New York Jets: 3 most disappointing players so far this season

New York Jets (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

The New York Jets have struggled to an 0-4 record to start the 2019 season. Here are their three most disappointing players from what has been a woeful season so far.

The New York Jets‘ 2019 season has been one full of disappointment. For a franchise facing a ton of optimism going into the year, it’s hard to have imagined a more disastrous start to their season.

At the moment, the Jets sit at 0-4 and could very well fall to 0-5 with a home matchup in Week 6 against the Dallas Cowboys awaiting them. Injuries and misfortune have highlighted what has been a season to forget for Gang Green.

However, it hasn’t only been external factors that have kept the Jets down this season. Some of the team’s players have simply failed to live up to the preseason expectations that were placed upon them.

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Now, it should be noted that all factors have been taken into account for this list. While it would be easy to look at a stat sheet and point out that players like Le’Veon Bell and Robby Anderson haven’t lived up the hype, their lackluster stats are more a product of their environment.

As such, we will be focusing instead on three players whose struggles have been primarily due to their own incapabilities and as such have failed to live up to expectations.

Here are the three most disappointing players on the Jets roster through five weeks.

Next: 3. Darryl Roberts

3. Darryl Roberts, CB

This first entry seems a little unfair given that Darryl Roberts likely should have never been put in the situation he’s in. That said, his play through four games this season has certainly been disappointing.

The Jets entered the 2019 season with likely one of the worst cornerback groups in the entire NFL. And through five weeks, it’s clear that that preseason analysis has been accurate.

Roberts, a career backup prior to this season, was thrust into a starting role despite having limited experience as part of a starting unit. However, the little we did see of Roberts as a starter last season was impressive.

2. Henry Anderson, DL

Much of the chatter about disappointing defensive linemen on the Jets this season has obviously been about Leonard Williams. But lost in the shuffle has been a very disappointing start for fellow defensive lineman Henry Anderson.

Through four games, Anderson has totaled just four tackles in what has been a very slow beginning for the 2018 breakout star. In fact, all four of those tackles have been assisted meaning that Anderson is yet to record a solo tackle on the season.

On top of that, the former Indianapolis Colts defender hasn’t even sniffed the quarterback since Week 1 failing to record a QB hit in the three weeks following the Buffalo Bills game.

Now Anderson finds himself out with a shoulder injury that could keep him sidelined for a number of weeks. Injuries were a major problem for Anderson before joining the Jets and it’s starting to look as though the three-year, $25.2 million extension the team gave him in the offseason was a mistake.

After two consecutive subpar seasons, expectations for Leonard Williams were undoubtedly limited this season. But for Anderson, Jets fans were excited after a breakout seven-sack season last year.

However, the Jets could be beginning to realize why it only took a seventh-round pick to acquire him back in April of 2018. Injuries and disappointing play defined his time in Indianapolis.

And we’ve now seen firsthand that version of Anderson in action.

Next: 1. Ryan Kalil

New York Jets (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images)

1. Ryan Kalil, C

In actuality, the entire Jets offensive line belongs on this list. After a couple of offseason acquisitions, the hope was that the Jets offensive line would be improved after a subpar showing last year.

They weren’t expected to be a top-10 unit, but hovering somewhere around league average didn’t seem too difficult to achieve. However, the Jets’ offensive line has arguably been the worst in football through five weeks and has perhaps been the biggest detriment to the team.

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But instead of focusing on the entire offensive line, we’re going to focus on perhaps the biggest culprit and certainly the biggest disappointment, center Ryan Kalil.

Kalil was coaxed out of retirement by general manager Joe Douglas in August and the former All-Pro center was expected to be a sizable improvement over the incumbent Jonotthan Harrison after the team failed to address the position in the offseason.

Unfortunately, its only Week 5 and Kalil has already been benched in a game in favor of Harrison and a permanent change might not be too far in the future.

Kalil has looked like a shell of his former self and it goes beyond just poor chemistry with his teammates at this point. He’s getting overpowered at the line of scrimmage and simply doesn’t seem to have the same strength that he did during his Pro Bowl years in Carolina.

Fortunately, his Pro Football Focus grades have improved with every passing week showing signs of growth.

But if we’re going on his performance through four games, no player on the Jets has been as disappointing as Kalil.

The New York Jets have struggled to an 0-4 record to start the 2019 season. Here are their three most disappointing players from what has been a woeful season so far.

3. Darryl Roberts, CB

2. Henry Anderson, DL

1. Ryan Kalil, C

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