Ben Ijalana: 2014 and Beyond

Ben Ijalana was a second round pick by the Indianapolis Colts in 2011. He only lasted two years in Indianapolis. He was released after missing most of those two seasons with two separate ACL tears to his left knee. The Jets picked him up in 2013. He did not play a snap.

This year he found himself active three times and got 6 snaps on offense. Added to the 37 he played with the Colts in 2011, Ijalana has now played 43 offensive snaps since entering the league.

As you can see, there is not much of a body of work on which to judge his ability. Given his injury history and his inability to get consideration for playing time from a Jets team that didn't exactly have stellar line play, my guess is Ijalana doesn't have a great NFL future. When he came out of school, he was considered a raw athletic prospect whose technique needed a lot of work. If he still is not getting playing time after a couple of years with the Jets, I'm not optimistic.

I probably would look for another project player to bring to camp, but the decision on Ijalana isn't going to elicit a ton of emotion from me either way.