New York Jets: Kelechi Osemele injury will force change on O-Line

The New York Jets are dealing with another critical injury. Here’s why Kelechi Osemele will force changes on the offensive line.

Can the New York Jets catch a break? No apparently is the answer to that question.

The green and white have experienced a viral infection, no not mono, the injury bug. Whether it be linebacker CJ Mosley, No. 3 pick Quinnen Williams, or the starting quarterback Sam Darnold.

ESPN’s Rich Cimini on Thursday shared another big injury to monitor: left guard Kelechi Osemele suffered a shoulder injury on Wednesday in a full-padded practice. He’s currently undergoing tests to determine the length and severity of the injury. On top of that, he’s battling a sore knee.

Adam Gase in his media appearance said as much, “Kelechi is pretty banged up.”

Something else that Gase said coming out of the bye is that the team will play the best five linemen they have.

The unit despite being one of the highest-paid overall in the entire league has underperformed in 2019. On paper, they should be at least average, but they’ve failed to even reach that basic barometer.

With this Osemele injury, the team now will be forced to make changes to the depth chart, which may not be a bad thing. Kelechi had been struggling and now the two options up for consideration are Alex Lewis and Tom Compton.

Tom is a former sixth-round pick of the Washington Redskins back in 2012. The Jets are his fifth professional landing spot and he does have NFL experience. In his NFL career to date, he’s played in 88 games and has started 30. Another feather in his cap is versatility he’s played both right tackle and both guard spots during his career.

While the other option is Alex Lewis who the team acquired via trade during the offseason.

He also has some scheme versatility playing tackle and guard since entering the league. Alex has played in 23 games and has started 18.

The offensive line has had depth issues for years, but this year it’s better than it’s been in a very long time. Both Compton and Lewis are legit options to turn to and honestly, there were changes being considered prior to Kelechi getting hurt.