The New York Jets got exactly the kind of opening-week performance they wanted from their offensive line, and the biggest surprise may have been the name at guard.
Geno Smith never took a hit all day, and that gave the Jets’ playmakers room to work while the line controlled the trenches the way the team expected it to all summer. Armand Membou and Olu Fashanu, the team’s bookend tackles, both looked the part of rising cornerstones. Joe Tippmann, coming off an extension, also turned in a solid game.
Still, the best performance in the group belonged to the Jets’ newest addition. According to Pro Football Focus, Dylan Parham stood out above everyone else on the line in Week 1.
That’s a sharp turn from the way Parham was viewed when New York brought him in. The former Las Vegas Raiders lineman, signed to replace John Simpson, faced plenty of skepticism over the offseason as some worried he wouldn’t match Simpson’s steady play. Instead, he came out in Green & White and outperformed those expectations right away.
As Justin Fried of The Jet Press put it:
"Dylan Parham’s 93.5 PFF grade in his Jets debut is currently the HIGHEST among all NFL offensive linemen in Week 1 by a sizable margin. His 92.9 PFF run block grade is also the highest among all OL.
Parham did allow a team-high 4 pressures but was utterly dominant in the run game. Not all 'pressures' are created equal as well."
The numbers made the point clearly: Parham’s 93.5 PFF grade led all offensive linemen in Week 1, and his 92.9 run-block grade was also the best among all linemen. He did give up a team-high four pressures, but his work in the run game was dominant.
That kind of debut matters for a Jets offense that is leaning on its front. With the skill talent in place, the whole operation still depends on the big men up front doing their jobs, and Parham looked like he belonged from the start.
The praise is also a reminder of how quickly the narrative can shift. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell had labeled Parham the Jets’ worst free-agent signing in March. That judgment looks a lot different now.
For the Jets, the encouraging part is simple: Parham appears to have plenty of value at guard, and with him under contract for the next two seasons at $8 million per year, New York may have landed a bargain.
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Pro Football Focus rewarded the performance with a 75.1 overall grade and a 77.2 run defense grade, both among the best single-game marks of his NFL career. The timing matters for the Jets, too, because the extra snaps came with Joseph Ossai still working his way back from injury, leaving McGregor with a chance to show he can be part of the solution if the rotation remains thin. [Read more 🡒]