Faneca will pay off all over the field

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Forty million dollars may seem like a lot of money to spend on a 31-year-old left guard, particularly for a young team with multiple needs. But free-agent acquisition Alan Faneca doesn't just upgrade one position for the Jets. He upgrades at least four.

Two seasons ago, the Jets sandwiched veteran left guard Pete Kendall between two rookies, left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson and center Nick Mangold. The two youngsters had great seasons, and the Jets finished in the middle of the NFL pack with 34 sacks and an Adjusted Sack Rate (explained here) of 6.6 percent, 17th in the NFL.

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G. Newman Lowrance/Getty ImagesAlan Faneca allowed just two sacks last season.

The drop from Kendall to committee was also evident in the team's rushing stats. The Jets finished 11th in the NFL in Adjusted Line Yards (explained here) for runs off tackle in 2006 but dropped to 31st in 2007. The Jets were more effective in runs up the gut, but most of those runs were shaded to the right side, where Mangold and reliable right guard Brandon Moore could apply the double-team. The Jets' running game became lopsided as a result. The team ran up the middle or to the right on 72.1 percent of all rushing plays, the highest rate in the NFL, and the team ran off right guard a league-high 101 times. Ferguson and Mangold were the future of the offensive line, but the Jets were often forced to run away from them last season.

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Jets quarterbacks won't complain about the extra beef. Chad Pennington has lost most of his mobility and cannot endure another season of 2.9 sacks per game. If Kellen Clemens earns the starting job, he'll need even more support. Young quarterbacks, despite their athleticism, are sacked more often than veterans, and shell shock can quickly turn a prospect into a journeyman. With Faneca and Woody in the lineup, the Jets won't endure incidents like their first pass against the Patriots in Week 15: defender Richard Seymour shrugging off Clarke, injuring Clemens, and forcing an interception that led to a touchdown. So take a little bit off the top of Faneca's and Woody's signing bonuses and write it off as a health insurance premium for Clemens.

Faneca and Woody won't see the final seasons of their five-year deals, and neither will be very good by 2012. They don't make the Jets Super Bowl contenders this year. But if they stabilize their positions and help Ferguson, Mangold and Clemens become players who can help the team for the next decade, the Jets will be happy they spent the money to get older and wiser on the offensive line.

Mike Tanier is a contributing editor at FootballOutsiders.com and co-author of the upcoming book Pro Football Prospectus 2008.

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