Deadspin: How The Jets' Run-Stuffing, QB-Ruining Defensive Line Came To Be

[SenorGato]

http://regressing.deadspin.com/how-the-jets-run-stuffing-qb-ruining-defensive-line-c-1459014062/@samer

 

It's up in the air who named the Jets' defensive line of Sheldon Richardson, Damon Harrison, and Muhammad Wilkerson the "Sons of Anarchy," but there's no question how disruptive and dominant the line has been. Without much help from the secondary, it's helped return Rex Ryan's squad to its place as one of the best defenses in the league. Here's how.

The 2012 Jets were not very good, but they didn't go 6-10 because of their defense. The dysfunctional offense derailed the team, but Rex Ryan's defense wasn't too shabby, ranking in ninth with a -4.2% defense DVOA. This year, the addition of Richardson and development of Harrison has completely changed the makeup of the defense.

Last year's squad was actually better against the pass than the run, but this season that's flipped. In 2013, it's the run defense powering the Jets. So far it's been best in the league, allowing a league-low 73.8 rushing yards per game, after being middle of the pack in adjusted yardage to running backs last year. The Jets have the best run defense DVOA in the league by quite a substantial margin, according to Football Outsiders. The line has stuffed a league-high 30% of the run plays called by the offense. When it comes to crucial conversions for the opponents—measured by FO as runs of two yards or less on third or fourth down—the Sons have held opponents to the second lowest success rate in the league at 40%. Meanwhile the pass D, outside of Antonio Cromartie, has been lacking.

The Sons have destroyed pockets and killed running games. They're the heart of the resurgent Jets, so it's worth taking a closer look at each of the "3" in this 3-4 defense.

The Rookie: Sheldon Richardson

The Jets selected Sheldon Richardson with the first round draft pick they received from shipping Darrelle Revis to Tampa Bay, and the Missouri product could be defensive rookie of the year when all is said and done. In 2012, Quinton Coples was at right end; this season, he was switched to outside linebacker, with Richardson taking his spot. Richardson's notched three sacks so far, but his true value is his ability to ruin a run. Richardson has 22 stops—for the unfamiliar, a stop is defined as a tackle that ends an offensive play in failure (including sacks)—fourth-highest out of defensive ends in a 3-4 defense.

When the offense rushes his way, Richardson kills it. Take a look at the second chart on thisFootball Outsiders page, measuring the success of running plays against each defensive line. Runs to the left tackle, which would be towards right end Richardson, produce only 2.44 adjusted line yards, fifth-lowest out of all teams. Running straight at ends might work on other sack-happy guys like Jared Allen, but it doesn't do sh*t against Richardson.

Besides stonewalling running backs, Richardson can also open up holes in the pocket, as seen against the Saints in Week 9. While Damon Harrison fights with Brian de la Puente (No. 60), Richardson rushes inside to the left of Jahri Evans, leaving Evans with no other option but holding on the inside of Richardson's pads—a penalty that went uncalled—to stop him from hitting Brees, who was rushed into throwing an incomplete pass. If Richardson can maintain this versatility for the second half of the season, he'll be crowned the best defensive rookie by a mile.

The Breakout: Damon Harrison

Harrison was lost in the depth chart in 2012 as a rookie, playing only 22 total snaps on the line while Sione Pouha and Kenrick Ellis saw the most time. This year, Pouha's gone and "Big Snacks" has outplayed Ellis, earning the starting job at nose tackle. Harrison has been an incredible space eater with a 22.7 grade against the run, best out of all defensive tackles on Pro Football Focus. (For reference, Brandon Mebane is second for DTs at 15.2; Peyton Manning's rating at quarterback is 24.2.) He won't reach the quarterback often, but his ability to kill a run play is amazing. The undrafted gem has played a crucial two-gap technique like Vince Wilfork. As a matter of fact, Harrison, at six-foot-four, 350 pounds, is (listed as, at least) much bigger than the six-foot-two, 325-pound Wilfork. And all this while playing on a dirt-cheap three-year, $1.4 million deal—crucial when you remember the Jets are still eating Mark Sanchez's cap-killer of a contract.

Harrison isn't exactly useless in the pass rush, either. Watch him slide through the pocket on this play from Saints-Jets in Week 9. Harrison blows by Jahri Evans and nearly takes down Drew Brees, but his pressure does enough as Brees forces a hard pass to Ben Watson that's deflected and intercepted by DeMario Davis. The Jets are getting elite production out of their War Daddy, and more often than not, that will lead to good things for a defense.

The Stalwart: Muhammad Wilkerson

Wilkerson's excellence was evident last season; he graded out as the second-best 3-4 defensive end behind J.J. Watt. (His positional value was the equivalent to a Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers.) But now, he has help. Instead of Coples and a rotation of Pouha and Ellis, Wilkerson has Harrison and Richardson, who can both keep offensive linemen occupied, creating more opportunities for him to punish the quarterback. Wilkerson finished his 2012 campaign with five sacks; he already has eight in nine games this season, a league-wide high for defensive tackles.

