The New York Jets struggled on offense in 2022, starting 3 different quarterbacks and playing 4 of them throughout the season. They did find their star running back in Breece Hall and star wide receiver in Garrett Wilson, but injuries sidelined Hall and most of the offensive line as the season progressed. With likely adding a veteran quarterback to start in 2023, the hope is that the offense can turn it around next season, but let’s dive into the Jets’ offense stats from 2022.
Team Offense Stats
The New York Jets offense scored 296 points through 17 games (17.4 per game average), which ranks 29th in the NFL. That low ranking will be a theme throughout this entire analysis. When we look at the defense next week, it’ll be clear how the Jets’ offense couldn’t get it done, even when the defense was playing at an elite level. In terms of EPA (expected points added), the Jets offense accumulated -113.08 EPA in 2022, which ranks 30th in the NFL.
Parting ways with OC Mike LaFleur looks to be the right move as we delve into these stats, especially the Jets’ red zone efficiency. The Jets scored a touchdown on only 43.5% of redzone trips, which is 31st in the NFL. LaFleur was one of the worst playcallers once the Jets hit the redzone, and that will be a major problem they will try and fix with the new OC. The Jets also only converted 34.6% of third downs, which ranks 28th.
In terms of coverages faced, the Jets faced man coverage 30.2% of the time, which is the 5th most in the NFL. At one point in the season, they were the worst team against man coverage in terms of EPA.
Passing
The Jets averaged 219 passing yards per game, which ranks 15th in the NFL. With all the abysmal quarterback play throughout the season, it is surprising that this ranking is that high, but many teams also saw quarterback problems this season. Breaking this down by game, the Jets had 4 games with over 300 passing yards, 6 games with 200-300 passing yards, 5 games with 100-200 passing yards, and 2 games below 100 passing yards.
The game with the most passing yards was Mike White vs the Vikings, where he threw for 366 yards, and the game with the least passing yards was Zach Wilson vs the Patriots, where he threw for only 44 yards.
Rushing
The Jets averaged 99 rushing yards per game, which ranks 25th in the NFL. Their yards per rush was only 4.16, and it is only that high because of Breece Hall’s insane yards per carry of 5.8. The Jets used 4 running backs in 2022 (Hall, Michael Carter, Zonovan Knight, and Ty Johnson), and Breece Hall finished as the leading rusher after only playing in 7 games before his ACL tear.
Hall led the Jets in all 3 categories (yards, yards per carry, and longest rush), and Michael Carter really struggled this season after a promising rookie season. The 3.5 yards per carry for both Carter and Knight didn’t cut it, and the rushing game after Hall’s injury was practically nonexistent.
Breaking it down by game, the Jets had 4 games with over 150 rushing yards (2 with Breece), 2 games with 100-150 rushing yards (1 with Breece), 5 games with 76-100 rushing yards (4 with Breece), and 6 games below 75 rushing yards (0 with Breece). That last stat is key – 0 games under 75 rushing yards with Breece Hall in the game. Once he’s healthy, the running game should be deadly next year.
The game with the most rushing yards was Week 6 vs the Packers, where Jets rushed for 179 yards, and the game with the least rushing yards was Week 18 vs the Dolphins, where the Jets rushed for only 38 yards.
Receiving
Garrett Wilson was an absolute star and is the favorite for winning Offensive Rookie of the Year, but the other receivers on the Jets were underwhelming. Garrett’s 1103 yards ranked 15th in the entire NFL, and he did that with horrible quarterback play all season. His yards were double the next closest pass catcher on the Jets, which was Tyler Conklin.
Corey Davis had some injuries this season, but he led the team with 16.8 yards per reception. CJ Uzomah was very underwhelming in the passing game, but he did catch 77.8% of his targets. Looking at just Garrett Wilson and Elijah Moore, their respective catch percents of 56.5% and 56.9% rank 8th worst and 10th worst in the entire NFL. However, that’s not on them. That’s on the quarterback. Garrett had only 2 drops and Moore had 0. The passes were just never in the right spot for them to be able to make the grab. Corey Davis didn’t have enough receptions to be ranked in this statistic, but his catch percent of 50% would rank dead last.
Breaking it Down by Quarter and Down
The Jets offense had the problem of starting slow almost every game, and that’s shown in their yards by quarter. The Jets only averaged 57 yards of offense in the 1st quarter, which is extremely below average. They were able to pick it back up in the 2nd quarter, averaging 91 yards, but then went back down to 69 yards of offense in the 3rd quarter. Since the Jets were often playing from behind, they averaged 100 yards of offense in the 4th quarter.
Looking at their yards per play by down, the Jets were the most successful on 1st down, averaging 5.3 yards per play, but that is still very low. They averaged 4.8 yards per play on 2nd down, 5 yards per play on 3rd down, and 4.6 yards per play on 4th down. 5 yards per play on 3rd down may seem like a decent number, but the Jets were constantly behind the sticks and stuck in a 3rd and long situation, so 5 yards would most often not cut it.
Stay tuned for the analysis of the 2022 New York Jets defense next week!
