In-depth analysis: Jets-Packers (Part One - Offense)

Over the course of today, we'll be breaking down the performance of every player that took the field in the Jets' preseason game against the Packers. We'll start with a look at offense and will cover the defense and special teams later on.

Quarterbacks - Justin Credible

Justin Fields drove the Jets down the field on his lone possession and finished off the drive himself by taking off for a 13-yard touchdown scramble, showcasing a similar blueprint to the one the Steelers were using with him as their starter last year. He moved the team with three simple underneath passes and then was a finisher in the red zone.

The only fault you could levy at Fields was on his lone incompletion where his wide throw was out of the reach of a diving receiver, but at least that's a safe throw, so the Jets will be encouraged. Is that all we will see of him between now and the opener? Quite possibly. This week's joint practices will be important, though.

Undrafted rookie Brady Cook was the second man in and led the Jets on two decent drives; one that led to a field goal and another that stalled at the Packers' 25. He was 6-for-8 for 62 yards but his biggest completion of the day was a comically wobbly duck down the field.

Nevertheless, he looked pretty comfortable and was decisive on one other first down throw. In terms of negatives, he panicked and almost threw a pick-six on a play where the protection broke down, missed one throw low and made the wrong read on an option keeper that was blown up. Not a bad debut though.

Adrian Martinez took over in the second half and was solid as he went 11 for 16 for 152 yards and a touchdown. He made some nice downfield throws despite some pressure and also ran for a first down. The touchdown came on a screen pass and he perhaps should have had another but overthrew an open receiver on a deep ball.

(Tyrod Taylor did not play)

Running Backs - Get on your knees and Brae

Breece Hall only saw brief action with his three carries all up the middle for three, two and four yards.

Braelon Allen looked solid as he had 14 and eight yard bursts up the middle and a short yardage conversion. He was also stuffed on 4th down, although there wasn't really anywhere for him to go. He ended up with 33 yards on eight carries.

The way the Jets rotated in Isaiah Davis would suggest he has a chance to see action as the third down back this year. That could certainly be his primary role in 2026 if Hall isn't back, so that might play into their thinking. Davis, who had 25 yards on seven touches, left the game after tweaking his ankle on an 11-yard catch in the flat, which saw him miss a tackle and dive for the pylon but he was ruled out of bounds at about the five.

Kene Nwangwu also left the game with a calf injury. Prior to that, he had just 10 yards on five carries and picked up the blitz once.

UDFA Donovan Edwards was robbed of a huge statistical day when his 73-yard touchdown was called back due to a hold at the point of attack. Nevertheless, he showcased good burst and breakaway speed on that run.

Even without those yards, he still racked up 63 yards on 10 touches, breaking a tackle on a 21-yard catch and run and also rushing for two first downs. It was a decent showcase from someone who has had a quiet camp.

The recently-added Lawrance Toafili saw action near the end and had 26 yards on five touches. His best run saw him make a nice cut at the line of scrimmage to burst upfield for nine yards. He then cashed in the short yardage conversion on the next play. Toafili also broke a tackle in the backfield to turn a possible loss into positive yardage on one play.

Offensive Line - Armand Hammer

Our first look at Armand Membou went well enough, as he didn't allow any pressure in a small sample size. He still has some things to work on in the running game, though, as his man made the stop on four plays.

Looking back, Olu Fashanu - who, of course, wasn't slated to start - probably had a better preseason debut than Membou last year. As for this year, he had one good block at the second level, but also had a sloppy blitz pick-up where he ended up on the ground.

Alijah Vera-Tucker looked good, as ever, at right guard. His best block saw him climbing to the second level.

The other starters inside were Joe Tippmann at left guard and Josh Myers at center. This shouldn't be seen as a sign that Myers is winning the center battle because Tippmann has experience at guard while Myers doesn't so this is the obvious configuration if those are the best available five.

Also of relevance is that Tippmann looked good despite being out of his natural position, with two nice run blocks (although he was lucky not to get hit with a holding call on one play). On the other hand, Myers struggled at center as he was stood up a couple of times and his man was in on the stop three times.

His worst rep was actually on the Fields touchdown where he got bullrushed into the quarterback's lap. With a less-elusive quarterback (like Aaron Rodgers) that would have been a sack.

When most of the starters left the game, Membou and Myers stayed in. Again, that's a good sign that Myers is viewed as the second unit center with everyone healthy. It was also cool that Membou got to play with his college teammate Cook; something which probably won't happen again.

The replacements when Cook entered the game were Max Mitchell at left tackle, Xavier Newman at left guard and Kohl Levao at right guard.

