The Jets offensive line went from one of the team’s biggest weaknesses to potentially one of its strongest units with Thursday’s addition of center Ryan Kalil.
He needed some convincing to come out of retirement, but Kalil provides the Jets with an immediate upgrade on the offensive line. The 34-year-old center retired after the 2018 season following a 12-year career with the Panthers, but Joe Douglas persuaded the five-time Pro Bowler to join him in New York and block for Sam Darnold on a one-year, $8.4 million contract.
The center position has been a sieve in New York for the past two seasons, but Kalil will be the best center the Jets have had since Nick Mangold. A season after Wesley Johnson allowed two sacks in 2017, Spencer Long gave up 3.5 sacks before being replaced by Jonotthan Harrison in 2018. Meanwhile, Kalil allowed only one sack last season and only five over the past three.
With all of Kalil’s experience comes intellect; he only committed five penalties over the past three seasons. Meanwhile, Harrison and Long combined for 10 penalties in 2018 alone.
However, Kalil doesn’t come without concerns. At 34, there are questions over how much he has left in the tank, especially after suffering serious neck and shoulder injuries that limited him to only 14 games total between 2016 and 2017. Kalil even cites his 2017 neck injury for why he wanted to retire after the 2018 season. He played all 16 games this past season, but there’s no guarantee he’ll stay healthy after being away from football for the past eight months.
Kalil did prove he could still play at a high level this past season, though. He started all 16 games for Carolina.
The Jets had the worst offensive line DVOA in 2018, according to Football Outsiders, and defenses sacked Sam Darnold 30 times. Luckily for the Jets, Darnold’s mobility saved him throughout his rookie season, but they can’t rely on Darnold’s legs if they want to make a leap this season.
Kalil should mitigate those problems, and he’ll also be huge for opening up holes for Le’Veon Bell.
The Panthers had the 10th-best run-blocking line in football in 2018 and Kalil played a big part in helping Christian McCaffery tally 1,964 total yards. Bell will be a cog in Adam Gase’s offense – both running and receiving – and the addition of Kalil provides incredible stability for Bell to become effective in either situation.
There are obvious questions that come with signing an aging center with a recent injury history who’s eight months removed from retirement, but the risk is worth the potential reward for a Jets team that needs a solid offensive line to run its offense. Kahil automatically makes the Jets better and deeper and his acquisition could be what turns the Jets into serious players in 2019.
