The impact Kelechi Osemele can have on the Jets might best be described by the relief from those who no longer have to face the left guard.
“It’s great,” linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “I don’t have to headbutt him every time and [worry about] him trying to pancake me on every play.”
“He was somebody that, for me, I noticed because the physicality he played with,” coach Adam Gase said. “He plays all the way through the whistle, sometimes a little past it. He got one of our guys [on the Dolphins] ejected last year.”
They can both enjoy Osemele’s mean streak, now that he’s wearing green and white.
The Jets acquired the massive 30-year-old in March and barely had to give up anything, trading the Raiders a fifth-round pick and getting back a sixth-rounder in the deal. They are now hoping he can bounce back from a down year in Oakland and return to being the player who first earned All-Pro honors in 2016 and went to his second straight Pro Bowl the following season. If he can, it will go a long way toward strengthening the unit tasked with protecting Sam Darnold and opening holes for Le’Veon Bell.
Osemele reported to camp at 6-foot-5 and 305 pounds. It’s a lighter weight than he has played at in the past, but a necessary change, he said. He spent his offseason focusing on things like eating clean, keeping his weight down and stretching, all aimed at preventing the injuries that hindered his last season. Osemele only played 11 games for the Raiders in 2018 because of toe and knee injuries, but is back to feeling good early in training camp. He is confident that a return to his All-Pro form simply comes down to staying healthy.
“The main difference I noticed is I can run all day, obviously,” Osemele said Sunday after practice. “Gassers or zone plays or whatever. I can go no-huddle. Obviously my knees and my back feel better. My body just feels better. When you’re young, you can walk around at 330 pounds and just maul people every single play. Once you start getting older and it starts taking effect on your body, you gotta be smart. So that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Gase has learned more about Osemele now that they’re on the same side. He described him as “very smart, very intense, very prideful in his job and how he goes against his business.” He has also come to realize there are two sides to Osemele.
“When you talk to him, you’re kind of like, ‘Wow, that’s a really nice guy,’” Gase said. “When he gets between the white lines, he’s a different guy. He’s violent, he’s physical, he brings attitude. I think him and Brian Winters, I don’t know if I’ve been around two guards that have that kind of mentality where they’re looking to be violently aggressive coming off the ball and really stroking defensive tackles when they get the opportunity.”
That will be essential for the Jets this year if they want to live up to their offensive potential. Darnold will be playing with a year of experience under his belt and having Bell in the backfield adds a whole new explosive dimension for the offense that gained the fourth-fewest yards in the league in 2018.
Osemele is the only new face among the starters, but he is quickly catching up to speed.
“We got a good chemistry,” Osemele said. “That’s the good thing about training camp is the camaraderie and everything like that. Getting to know each other, it’s going well.
The more we get to know each other, the more we communicate. It’s going to keep improving.”
