Three on O: Parham, Allen, Sadiq

After each game, we'll be highlighting three defensive and three offensive players and looking in detail at their performance. We'll wrap up today with the offense:

Golden Dyl-icious

Clearly the results from the offensive line were impressive in terms of both the running game and pass protection numbers. However, it cannot be understated how much of a positive impact Dylan Parham had on the running game in particular.

From the start, he was consistently moving his man back whenever he wasn't matched up with Jeffery Simmons, with good reps at the second level and point of attack. He also dished out a couple of early Parhamcakes.

Any negatives in the run game he had were minor, as he was stood up at the point of attack or let his man beat his block on a play where the run went the other way anyway.

The Jets showed some nice creativity in their employment of skill personnel groupings, but none of this would have worked without the linemen blocking well collectively and individually.

One such play was this gem, which saw them have a pulling guard leading the way and three tight ends on the edge, playing one-on-one with the players lined across from them.

They ran this exact play twice. The other time had the tight ends on the left and Tippmann pulling to lead the way instead. The result was exactly the same.

In pass protection, Parham wasn't quite as good, especially when he had Simmons to contend with, although he did also get beaten on a bull rush by Femi Oladejo. Simmons leveraged his way upfield for one pressure, and then used a club and rip move to get another pressure on Geno Smith. The latter play was the one where Smith hit Mitchell deep on a slight underthrow. Without the pressure, perhaps that's a touchdown.

While he wasn't as good in that area, it was nothing alarming and his running game performance made it a very positive first Jets appearance on balance.

Allen Invasion

After missing most of last year, Braelon Allen showed some positive signs in preseason and looked good in the first game of the 2026 season too.

He didn't touch the ball in the first quarter, but as soon as the second quarter was underway, he was ready. The Jets were already three plays into a drive when they gave Allen the ball for a nice seven yard gain on the first play of the second quarter. Then they went to him again for nine more, and then again for another eight. After that, he got a fourth straight carry for four more and another first down.

These plays set the tone for what would eventually be a 19-play drive which wore down the Titans' defense and ended with a field goal that gave the Jets a 10-3 lead.

Over the rest of the game, Allen only gained 12 yards on his last six carries, although he did convert a 4th-and-1. He ended up with 10 carries for 40 yards, although that could have been 11-for-63 and a touchdown if his scoring run hadn't been called back for a hold.

In the passing game, Allen had the ball knocked out of his hands by Anthony Hill on a great play to deny what looked like a possible touchdown. However, he picked up the blitz impressively at least twice, including on this play.

Allen ran decisively and looked confident in all areas. It's clear that he has separated himself from Isaiah Davis as the main number two option and if he can be as effective in a change of pace role as he was on Sunday all year, the Jets will be major beneficiaries.

The Sadiq Mafioso

In terms of the stat sheet, it was a modest debut for Kenyon Sadiq, who caught three passes for 21 yards: A screen pass, a dump off underneath and a crossing route.

On each of these, you can see the potential for more, as he routinely catches the ball on the move and looks to get upfield. If a linebacker is a step slow, stumbles or misses an assignment you can see routine plays like these turning into huge gains on a regular basis.

There will be easy yardage for him underneath as the Jets open up the playbook too. On the pass just before halftime where Adonai Mitchell was ruled to have failed to get out of bounds, Smith probably should have just dumped it to an open Sadiq underneath and he would have had an easy 10-15 yards and got out of bounds easily.

Sadiq made most of his headlines with his first quarter touchdown run; a play the Jets will surely re-visit over the course of the season because not many front seven defenders will be able to stay with him laterally and then stop him from getting upfield.

What was interesting to see is that the rookie is not just a pass catching tight end surrounded by other tight ends that excel at blocking. He showed that he is more than capable of making contributions of his own, whether on the move, out wide, inline with his hand in the dirt, or whatever they required him to do.

Here's a successful short yardage conversion which has Sadiq motioning in the eventual direction of the run. He kicks out the linebacker and prevents the edge from being squeezed.

The next play also stood out because of how effectively he locked onto - and, more importantly, stayed on - his block. Young tight ends will often make a block like that but then their man will get off it eventually and affect the play.

That came just a few plays after he aggressively took a smaller defensive back and drove him backwards several yards even though he was away from the direction of the run. This kind of play-to-the-whistle mentality is rare to see from a rookie tight end.

While he had a few minor negatives, it was an impressive first game from Sadiq, in all areas, and you can see how they have so many different ways to get production from him.

Previously: Three on D: Davis, Belton, McGregor