Levao has obviously progressed since last year where he was moored on the third unit. However, he struggled a little to make the jump as he gave up three pressures, including one that almost led to a pick-six, and had a handful of negative plays against the run, including on the stuffed fourth down. It wasn't all bad, though, as he did have some positive blocks.

Mitchell looked good initially in the running game but was beaten off the edge three times. Newman was a bit of a mixed bag in the running game but was solid in pass protection.

Newman, who would later move to center, and Mitchell combined nicely on Martinez's touchdown pass. While the announcers praised Newman for getting downfield, the importance of Mitchell's block should not be understated here.

Marquis Hayes and Chukwuma Okorafor were the next two linemen into the game, suggesting they are currently on the bubble. Neither helped their case much as Hayes had two holding penalties and Okorafor whiffed on a run block leading to a stuff in the backfield and on a pass block that almost led to a pick-six. Hayes did have a few good run blocks.

Samuel Jackson is an interesting case. He's huge and long, but not particularly athletic and, as a result, he's mostly been used inside at the NFL level so far. The Jets seem to view him as a developmental tackle project, though, as they had him in at left tackle.

The early evidence is that he's not going to be able to handle this in terms of pass protection. This was his first snap of the day.

Having said that, he had a couple of really impressive moments as a run blocker. This begs the question, is there room on a modern NFL roster for a specialist jumbo tight end, who could be developed mainly for his run blocking skills? Probably not, but an interesting thought.

Now let's move onto Liam Fornadel, who was signed when UDFA Gus Hartwig was lost for the year. Fornadel is mostly experienced as a guard but the suspicion was that the Jets might view him as a center and that's how they used him last night. Fornadel's most notable moment was the holding penalty to negate Edwards' long touchdown. However, he had some good moments as a run blocker and wasn't bad in pass protection.

Finally, Carter Warren didn't get into the game until late and looks like a major long-shot to stick around. He gave up a couple of pressures and let his man get off his block for a run stop twice.

(Leander Wiegand and John Simpson did not play)

Wide Receivers - Tyler, the Creator

Garrett Wilson and Josh Reynolds started at wide receiver and neither had a catch. In fact, Wilson was the only wide receiver or tight end to be targeted but not have at least one catch, as his diving attempt at Fields' wide throw came up empty. Reynolds made a good block on one play, though.

Tyler Johnson was the recipient of Fields' first completion, over the middle on third down, and later caught a 21-yarder downfield from Cook.

Allen Lazard also had two catches, both from Cook. One was for a first down with the other just shy of the marker. He also had a good run block.

Rookie Arian Smith looked good in his first game action, despite being called for a false start. One of his two catches saw him break a tackle for extra yardage down the field and he almost had a touchdown as he burned his man deep but the pass was overthrown. Smith also had a good run block on one play.

Brandon Smith made a run at a roster spot last season with a terrific preseason and he showed those qualities again with two nice first down grabs. He uncharacteristically missed his block on one run though.

Malachi Corley remains down the depth chart and didn't make much of an impact had one short catch and another target that was underthrown and incomplete.

We noted that the undrafted Jamaal Pritchett has similar after-the-catch abilities to Corley in our scouting report. Those were on show here, as he broke three tackles to turn a three-yard loss into a six-yard gain.

Two other targets to Pritchett, including an end zone jump ball, were incomplete.

The 6'5" UDFA Quinten Skinner flashed on a leaping 26-yard catch that Martinez essentially just threw up for him to go and get with pressure in his face.

Pokey Wilson saw action late and had a first down on a quick slant but UDFA Dymere Miller was not targeted.

(Irv Charles, who is on the PUP list, and Xavier Gipson did not play)

Tight Ends - That's gotta Smartt

Jeremy Ruckert remains as the starting tight end but continues to underwhelm. He allowed one run to be bottled up and gave up a pressure while not being targeted.

After a quiet camp, Andrew Beck showed that he might be a bigger part of the Jets' plans than expected. He caught 12 and 24 yard passes from Fields to lead the Jets in receiving. Despite being listed as a fullback, nearly all of his reps were at tight end.

Stone Smartt was the third tight end into the game, suggesting he might be on the bubble, but he helped his cause by following his blockers well on the touchdown pass from Martinez. He got shoved back into the runner on one run block, though.

Zack Kuntz and Neal Johnson each caught one pass with Kuntz gaining 12 on a dump-off to the flat. He also had a play where he let his man get off his block to make a run stop though.

(Mason Taylor did not play).

We'll be back with more on the defense and special teams later...