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The New York Jets haven’t gotten the bang for their buck on veteran tight end CJ Uzomah.
Uzomah signed a three-year deal for $24 million in 2022 but has struggled to make a consistent impact. This year he has recorded eight receptions for only 58 receiving yards through nine games.
Although statistics aren’t the reason there was a social media outcry last night for the veteran to be benched. Uzomah had two costly penalties during the Week 10 matchup versus the Las Vegas Raiders.
Gang Green got into the red zone on a Garrett Wilson jet sweep for 11 yards to the Raiders’ 19-yard line with 2:18 in the first quarter. However, a Uzomah holding call backed the Jets up to the Las Vegas 40-yard line. Ultimately the green and white got a field goal conversion on that drive.
Although it got worse on the next drive.
The Jets thought they scored on a three-yard Breece Hall run which would have given the team a 12-3 lead with an extra point pending with 13:31 remaining in the second quarter. However, another Uzomah holding call wiped those points off of the board and the Jets had to once again settle for a field goal.
Ultimately the Jets ended up losing 16-12 to the Raiders on Sunday Night Football.
Social Media Reactions to Uzomah’s Performance vs. Raiders
“What does CJ Uzomah do well on a football field?”
One X user formerly Twitter argued that Uzomah should be “inactive” for the rest of the 2023 season.
“This is going to sound really harsh, but stop playing CJ Uzomah.”
“CJ Uzomah was brought in to be an elite blocker, now I fear him blocking Lmao”, one user exclaimed.
“Send CJ Uzomah to Mars.”
“CJ Uzomah is almost as awful and useless as Billy Turner. He should never play.”
Time to Call a Jets Audible at the Line of Scrimmage
Uzomah was brought in to be a blocker, a leader, and an occasional threat offensively.
According to Pro Football Focus’ grading system, Uzomah is the best blocking tight end in football (85.0). However, he is struggling with the other areas of the position with a 58.9 receiving grade and a 50.9 pass block on the season.
Uzomah is under contract through the 2024 season but there is an out on his contract following the 2023 campaign.
According to Spotrac, if the Jets cut ties with Uzomah after the year they’d eat $5.9 million in dead cap.
The green and white have other options at the tight-end position. Tyler Conklin is the second-leading receiver on the Jets this season with 363 yards. He also has 33 receptions and is averaging 11 yards per catch.
However, the player that fans have been clamoring for is second-year tight end Jeremy Ruckert.
He has appeared in all nine games so far this season with three starts. Ruckert has five receptions for 43 yards in 2023.
Ruckert isn’t getting a lot of playing time though so he’s trying to make the most of his limited opportunities. He played eight percent of the offensive snaps during his rookie season and he’s only getting 28 percent this year.
However, with Uzomah’s struggles, it would seem like the door is open for the coaching staff to make a change to the lineup.
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