Over the past several years, much effort -- via the NFL Draft, free agency and otherwise -- has been put into constructing and maintaining a consistent offensive line. In the past two drafts alone, the Jets spent their top picks on two promising trench warriors -- LT Olu Fashanu in 2024 and RT Armand Membou this past April. They join a group that includes C Joe Tippmann (entering his third NFL season) and the young veteran LG John Simpson, 28.

But when it comes to the offensive lineman with the most tenure with the Green & White, that handle belongs to another twentysomething, 26-year-old RG Alijah Vera-Tucker, another first-round pick, who is set for his fifth season.

"I think this is a great group," AVT to team reporter Caroline Hendershot during June's mandatory minicamp. "I think a lot of guys come from backgrounds where you want to come in and work, and everybody in that room has the love for the game, which is really important. The O-line is great, too, and I think we're all on the same page. You know, we all work well together."

After proudly wearing the tag as "versatile" early in his career, when he bounced around the O-line wherever his talents were required, AVT settled in last season at right guard. He played in 15 games (he missed two games with an ankle injury), taking 915 (95.8%) of the 1,066 total snaps on offense. As a rookie in 2021, he took 100% of the snaps in all but one game (96.5% in the other game) before having to deal with season-ending injuries in 2022 and '23 that limited him to a combined 12 games.

He said he hopes to assemble another complete season.

"I think it's just build on that," he said, referring to last season. "Build on staying healthy, really taking care of my body so I can be out there. And on top of that, just learning more of the game. I feel like you can never stop learning the game within the game. Becoming more of a leader. Do all those things and everything else."

With a new coaching staff, led by HC Aaron Glenn that includes OC Tanner Engstrand and O-line coach Steve Heiden, AVT is viewed as a quiet and confident stalwart, like Simpson, another steady young veteran.

"He's a professional," Heiden said. "He approaches it the right way. He's very talented. He's a very talented player and I am enjoying working with him. He has not hit his ceiling, so he's a good player."

Asked about what it takes to succeed as an O-lineman in the NFL, Heiden added: "There's not many of them. It's a limited pool of guys that can play in this league and you need five of them. So, I think that's a concern. And then I think the other thing is the injuries that happen at the position. There's a lot of injuries. So to have a deep set of guys that can be stable, that can go in and play, it's tough to do."

Engstrand, who worked with Glenn and Heiden last season in Detroit, likes the quality of his O-linemen, who this season will be protecting Justin Fields while also blocking for the versatile QB.

"I like the room," OC Engstrand said, speaking generally about the O-linemen. "We have a bunch of good people and guys that are willing to take the coaching and willing to work hard, and that's really what it starts with. Are they talented? Yeah, we have some talented players in that room, clearly, but they're just good guys to be around. They're good with teammates and I believe that we'll be able to lean on those guys."

AVT, too, said he's so far been impressed with what Fields brings to the Green & White.

"I think his energy, he knows energy back there," he said. "I think he brings a lot of it, obviously he has speed. But then with that, his arm as well. And this is only OTAs and you see that connection he's building into the receivers right now. I can't wait to see it during camp and then during the season."