Jets Surprise Favorite Emerging For Starting Job

The New York Jets surprised some this offseason when the National Football League's legal tampering period opened with the new league year.

New York was busy and made a handful of moves right away headlined by the signing of Justin Fields to be the team's starting quarterback. Signing Fields captured most of the headlines, but one under-the-radar move the Jets made was signing 27-year-old center Josh Myers. He spent the last four years with the Green Bay Packers and appeared in 56 games while starting each one.

The Jets have had some questions on the offensive line, but center seemed to be a pretty set position with 2023 second-round pick Joe Tippmann. He started 31 games over the last two years -- and appeared in 33 games overall. The Jets brought Myers to town, though. This move was interesting also because of the fact that Myers played with Fields back in college at Ohio State.

It was shared that the Jets would hold a competition for the starting job between these two. ESPN's Rich Cimini shared that it is a "legitimate open competition." Both guys are getting a chance at the starting job and Cimini also noted that Myers' "biggest advantage" is his experience with Fields and more time in the NFL.

"Center," Cimini said. "It is incumbent Joe Tippmann versus Josh Myers, formerly the Packers' starter. This is a legitimate open competition, with both players getting an equal number of practice reps. Most outsiders thought Tippmann was entrenched, so it raised eyebrows in the offseason when Myers (56 career starts) signed a one-year, $2 million contract and was promised a shot at the job. Tippmann was a second-round pick in 2023, but he ranked 30th out of 33 centers last season in pass block win rate (Myers was 20th).

"Myers' biggest advantage is his experience, not to mention his familiarity with QB Justin Fields, his former college teammate."

On the roster right now, this is the Jets' biggest battle. There surely are others. Like, at receiver. But, this is the biggest competition for a starting job. Nothing has been decided yet, but it does seem the perception around the job has shifted from leaning Tippmann to leaning Myers, but that's speculation and there's still a month to go until the season kicks off.

More NFL: Jets Depth Chart Sparks Debate With Rookie