The Jets have made the offensive line a priority this offseason and continued that trend with the addition of Greg Van Roten.
Van Roten and the Jets agreed on a three-year deal Saturday evening after talks heated up between the two sides on Friday. In all likelihood, Van Roten will take Brian Winters’ job at right guard.
While Van Roten hasn’t been an All-Pro or even a Pro Bowler, he has been rock solid in pass protection the last two years, allowing just three sacks and five quarterback hits on 1,144 passing snaps. Like all of Joe Douglas’ offensive lineman signings thus fas, Van Roten is versatile. His primary position is guard, but Van Roten can also play center and tackle if need be.
Let’s get to know more about the Jets’ latest offensive line acquisition.
Grew up a Jets fan
Not many athletes get to play for the team they grew up rooting for, but Van Roten is an exception.
Van Roten, originally from Rockville Centre, New York, grew up a Jets fan. He was born in 1990, so he has seen plenty of the same suffering that Jets fans have dealt with in recent years.
Now Van Roten wants to be part of the solution. The last time he saw the Jets in the playoffs was in 2010, when he was still at the University of Pennsylvania. So he’s itching to help his hometown get back to the postseason in 2020.
2 years in the CFL
Van Roten had difficulty staying in the NFL after being undrafted out of Penn in 2012.
After three years in the NFL with the Packers and Seahawks, Van Roten moved onto the Canadian football League. He signed with the Toronto Argonauts in 2015 and was with them until 2016.
Van Roten made his return to the NFL in 2017, joining the Jaguars and eventually the Panthers.
Doesn’t commit penalties
If the Jets were looking for one thing on the offensive line, it was disciplined players.
The Jets have had a problem on the offensive line with penalties. Van Roten is a guy who rarely commits any. Since 2018, Van Roten has only committed six total penalties over 3,326 snaps.
That’s a great trend for the Jets, who committed the seventh-most offensive holding penalties last season with 22.
Son of a baseball player
Greg Van Roten went to Penn to play college football, but his father stayed local when it came time to continue his athletic career.
Thomas Van Roten played collegiate baseball at St. John’s University. The Queens campus is less than 20 miles from where Greg Van Roten grew up in Rockville Centre, New York.
