
Throughout the offseason, NewYorkJets.com reporters Eric Allen, Ethan Greenberg, Randy Lange and Caroline Hendershot will each give their predictions to a series of questions regarding this year's Jets.
Today's question: Which Jets Player Is Poised for a Breakout Season?
EA: The Jets have a talented young roster and there are several quality options for breakout candidates. On defense, you certainly could go with a pair of Jets who never have played a down for the Green & White — DE Carl Lawson and CB Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner. Lawson was a monster last summer before the Achilles tendon tear and Gardner, the No. 4 overall selection in the NFL Draft, is a monster talent. With more talent on the edge with Lawson, Jacob Martin and Vinny Curry plus rookie Jermaine Johnson, DT Quinnen Williams could push for his first 10-sack campaign. This is a quality group of receivers who should have considerable production if they remain healthy. We saw what Elijah Moore did in 11 games last season, Garrett Wilson was a points producer at Ohio State, and I think Corey Davis will reach 1,000 yards for the first time in his career. With the overhaul at tight end and the Breece Hall/Michael Carter dynamic in the backfield, QB Zach Wilson has more options and he'll take a leap. But I'll go with an unconventional answer and take Alijah Vera-Tucker as he moves to right guard. By the end of the season, the Jets will have two Pro Bowl guards in Laken Tomlinson and AVT.
EG: I think a popular answer is Zach Wilson. With all the new talent up front, out wide and in the backfield, Wilson has more playmakers at his disposal. Entering his second season, the No. 2 overall pick in 2021 has looked more comfortable commanding the offense in the spring, according to HC Robert Saleh. The coaching staff and the players believe in Wilson, who finished the final seven games of his rookie season with 9 TDs (5 passing, 4 rushing) and 2 INTs. The arrow is pointing up for Wilson. I think other popular answers would include Carl Lawson and Elijah Moore. Keep an eye on a pair of second-year defenders in S Jason Pinnock and CB Michael Carter II. Pinnock, who took first team reps in the spring, could see a significant bump in playing time as he enters his first full season as a safety (he was drafted at CB). With a stronger CBs room on the outside, Carter II could see more passes thrown his way in the slot. He was impressive as a rookie and should continue to develop in 2022.
See the Jets' 90-man roster leading up to training camp.

WR Keshunn Abram

S Tony Adams

DL Bradlee Anae

FB Nick Bawden

T Mekhi Becton

WR Braxton Berrios

WR Tarik Black

TE Lawrence Cager

RB Michael Carter

CB Michael Carter II

WR Irvin Charles

DL Micheal Clemons

RB Tevin Coleman

TE Tyler Conklin

DL Vinny Curry

S Ashtyn Davis

WR Corey Davis

CB Isaiah Dunn

CB Brandin Echols

T Chuma Edoga

T George Fant

OL Dan Feeney

OL Parker Ferguson

QB Joe Flacco

DL John Franklin-Myers

CB Sauce Gardner

CB Javelin Guidry

RB Breece Hall

CB Bryce Hall

CB Justin Hardee

LB Marcel Harris

LS Thomas Hennessy

OL Nate Herbig

OL Grant Hermanns

DL Bryce Huff

WR Calvin Jackson

DE Jermaine Johnson

RB Ty Johnson

S Lamarcus Joyner

OL Derrick Kelly

RB Zonovan Knight

DE Carl Lawson

P Braden Mann

DL Jonathan Marshall

DE Jacob Martin

OL Conor McDermott

C Connor McGovern

WR Denzel Mims

OL Max Mitchell

S Jovante Moffatt

WR D.J. Montgomery

WR Elijah Moore

LB C.J. Mosley

S Kai Nacua

LB Hamsah Nasirildeen

S Will Parks

RB La'Mical Perine

LB Del'Shawn Phillips

OL Ross Pierschbacher

K Eddy Pineiro

S Jason Pinnock

DL Sheldon Rankins

DL Hamilcar Rashed Jr.

CB D.J. Reed

S Elijah Riley

TE Jeremy Ruckert

OL Dru Samia

OL Greg Senat

DL Nathan Shepherd

LB Jamien Sherwood

DL Tanzel Smart

WR Jeff Smith

LB DQ Thomas

DL Solomon Thomas

OL Laken Tomlinson

TE C.J. Uzomah

OL Alijah Vera-Tucker

DL Tim Ward

TE Trevon Wesco

LB Javin White

QB Mike White

S Jordan Whitehead

CB Rachad Wildgoose

LB Quincy Williams

DL Quinnen Williams

WR Garrett Wilson

QB Zach Wilson

TE Kenny Yeboah

K Greg Zuerlein

DL Jabari Zuniga
RL: Too obvious to say Carl Lawson? Last year's UFA edge-rusher star — until he tore his Achilles tendon in training camp — is champing at the bit to get his Jets career started. He's got reinforcements on the DL to help him as well as Quinnen Williams and John Franklin-Myers in rookies Jermaine Johnson and Micheal Clemons. He's got veteran reinforcements in the secondary to help give him and the Jets' pass rushers that extra split-second per play to get to the opposing QB. And just to refresh memories, in 2020 with the Bengals, Lawson had 29.5 QB knockdowns, the most by any NFL D-lineman that year, and his 1.84 knockdowns per team-game and per player-game that year were the most by any DL with at least 25 KDs in the past three seasons. Needless to say, we'd like to see Carl get back into the groove with a safe and healthy preseason and then get shot out of a cannon into the regular season.
CH: Maybe I'm excited by the new face, but I believe that Tyler Conklin is going to have a breakout season. In his four years with the Vikings, he improved each year statistically. Last year he ended the season with 61 receptions for 593 yards and 3 touchdowns. Not to mention, Conklin said that the offense isn't new to him. "The offense, I'm very familiar with it," Conklin said. "We ran it the past three years in Minnesota." That familiarity showed in minicamp and OTAs this off-season when Zach Wilson consistently connected with Conklin with ease on the field. So, because he familiar with the scheme and trending upward in his production, I think Conklin is going to make a major impact for the Green and White and have a breakout season in 2022.