New York will be without a key cog along their offensive line for the entire 2022 season.
Just as New York Jets fans were starting to get excited about the second year of a Zach Wilson offense, the entire offense took a big hit, likely losing star OT Mekhi Becton for the 2022 season.
Becton, who was drafted 11th overall in the 2020 draft, injured his knee in a drill in Monday's practice. This injury is to the same knee, though likely a different injury that he injured in last season's opener, causing him to miss the entire season.
MORE: Becton’s Knee Injury Worse Than Initially Thought
Needless to say, this is not good news for fantasy managers planning to draft Wilson, Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson, Michael Carter or Elijah Moore.
Zach Wilson enters his second season under center for the Jets after taking 44 sacks (third-most) in this rookie season. It was the second-highest sack rate in the league (10.3%) behind only fellow freshman Justin Fields. Wilson finished the season with 2,334 passing yards and only nine passing touchdowns (a mere 2.3%) across 13 games played. Losing Becton is not encouraging for New York.
Hall has had a lot of early buzz as the highest-ranked rookie running back. The Iowa State standout will likely lead the running back room and has a three-down skill set. He's been coming off the board as early as the third round, but with Michael Carter still in town and no protection from the Jets offensive line, fantasy managers should lower expectations. Last year Carter, Tevin Coleman, and Ty Johnson combined for only 1,233 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns. Carter led the group with 639 yards and the best efficiency of the group, with 4.35 yards per attempt (just about league average). There doesn't seem to be a lot of upside for Hall based on how early he is being taken in drafts.
WR Elijah Moore has been generating buzz in the preseason. Reports are that he has established himself as the Jets WR1. Moore was a fantasy stud in 2021 before his season ended with a quadricep injury in Week 13. He averaged 16.1 fantasy points per game, and he certainly can take a step forward with Zach Wilson, but the Jets drafted Garrett Wilson out of Ohio State, so he could have more competition than last year when it was mostly Jameson Crowder. Moore is still a potential value at his ADP 87.
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