Pro Football Focus and NFL.com recognized Jets guard Alijah Vera-Tucker and center Joe Tippmann, respectively, as the most underrated and underappreciated players on the Green & White's roster heading into the 2025 season.
After playing 12 games the last two seasons due to a pair of season-ending injuries, Vera-Tucker, a former first-round pick, started 15 of 17 games in 2024.
"Vera-Tucker hasn't played more than 432 snaps in a season since his 2021 rookie year," PFF football analyst Jonathon Macri wrote. "Which has led to some disappointment in the former 14th overall pick. But 2024 was Vera-Tucker's best season yet."
Despite missing time, Vera-Tucker's offensive grade from PFF has improved each of the last four seasons, peaking with a career-best 77.7 overall grade last fall.
"He played 15 games in 2024 and had a career-high PFF pass-blocking (74.5)," Macri wrote. "That mark as a pass blocker ranked 12th among qualifying guards in 2024 and aligns more closely with the expectations of a former top-15 pick."
Tippmann built on a strong rookie season with an equally impressive sophomore campaign. The former Wisconsin Badger started all 17 games and played 100% of the offensive snaps. In addition, he ranked No. 2 overall in sacks allowed (5) among all centers who took at least 80% of the regular-season snaps.
"In 2024, Tippmann had one of the stronger pass-blocking campaigns in recent team history, at least according to the NGS metric of QB pressure rate allowed," according to NFL.com writer Tom Blair. "Tippmann was credited with a mark of 4.8%, the second-lowest by any Jets offensive lineman to log 100-plus pass-blocking snaps in a season since 2016, bested only by Alijah Vera-Tucker's 4.2%, also last season."
Tippmann's improvements from '2023 to '24 have Blair eager to see what the former second-round pick can accomplish possibly playing with QB Justin Fields under center. Fields, over the last 3 seasons (38 starts), has rushed for 17 TDs and 6 yards per attempt while throwing for 38 TDs and 21 interceptions, despite being the fourth most sacked QB in the NFL over that span (115).
"If Tippmann continues on this trajectory, he could help his linemates provide Fields with stronger protection than the QBs ever had as a pro," Blair wrote.
