NY Jets offensive line has become a legitimate strength this offseason

The NY Jets' offensive line has been one of the team's Achilles heels for close to a decade at this point. The organization is years removed from the dominant offensive lines that helped lead the Jets to consecutive AFC Championship Game appearances in 2009 and 2010.

However, for the first time in a long while, the Jets' offensive line might legitimately be one of the team's strengths going into the 2023 season. That's not an exaggeration, either.

The Jets are absolutely loaded with offensive line depth at the moment. General manager Joe Douglas saw the ridiculous string of poor injury luck the team ran into last season and set out to ensure the Jets are prepared for anything in 2023.

Just how bad were the Jets' offensive line injuries? Historically bad. Seven different offensive tackles, if you include Alijah Vera-Tucker, spent time on the injured reserve last season. Most teams will roster roughly four or so tackles in a season. The Jets had seven different tackles on the IR at various points.

It gets worse. The Jets' offensive line unit ranked fourth-worst among all NFL offensive lines since the year 2001 in adjusted games lost, per Football Outsiders. That's right, among every single NFL offensive line over the last 22 years, the Jets' offensive line in 2022 was the fourth-most injured.

That's impressively bad luck, and it's why acquiring as much depth as the Jets have this offseason was so important.

The NY Jets' offensive line might be the deepest position group on the team

The Jets have more NFL-caliber offensive linemen on their roster entering the summer than they will feasibly be able to keep come Week 1, at least assuming full health.

The team is legitimately six-deep at offensive tackle. Duane Brown and Mekhi Becton are penciled in as starters, while the likes of Billy Turner, Max Mitchell, Carter Warren, and Cedric Ogbuehi are all quality backups.

Turner has started 61 games over the last five years. Mitchell held his own in a starting role last season, as did Ogbuehi. Warren is a mid-round developmental tackle who projects similarly to how Mitchell did as a rookie.

It's hard to imagine the Jets will keep even five of those players on their active roster, let alone all six. The depth doesn't stop there, though.

The addition of Joe Tippmann in the 2023 NFL Draft gives the Jets two potentially starting-caliber centers, both of whom can play guard if need be. That's not even considering the two guard/center depth pieces the Jets signed in free agency, Wes Schweitzer and Trystan Colon.

Schweitzer is likely to take the place of Dan Feeney as a swing guard/center backup, while Colon seems like a roster longshot at this point. He's the 12th offensive lineman in a loaded position group.

The Jets may not have All-Pros up and down their offensive line, although both Alijah Vera-Tucker and Laken Tomlinson have played at Pro Bowl-caliver levels in the past. What they do have, though, is an extreme amount of depth and flexibility.

Not only do the Jets have 12 NFL-caliber offensive linemen under contract, but many of those linemen have positional versatility.

Turner can play every position except center. Ogbuehi and Becton can play both tackle spots. Schweitzer, Colon, McGovern, and Tippmann can play any of the three interior positions. Vera-Tucker has already played four of the five offensive line positions in just 23 career NFL games.

The ceiling of the Jets' offensive line in 2023 might not be a top-five unit, but what Joe Douglas has done is raise the floor of the group significantly.

The chances of the Jets' offensive line absolutely bottoming out this season due to injuries are very low because of the depth the team added this offseason.

Championship rosters consist not only of top-end talent but also consist of quality depth. This Jets' offensive line may not have a Trent Williams or Zack Martin, but they have the depth necessary to make the unit a legitimate strength for the team entering the 2023 season.