4 NY Jets position battles to watch in the Hall of Fame Game

After a long and eventful offseason, the NY Jets play a football game today. The Jets and Browns will kick off the NFL season with the Hall of Fame Game tonight.

The Jets will most likely not have many important players available, but there should still be some interesting players to watch. In addition, we should be able to see some of the position battles play out in a real-game scenario.

Let’s take a look at some of the position battles to look out for in the Hall of Fame Game.

1. Offensive tackle

This is most likely the most important of the position battles. According to head coach Robert Saleh, the Jets will not have any of their interior offensive line starters playing, as they all seem to have the starting jobs locked up already. However, the offensive tackles who are competing should play.

Mekhi Becton, Max Mitchell, Billy Turner, and even Yodny Cajuste or Carter Warren have huge opportunities to prove themselves in this game.

This game will be especially big for Becton, who has not played in a real game in almost two years, and Mitchell, who has not played since his season ended last year due to blood clots.

Duane Brown seems to have the left tackle position secured whenever he comes back, but the right tackle position is up for the taking.

2. Running back

Staying on the offensive side of the ball, we have the running backs. With starting running back Breece Hall still out, we should see the rest of the running backs on the roster in this game.

Dalvin Cook is still an option, but that seems to have cooled off. Either way, the running backs in this game will be competing for the second or third running back spot.

Michael Carter, Zonovan Knight, and Israel Abanikanda all have big opportunities, especially if Cook does not ultimately sign with the team.

3. Wide receiver

Every day that training camp goes by, the sixth wide receiver spot seems like less and less of a competition. Undrafted free agent Jason Brownlee is having a stellar camp and is looking like a lock to make the 53-man roster.

It will still be interesting to see players like Irvin Charles and Xavier Gipson, who should get plenty of playing time, as it does not seem like any of the top four receivers will be playing.

4. Linebacker

Jamien Sherwood could already have the third linebacker role locked down, but there are some interesting options behind him that we should get to see play.

Hamsah Nasirildeen, Chazz Surratt, and Zaire Barnes should all see a good amount of playing time, and even if they don't have a real shot at Sherwood’s spot, their performance could ease the Jets away from adding a veteran linebacker before the start of the season.