However, in case they do, they may still need a body or two to ensure what they have available is adequate.