Unable to sign Orlando Franklin and Mike Iupati the New York Jets simply worked their way down the list of available free agent guards and wound up with James Carpenter.
Carpenter was a first-round pick of the Seahawks back in 2011 and was supposed to be their right tackle of the future but quickly proved he wasn’t capable of living up to that.
The team kicked him inside to guard after just one season struggling badly on the edge and he has been manning the left guard spot ever since. The problem is that he hasn’t performed particularly well for them at that position over that time span, earning negative grades every season as a pro.
On the face of it this is a major step down from the first two guards the Jets were chasing, with both Franklin and Iupati much better players overall, but there are at least reasons for optimism within a new scheme in New York.
Carpenter’s pass protection at guard has actually been fine, earning marginally positive grades in each of the past two seasons. In fact, barring one disastrous game against Houston (who can deploy the one-man wrecking crew that is J.J. Watt) he has allowed just two sacks over those two seasons.
His run blocking grade has been the issue in Seattle, but at 321 pounds he would seem a more natural fit in a power-blocking scheme like New York will run compared to the zone blocking that Seattle used extensively. With Carpenter’s size and relative lack of lateral quickness, he may end up a better player in New York than he ever proved to be for the Seahawks. For their sake they will hope that comes true.
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