With the official announcement made that the New York Jets will be featured on Hard Knocks this training camp, the lobbying and politicking to not be on the show can stop and the fun can begin.

I’ve stated before how the Jets are tailormade to be on the show given the hype surrounding the team, the multitude of personalities and the fact that they are one of the four teams the NFL can force to be on the show with the other three options (New Orleans Saints, Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears) being an absolute snooze feast.

The Jets have a lot of things that HBO covets when looking for a team to feature on the hit docu-series. They have a charismatic head coach who has the pressure on him, a large fan base starved for an end to their playoff drought and a polarizing figure who loves the spotlight.

Ignoring the head coach and the starting quarterback, because let’s face it, they will be featured anyway on the show, here is my list of top five players to watch on Hard Knocks.

Jets Players to Keep an Eye on During Hard Knocks

5) Joe Tippmann, Offensive Line

I mean, look at the guy. You don’t wear a mullet that luscious and not have a personality to go with it. He even has a name for his mullet, “Wisconsin Waterfall” which was given to him by Jets GM Joe Douglas.

Every year it is fun to watch a rookie find his way in the NFL and while Will McDonald IV was the first-round pick, I think Tippmann will edge him out in camera time despite being selected in the second round.

Tippmann will have a chance to earn the starting center position in camp and it will actually be one of the more hotly contested position battles for the Jets this season. The Jets brought back Connor McGovern on a one-year low-cost contract.

The Jets have always had an anchor at the center position when the team did well. Kevin Mawae, Nick Mangold. It will be interesting to see another if another draft pick could pick up the mantle.

4) Micheal Clemons, Defensive Line

Remember in 2013 when the Cincinnati Bengals were featured on the show? The one guy who never said a word on the show but made us all glued to the TV was James Harrison.

Harrison would avoid the cameras at all costs constantly shutting doors in the cameraman’s face and giving the cameras the middle finger, yet we couldn’t stop watching him.

Micheal Clemons, or as his teammates call him “Deebo” from the Friday movie franchise has a very similar aura about him (and before you Bengals or Pittsburgh Steelers fans come after me, I’m not comparing their production, just their demeanor).

Clemons is a guy who will have no time for your entertainment and couldn’t care less that some cameraman is simply doing his job. Clemons feels like he would be better suited carrying a battle axe than playing football and he just so happened to be born in the wrong century.

It could be fun to watch some producers trying to get quotes out of Clemons when he is amped up after practice.

Clemons is a 4^th round pick who was a surprise contributor in his rookie season and will be looking to earn more playing time in 2023. 

3) Sauce Gardner, Cornerback

Sauce is known for being flashy. He has the big personality and big jewelry to go along with the confidence he projects. He loves to play video games and make YouTube videos for his channel.

By all accounts he doesn’t live the flashy lifestyle we assume based on his swagger. Sauce seems like a guy that I would be fascinated to watch throw the switch to go from normal guy to ultra-competitor.

He is clearly one of the best players on the Jets defense and I would be interested to watch if he takes on a leadership role to go along with the talent. He doesn’t have to take that role, but it will be interesting to see if he does.

2) Zach Wilson, Quarterback

I’ll admit it. I was against the Jets drafting Zach Wilson from the start. I didn’t see what guys like Chris Simms saw when they ranked him as the best QB to come out of college. And while I enjoy being right, watching him flounder the last two seasons has not been fun for me.

Wilson had as good of an off-season as he could have hoped for. Based on his play on the field, his value for any team will not be as high as it is with the Jets simply because they used the number two overall pick on him. They are invested in him.

The Jets brought in Aaron Rodgers who Wilson is friendly with and could justify sitting behind on the depth chart. Now the question becomes, how will Wilson handle this adversity.

He could spend each day trying to take the starting job from Rodgers (not that he will, but that could be his mindset) and impressing his teammates and coaches. He could claw his way back into a situation where the Jets will look at Wilson as the answer for a post-Aaron Rodgers world.

Or he could be very content with a clipboard and a paycheck and think it didn’t work out here because of the Jets. Zach Wilson is a guy I feel like we know very little about off the field and it made it easier to not like him when he failed on the field. Maybe Hard Knocks could change that.

Honorable Mentions – Before we get to number one, here are a few guys that just missed being on the list.

• C.J. Uzomah, Tight End – The Jets signed him after the longtime Bengals TE lost in the Super Bowl. He has a big personality and love Broadway. Who doesn’t love watching a 6’5”, 270 lbs man belt out show tunes?
• Jason Brownlee, Wide Receiver – The undrafted rookie out of Southern Miss might take Denzel Mims’ roster spot. He turned a lot of heads in OTAs and might be pushing for reps with first team.
• Alijah Vera-Tucker, Offensive Line – He is only entering his third season, but he might be the unquestioned leader of the offensive line. He is coming off a season ending injury and will look to regain his dominant status.
• Quinnen Williams, Defensive Tackle – Now that everything is worked out with his contract and we can get back to business, Quinnen is a big personality guy who it is very hard not to root for. Remember when he sneezed, blessed himself and then thanked himself?  His brother Quincy is also a big personality guy.

1) Mekhi Becton, Offensive Tackle

I’ve written about Becton a few times this offseason and each time is has a familiar theme to it. Becton doesn’t get it. He doesn’t understand what a letdown he has been and how he is owed nothing by the fans, the team, the coaches, or the organization.

Every compelling story needs a villain, right? Becton might be the perfect person to take that role. Like some super villain from comic books, he believes he is more important than he is and being kept down by some entity.

He can go full heel and air his grievances for the world see much like he did with his infamous “I AM LEFT TACKLE” tweet. Imagine watching a player who hasn’t played in two years telling the HBO cameras that it’s not his fault he isn’t being counted on to man the second most important position on the offense.

Or even better for the Jets and their fans, we can see a full redemption story. We can see a player work hard to reach his maximum potential given his enormous physical talents and earn the reward he so desperately wants. Not thru complaining and bathroom selfies, but out working the other guy.

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A lot of buzz surrounds this Jets team for good reason. They are built to win while also being one of the more interesting teams in the league. Hard Knocks will be a way to showcase the talent and personalities on this team and we should all be looking forward to tuning in.

Jets’ Robert Saleh has more on his plate thanks to Hard Knocks selection

The NFL waited and waited for somebody interesting to raise their hands to volunteer to be on the HBO documentary series “Hard Knocks”, but all hands remained firmly in place. All hands except that of the Washington Commanders who had their hands high in the air but were ignored like Snape does to Hermione Granger […]

Featured Image via Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports