Ryan Griffin got too many snaps and other Jets vs. Bills playing time notes

Here are the playing time figures for the Jets on offense in yesterday’s loss to the Bills.

One thing that jumps out to me is Ryan Griffin playing 68 of the 72 snaps. I have questions about this.

Adam Gase has a reputation for heavily utilizing 11 personnnel (1 running back, 1 tight end, and 3 wide receivers).

If all of the Jets’ pieces are in place, this team is built to lean on 11 personnel. The bulk of the snaps should go to Robby Anderson, Quincy Enunwa, Jamison Crowder, Le’Veon Bell, and Chris Herndon.

The Jets, however, are not at full strength since Herndon, the starting tight end, is suspended. Naturally somebody at the tight end position is going to see his workload increase, but does that increase need to be playing 94% of the snaps?

It is 2019. There is no rule that a tight end has to be on the field for the entire game.

The Jets offense was struggling to move the ball through the air. Receivers couldn’t get separation, and the team played almost the full game with a non-threat on the field in Griffin.

One of the strengths of the roster is that the Jets have multiple running backs who are skilled as receivers. On a day where the receivers couldn’t get much space to operate, couldn’t the Jets have thrown in a few personnel groupings with Bell and Ty Montgomery together? They might have tricked the defense and gotten some mismatches against linebackers.

Let’s be clear.

I’m not saying the Jets should have gone without a tight end for the full game. There are situations where Griffin should have been on the field.

I’m not saying Montgomery is a game-breaking talent. Nor am I guaranteeing this idea would have worked. It might have failed.

I am saying good coaching maximizes the team’s chances of success. If Gase flooded the field with the most talented pass catchers available, he did his job. If it failed, there was nothing more he could have done.

Giving Griffin this many snaps with the offense struggling to get anything going is not maximizing the team’s chances of success. It is treating Griffin as though he is on par with Herndon. It is rigidly adhering to a system instead of adapting a system to the strengths of the team. And it was just a few weeks ago Gase was extolling the flexibility Montgomery gave him.

On the defensive side of the ball, here were the playing time totals.

Although Gregg Williams likes to rotate defensive linemen, Leonard Williams got a heavy workload.

That is a contrast to Quinnen Williams. The rookie saw a surprisingly low 24 snaps. One might wonder whether there was an injury since he was spotted leaving the stadium in a walking boot.

We will await news on this front.