5 overreaction takeaways from the NY Jets Week 2 loss to the Cowboys

3. Jeremy Ruckert needs to play more

This might seem rash, but I'm tired of watching C.J. Uzomah play football. His usage has been bizarre this year. The Jets line him up wide regularly despite the fact he can't get open while Mecole Hardman doesn’t play. They ask him to block despite being graded as one of the worst blocking tight ends in football by PFF.

On Cook’s fumble on Sunday, Uzomah not only missed a block on MicahParsons, who made the play and the recovery, but he then stayed on the ground watching Parsons recover the ball and scamper to the endzone.

Uzomah has zero catches, zero targets, and zero yards so far. He offers nothing in the run game. What exactly is his use?

Lucky for the Jets, the solution to this problem is really simple. Jeremy Ruckert happens to be the best run-blocking tight end in football this year. Ruckert’s PFF run block grade of 86.1 has been the highest for any tight end in football so far.

On Breece Hall’s 86-yard run against the Bills, Ruckert flattened the linebacker, pursuing the ball to spring the run into the secondary. He also sprinted down the field, blocking the chasing safety to keep him from making the play.

He only played five snaps against Dallas, and still, in one of them, he took a nickel cornerback out of the screen, driving him 15 yards down the field. He needs more playing time.

After this year, Uzomah is gone and Ruckert will be called upon to take on a bigger role anyway. Why not let him develop now?