As the New York Jets dismantled Robert Saleh and the Tennessee Titans 23-10 on Sunday, one thing was very clear. Gang Green’s O-line came to play. Geno Smith wasn’t sacked once. He had all the time and space he needed to throw. Breece Hall went for over a 100 yards, and Braelon Allen ran 10 times for 40 yards himself.
For years we’ve seen and heard Jets fans go after the team’s poor O-line play with a bullseye on a number of offensive line coaches. But it looks like Aaron Glenn finally found a good one in Steve Heiden.
Heiden previously worked with tight ends before getting a short stint with the O-line in Arizona. He then came on board when Glenn was hired last season, and was one of the few to survive the post-season bloodbath in which eight coaches were sent packing. The season is just one week old, but this isn’t only about what the Jets did against the Titans.
Last season, Heiden helped transition Joe Tippmann from center to right guard while working with rookie right tackle Armand Membou and second-year left tackle Olu Fashanu. And across the board, each player has seen improvement from the day they began working with Heiden.
Membou appears to be trending toward becoming a top 3 tackle in the NFL, while Fashanu has shown noticeable improvement in the run game. If Heiden can get Fashanu to develop into a more well-rounded player, it would be a boon for the Jets offensive line. And with Tippmann, he seems to have settled in quite nicely at right guard, playing a fantastic game in the opener while facing the likes of Jeffery Simmons and John Franklin-Myers.
Then there’s the newcomer in Dylan Parham. It’s far too early go take much away after just one game under Heiden, but Parham had one of the best games of his career according to Pro Football Focus, who graded him out at an NFL-best 92.9 in the run game and 93.5 overall, which was also tops in the league.
So while many coaches fizzled out after just one season under Glenn, Heiden looks to be a huge hit early on with hopes that both he, and his young linemen continue to ascend in their roles.
