Jets vs Commanders First Half Observations: A budding star and some difficult decisions to make

It wasn’t the best first half for the New York Jets who enter the locker room tied 10-10 with the Washington Commanders.

The Jets certainly have some things to clean up, especially on the offensive side of the ball, but not a terrible performance for gang green.

Braelon Allen may be a steal for the Jets

I am going to try not to read too much into the stat line (six rushes for 54 yards) and try instead to focus on what I see from the youngster. He is a beast. He has a quick burst of speed and is looking to initiate contact instead of absorbing it. He runs angry and is looking to punish defenders for attempting to tackle him.

While I believe that the Jets are planning to lean heavily on Breece Hall this year, this will not be a guy that opposing defenders will want to see late in games when they are already tired. This may finally be the late running back selection that sticks after Joe Douglas selected running back after running back to find that diamond in the rough . The future is looking even more bleak for last year’s rookie Izzy Abanikanda.

Allen also had a nice catch and run from a Tyrod Taylor scramble to pick up a first down which was called back on a penalty.

Also, “Agent Zero” is a fantastic nick name for a guy like Braelon.

Olu Fashanu looks like he still has some work to do

It didn’t take long to hear Olu Fashanu’s name in this game. He was called offsides on the first series for the Jets offense. It’s okay. I’m sure he was just amped to get his first NFL action. The Jets’ first round pick looked like a beast in the run game, moving Commanders’ defensive linemen at will.

His pass protection was okay. He didn’t give up any sacks but he did give up a few pressures in the limited drop backs the Jets had. Certainly nothing to worry about at this point, but you can see he still has some growing and learning to do.

The Jets are going to have some depth on defense

For as much as the offense had some depth issues the past few seasons, it looks like the defense continues to be a factory of good players. Even the play above, I see pretty good coverage by Jerrick Bernard-Converse but got beat by an absolutely incredible throw by Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels. Sometimes you just need to tip your hat to the other team because they did it perfectly.

The Commanders quarterbacks seem to test JBC a lot and he was up for it. He was great in the run game as well. He added a couple of pass break ups as well.

Along the defensive line, Haason Reddick might be getting a little nervous. The Jets “all gas, no breaks” defense seems to be producing plenty of production no matter who is lining up at this point. Will McDonald IV had a nice QB which was called for a bogus roughing the passer penalty.

Undrafted rookie out of Miami Leonard Taylor III made a nice play in the backfield as well as Mcheal Clemons. Bruce Hector made a big stop in the backfield as well.

The Jets may find themselves with more defensive linemen than roster spots available as we get closer to the start of the regular season.