Tom Brady's always been an easy sack if you can get to him, but Wilkerson would have completely lit him up if Brady didn't fall down. Wilkerson beats Nate Solder with a sharp inside move and goes inside untouched for an effortless takedown.

Even when Wilkerson doesn't get to the quarterback, he can take away yards from the offense by forcing linemen to resort to their last option. In this example from Week 9 against the Saints, Wilkerson draws a holding penalty from Brian de la Puente, nullifying a 16-yard completion to Nick Toon.

The best way to minimize the effect of the Sons of Anarchy? Pray that the Jets offense completely undermines them. (The Jets have 13 or fewer points in each of their losses, and lose the turnover battle 12-1 in those games.) If that doesn't happen, hope your running back can block well on passing plays. Pass like crazy. (The Bengals did that in Week 8 and drubbed the Jets, 49-9.) Occasionally double up Wilkerson. He's the biggest threat—Yes, officer, this is the rabid grizzly bear I find to be the most dangerous—and canceling him out of plays can give your quarterback just a bit more time to exploit the mediocre secondary.

The problem with doubling Wilkerson, however, is that Harrison also demands double teams due to his sheer size and technique. On passing plays, that leaves one lineman and a tight end or running back with Richardson and any blitzing Jets. Even without doubling Wilkerson, you're left with three linemen and another possible blocker to take care of him, Richardson and anyone blitzing. Those are some less-than-ideal match-ups which leave the Jets with a lot of room to create havoc.

The Jets' remaining schedule looks soft enough to make a late-season run at least conceivable. Not a certainty by any stretch, but it's possible. And if that happens, it'll more than likely be the defensive line powering it.

[SenorGato]

My favorite part:

 

The problem with doubling Wilkerson, however, is that Harrison also demands double teams due to his sheer size and technique. On passing plays, that leaves one lineman and a tight end or running back with Richardson and any blitzing Jets. Even without doubling Wilkerson, you're left with three linemen and another possible blocker to take care of him, Richardson and anyone blitzing. Those are some less-than-ideal match-ups which leave the Jets with a lot of room to create havoc.

 

[dbatesman]

Porn.

[Jettington]

Does deadspin normally do NFL articles like this? I thought they were always a tmz type of site.

[redman81]

Aritcles like this make me excited to see these guys locking down our defensive front for yrs to come.  Just need to address the back end in spots and keep adding weapons to the O. With those things and if Geno can get better as times goes on, this team could be a solid team going forward. Right now I just hope they can play well enough to keep things interesting and make the playoffs and anything can happen from there.

[Sperm Edwards]

The ability to keep a beastly unit like this together, without having dozens of league-minimum vets & rookies all over the place, is why you don't pay CBs $16M, below-average QBs $13-14M, and multiple ILB'ers $8-10M apiece.

[Bleedin Green]

The ability to keep a beastly unit like this together, without having dozens of league-minimum vets & rookies all over the place, is why you don't pay CBs $16M, below-average QBs $13-14M, and multiple ILB'ers $8-10M apiece.

 

I must say, outside of my belief that "below-average QBs" is being far too generous, this was extremely well put.

[CrazyCarl40]

I remember this off-season when I said Harrison was going to be a key cog in this defense.  Glad to see I was right for once.

 

Also, I know these three guys are the headline grabbers, but the depth without missing a beat is pretty impressive as well.

[Jetsfan80]

The ability to keep a beastly unit like this together, without having dozens of league-minimum vets & rookies all over the place, is why you don't pay CBs $16M, below-average QBs $13-14M, and multiple ILB'ers $8-10M apiece.

 

Yep.  And a disruptive D-Line does FAR more for a defense than one shutdown corner.  We were able to completely annihilate the Drew Brees-led passing attack 2 weeks ago because of it.  Don't think that's possible if we have Revis and no Richardson. 

[Jetsfan80]

I must say, outside of my belief that "below-average QBs" is being far too generous, this was extremely well put.

 

Mark Sanchez, the worst starting QB of all-time, was the 7th-highest paid QB in 2012.  Does that crystallize it better?

 

 

[nycdan]

Mark Sanchez, the worst starting QB of all-time, was the 7th-highest paid QB in 2012.  Does that crystallize it better?

 

 

 

He's also the Jets all-time single-season TD leader.  The mind boggles...

[Jetsfan80]

He's also the Jets all-time single-season TD leader.  The mind boggles...

 

That must mean he was better than Namath!  ZOMG!!!

[BroadwayJoe12]

The ability to keep a beastly unit like this together, without having dozens of league-minimum vets & rookies all over the place, is why you don't pay CBs $16M, below-average QBs $13-14M, and multiple ILB'ers $8-10M apiece.

 

Exactly.  And it's actually pretty feasible to keep this unit together long-term  and not cripple the cap. Wilk is going to demand big money as well as Sheldon when the time comes, but there's games where Harrison is only on the field for 20 snaps or less: he'll get an extension eventually, but he's certainly not going to break the bank. If Idzik handles this properly, we could keep this dline together for a while and do so at a reasonable price.

