The NY Jets offense will be quite different in 2021. They will be more under center on early downs, more jet sweep and wide run plays and will run various motions to get numbers and keep defenses off balance.
The Jets staff realizes how important it is to run the ball against some of the most aggressive defensive coaches in the division. You have Josh Boyer- Flores with the Dolphins, McDermott and Frazier with the Bills and Belichick with the Patriots. They are excellent at what they do and you can expect major pressure packages from them that will test Zach Wilson. You better run the ball and stay out of those 3rd and long situations to give your young qb a chance.
That is why the Jets drafter great pieces to help the run game. Elijah Moore will help the jet sweep perimeter run game. Expect to see him in the backfield at times, motioning out and running some rpos and bubble screens to him. Michael Carter is a great perimeter runner who will push the toss and wide zone to another level. Tucker was a great pickup at guard who will make the wide zone run and give them some needed help in protection on the interior. . Corey Davis will be a factor in the intermediate passing game and give Wilson some weapons. The pieces are in place to make this offense really exciting.
The Jets new staff does a great job running different plays from different formations. They run toss and run it out of a few formations. They will run rpo game from various sets but really are running the same play. They really utilize formations and motions to dictate coverage, get the looks they want and run plays accordingly.
Here are some of the concepts:
#1 concept RPO Game. (Run pass options)
The qb will read the defense presnap and decide whether to give it to the rb or pull it and hit the wr on the pass play.
The Jets will use various RPO's this year. Here are a few the 49ers ran. Here is a couple they loved to run.
#1 Outside zone te drag rpo.
49ers outside zone ,Y cross rpo
They often run this play out of 21 personnel because teams often go 4-3 vs them with a cover 3 look. The defense brings the safety down in the box, usually strong, leaving the backside curl vulnerable.
The 49ers love to run this on 1st down. Outside zone , qb reads the mike and they hit the te dragging the other way.
outside zone slant rpo, Again, another rpo off the outside zone run play. The qb reads the curl flat defender, sees the window and hits the slant for 11 yards.
The 49ers ran the following RPO against the Rams. They did a great job getting the ball on the perimeter.You can see the 2 clips below. Either run the swing or give it on the outside zone.
#3 The Jets will create match up problems with Tevin Coleman in empty formations.
They will do this out of 12, 21 and 11 personnel. Imagine how tough to cover him when they go empty from 12 or 21.
In the first example, its 3rd and 12 and they go empty. They run the double slant vs cover 2 for 14 yards. The mike works off the and they attack the alley player to the top side.
Here they go empty from 21 personnel and the Bucs are in a 3-4 base package. They have a lb on him and it is no match as they get 31 yards on the mesh concept
#4 The Jets will Stretch the perimeter
The hardest thing to play on defense is fast action perimeter runs like toss. boss, outside zone and jet sweep.
The 49ers were one of the best in the league at pushing the ball on the edge. They do this 3 ways. They run Jet sweep, toss and wide zone as 3 staple plays.
Jet sweep & plays off it
The Jets drafted a great player Elijah Moore who should run a few jet sweeps in 2021. He is a great weapon and can be a major asset in the jet sweep package.
Expect the Jets to run a major jet sweep package with wide zone, screens and play actions off it on early downs.
Lets get to the film on the concepts and plays mentioned above.
The 49ers ran jet sweep 4 times for 65 yards vs the Rams last year. They also ran a great. tight end screen off it. Again, they set plays up better than anyone and if you run jet sweep and wide zone well, it opens other aspects of the offense up. Here is an image of the Jet sweep and 5 video clips are below.
Here are the 5 clips:
- 4 jet sweeps and the tight end screen to Kittle
Off the Jet sweep expect play action. Here they fake the Jet, the inside run and hit reed the tight end as the lbs react to the run fakes.
The Jets will be sequential and set plays up more than in the past.
49ERS VS THE GIANTS
In the picture below: Mullens is at qb and Reed is the tight end.
Watch the great play action with Mullens and reed, faking the jet to the right , then the wide zone left and hitting the tight end on the crossing route for a 15 yard gain.
The Jets run a nice screen off the jet motion. They set it up with the fake jet fake zone and action the other way and hit the jet man for a nice 38 yard gain on the screen.
Toss Play
The Jets drafted Carter out of NC for this reason. He can really stretch defenses and get on the perimeter. This will be a major asset.
Here is the toss last year.
Jet fans remember this play.
Ran it for 80 yards against us. stretch the perimeter, all blocks are made downfield. The tackle handles the sparking de and off they go.
The 49ers ran toss 3 times for 200 yards against the Jets(that's not a misprint), 1 was called back on a very touchy holding call. The 49ers (now the Jets can run the ball on the perimeter)
Here are the 3 toss plays
VS PATRIOTS
Here they run Toss against the patriots for 15 yards out of 21 personnel.
They get a great block by the left side, great crack by the wr.
Fullback does a great job on the safety and the guard reaches the 4i.
In the clips below these 2 slides you will see some great cut backs by their running backs vs the rams. Watch the 49ers back and his shoulders in conjunction with the offensive lineman like traditional wide zone.
2nd clip vs rams look at the gap created by the tackle fan blocking on the olb. Great job by the back staying in phase with his rg , rt and te. Again, they block back to create that cutback lane on the backside.
Clips to go with the above.
But here they run toss out of gun with the tight end in the backfield as a lead blocker.
I really like the design out of gun with Kittle being the lead blocker.
They ran this play for 15 yards. Again, its toss but they run it with a different wrinkle and formation.
They also ran toss traditionally.
Wide Zone
The Jets ran wide zone last year so it's nothing new. It's an NFL staple play and the 49ers ran it as well as anyone over the years. Just expect to see much more of it off jet motion.
The OL had been physical all season, and they play with great technique specifically in their wide zone play. This article will focus on some of the great individual efforts displaying talent/coaching/scheme. NYJ have some really good and young talented players on the OL. We look forward to watching them develop.
Play 1: Week 11 NYJ vs LA Chargers 8 yard gain on Wide Zone. They run behind Mekhi Becton and Connor McGovern.
Play 2: Week 7 NYJ vs BUF Bills is a 7 yard gain on another wide zone. This is an elite play by the Center Connor McGovern. Great technique, great strength, and great finish.
Play 3: Week 7 NYJ vs BUF and another 9 yard gain on wide zone. This is a great example of elite and physical play by #68 Josh Andrews who is in his 5th season.
Play 4: Week 13 NYJ vs LV Raiders. The result is a 25 yard gain on another wide zone play. The LT stretch block is detailed here.
The play action off the wide zone will be a key component as well. Expect to see a ton of boots with the tight end being a major beneficiary of the boot package.
The Boss/ outside zone run play
The outside zone is a little different because it is designed to get the ball on the perimeter.
These are just some of the changes I expect to see from the Jets offense in 2021. It will be exciting and keep teams off balance. They added some nice pieces in Wilson, Moore, Tucker and Carter and have some nice returning pieces in Crowder, Herndon and Mims.
The NYJ are not as far off as people think! This young OL is technically sound and just needs to play with more consistency and they should take the next step in 2021.
