New York Jets: Pros and cons of preseason through 3 games

The New York Jets have completed 75% of their preseason schedule. Here are the top pros and cons so far for the green and white.

Here are all the pros and cons of the New York Jets first three preseason games thus far:

Pros:

Sam Darnold may be the player that makes or breaks this upcoming Jets season. Jets fans should have very high expectations for Darnold now that he is entering his second season. Recently, we have seen highly drafted second-year QBs around the league show lots of improvement after an underwhelming rookie season such as Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, and Mitch Tribusky last season.

1st season to 2nd season:

Wentz: 17 More touchdowns thrown, 7 fewer interceptions, 17.1 more yards thrown per game.Goff: 23 more touchdowns thrown, same amount of interceptions, 98 more yards thrown per game.

Trubusky: 17 more touchdowns thrown, 5 more interceptions, 47.4 more yards thrown per game.

If those three guys can make a big jump in their second season, why can’t Darnold?

So far this preseason, Sam Darnold has played very well. The USC product has looked better than

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he did last year at this time when the Jets weren’t sure if he’d be the Week 1 starter.

This preseason, Sam Darnold has led a touchdown drive in every game he’s played in. If the second-year quarterback can play like this in the regular season, the Jets may be a very dangerous team.

Ty Montgomery

Through the first two preseason games, Ty Montgomery had nine rushes for 43 yards which equated to a very impressive 4.8 yards per carry. Despite struggling in the third preseason game against the Saints, Montgomery has shown positive flashes overall. Montgomery can provide production as a backup running back whenever Le’Veon Bell needs a rest. Also, look for Adam Gase to draw up plays for Montgomery being that he is versatile and can also be utilized in the passing game.

Starting defense

Outside of going against one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history in Drew Brees, the Jets starting defense has not allowed a single point when the majority of the Jets starting defense has been on the field this preseason! It’s worth noting that three key Jets defenders: Marcus Maye Leonard Williams, and Trumaine Johnson have all missed significant time this preseason. Additionally, Jamal Adams has continued to show leadership on the defensive side of the ball.

Cons:

Offensive Line:

One of the Jets biggest concerns entering this season was the offensive line. Overall, it has not been a good outing for them this preseason. If not for the offensive line struggling, we would have seen Sam Darnold lead the Jets on more scoring drives.

Kicking position:

Jason Myers was one of the best kickers in the league last season for the Jets. However, he is no longer on the team. The man who was supposed to replace him, Chandler Catanzaro missed not one but two extra points in the first preseason game! If that wasn’t bad enough, Catanzaro retired and the Jets missed two more extra points in the second preseason game against the Falcons.

Through the first two preseason games, the Jets missed four PATs. However, the Jets got much-needed production out of Taylor Bertolet. Bertolet made his only extra-point attempt, and made his two field-goal attempts from 48 and 56 yards! Bertolets performance against the Saints may have earned him the starting kicking job.