Alan Faneca Breaks Finger

Alan Faneca will sit out the preseason opener with St. Louis after breaking his finger.

Faneca didn't practice with the team at Hofstra on Wednesday night because he injured the middle finger on his left hand earlier in the week. He said he broke it a few days ago and then aggravated it near the end of practice Tuesday at SUNY Cortland.

"One of the last couple of plays of practice, I really caught it," Faneca said.

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Stanley Daniels will likely get the start in Faneca's place, with Robert Turner starting at center and Wayne Hunter in for Woody at right tackle.

One thing that sticks out is Matt Slauson failing to crack the starting lineup even with three starters on the line out. Move over, Jacob Bender and Nate Garner. It looks like we may have our next Tannenbaum late round miss attempting to build depth on the line.

A theme you've heard over and over from us is how scary the lack of offensive line depth is for this team. It plays out again here. Faneca should be healthy for the Houston game, but the Jets are one play away from having real problems. Considering how physical it gets up front, it's a minor miracle Gang Green didn't lose a single start to injury on the offensive line in 2008. Even a fluke play like what happened to Faneca can bring a disaster. Losing even one of the five could throw off the entire equilibrium. Lines function as a unit. Think back to how much losing Pete Kendall hurt in 2007.

I like Mike Tannenbaum. Overall I think he's been a good talent evaluator and cap worker who is not afraid to make the bold move to improve the team. The misses on Bender, Garner, and potentially Slauson sure could loom large this season. Line depth is key, and the Jets have none.