Perhaps all of the offseason talk about Josh Myers and Joe Tippmann wasn’t lip service after all.
When Jets head coach Aaron Glenn and GM Darren Mougey talked about how free agent addition Josh Myers was going to “push” Joe Tippmann at center, it was written off by plenty of fans as coach speak. But with training camp here and Myers running with the starters, is it time to take them seriously?
The observation was made as a part of JetNation’s camp coverage yesterday afternoon.
Several times this offseason the Jets beat suggested Myers has a real shot to unseat Tippmann. We discussed it right here back in May, but many viewed the conversation as offseason clickbait. But now as the teams hit the grass, it’s clearly much more than that.
As many pointed out at the time, starting guard John Simpson, completely unprompted, mentioned how hard Tippmann and Myers were battling one another in OTA’s. While it could just be an off-the-cuff comment, it’s certainly not nothing. Veteran players don’t generally refer to a pair of players “battling” one another in a spot where there’s no competition.
It’s been said countless times in recent months but is worth repeating at this point. Myers snapped for Justin Fields at Ohio State. With the Jets clearly doing all they can to help quarterback Fields succeed, it would be silly to rule out Myers as a potential week 1 starter.
Through two seasons, Tippmann has been a solid starter who appears to be trending in the right direction. Last season he ranked seventh among all centers according to the folks at Pro Football Focus. Myers didn’t fare as well, finishing 21st among starters.
At the end of the day, anyone who is going to start is going to have to perform, but if his history with Fields gives Myers even the slightest advantage over Tippmann in the eyes of the Jets, the “clickbait” stories of Myers starting could eventually become a reality.