[SenorGato]

The ability to keep a beastly unit like this together, without having dozens of league-minimum vets & rookies all over the place, is why you don't pay CBs $16M, below-average QBs $13-14M, and multiple ILB'ers $8-10M apiece.

 

To be fair, the biggest issue is that the Jets did all three of those things. They probably could have gotten away with that CB at 16 million while most of their DL remains on rookie deals along with the starting QB of today and the futcha.

[JiFtheOracle]

Great read.  

 

Sons of Anarchy.  Love it.

 

Speaking of which, I need to watch it last nights episode.  Was too busy watching college hoops and watching my Gators lose, since thats all they do these days.

[Sperm Edwards]

I remember this off-season when I said Harrison was going to be a key cog in this defense.  Glad to see I was right for once.

 

Also, I know these three guys are the headline grabbers, but the depth without missing a beat is pretty impressive as well.

 

We were all also glad to see you right for once.

[Sperm Edwards]

To be fair, the biggest issue is that the Jets did all three of those things. They probably could have gotten away with that CB at 16 million while most of their DL remains on rookie deals along with the starting QB of today and the futcha.

 

Nobody gets away with paying a CB $16M and paying a high first and 3rd (or 4th) for the privilege.

[SenorGato]

Nobody gets away with paying a CB $16M and paying a high first and 3rd (or 4th) for the privilege.

 

Jets didn't have to pay the picks? Sucks for the Bucs but I still don't see that Revis trade as a particularly good one for the Jets. 

[Bleedin Green]

Jets didn't have to pay the picks? Sucks for the Bucs but I still don't see that Revis trade as a particularly good one for the Jets. 

 

Interesting considering you were rather adamant at the time that there was absolutely no way Revis was looking for $16 million.  He's not worth that much money, plain and simple, and getting what they did for him was great for the Jets considering not only that fact, but also that the alternative was very likely him walking for absolutely nothing next year.

 

And Sperm's point was that if the Jets had opted to keep Revis, they would have been forgoing those very same picks for that privilege.

[SenorGato]

Interesting considering you were rather adamant at the time that there was absolutely no way Revis was looking for $16 million.

 

 

 

Meh, the lack of guarantees (which were supposed to be GINORMOUS) really mitigates this. Plain and simple, it would have been feasible to keep him through the Richardson and Smith rookie contracts. The trade didn't do anything but save Woody money. 

[Larz]

sons of anarchy ?

 

nah

[billo83]

Meh, the lack of guarantees (which were supposed to be GINORMOUS) really mitigates this. Plain and simple, it would have been feasible to keep him through the Richardson and Smith rookie contracts. The trade didn't do anything but save Woody money. 

The Jets probably don't draft Richardson if they kept Revis. If you believe that Idz was sticking to their board and taking BPA, they have Milliner rated higher. Given that scenario, I take Richardson & Milliner hands down. We also have a 3rd or 4th next year and who knows what will be had with that on top f it all.

[SenorGato]

The Jets probably don't draft Richardson if they kept Revis. If you believe that Idz was sticking to their board and taking BPA, they have Milliner rated higher. Given that scenario, I take Richardson & Milliner hands down. We also have a 3rd or 4th next year and who knows what will be had with that on top f it all.

 

With Revis there's no need for Milliner so they could have moved on to Richardson at 9. 

[SenorGato]

BTW: THE Greg Hardy is an upcoming FA, and he turned down an extension from Carolina (he should have, it was laughable at 4/32). 

 

Not that it matters...if they were to go pass rusher then a guy who already plays OLB like Orakpo makes sense. OTOH, Hardy is a beast against both run and pass sooooo....

[neckdemon]

our scoring defense is ranked 22. which is pretty damn bad considering our scoring offense is ranked 28. only one team in the last 5 years has made th eplay-offs with both sides being ranked that low. the 2010 seahawks, who played in a division where the rest of the teams only had a .375 winning pct. thats a 2% chance at making the playoffs if the team doesn't pick up its play somewhere.

[neckdemon]

With Revis there's no need for Milliner so they could have moved on to Richardson at 9. 

 

 

could be that they had warmack ranked higher than richardson

[SenorGato]

could be that they had warmack ranked higher than richardson

 

It could, I guess. All why it's best to move on from that trade and accept that it happened, even if the explanations are pretty garbage.

 

Signing Greg Hardy would rectify the largest oversight of the 2010 draft for the Jets.

[neckdemon]

It could, I guess. All why it's best to move on from that trade and accept that it happened, even if the explanations are pretty garbage.

 

Signing Greg Hardy would rectify the largest oversight of the 2010 draft for the Jets.

 

 

i think it was a good trade personally. no way you should give 16 million to one cb in this league

[neckdemon]

sons of anarchy ?

 

nah

 

 

they shoudl call themselves the hairy ballsacks

[slats]

our scoring defense is ranked 22. which is pretty damn bad considering our scoring offense is ranked 28. only one team in the last 5 years has made th eplay-offs with both sides being ranked that low. the 2010 seahawks, who played in a division where the rest of the teams only had a .375 winning pct. thats a 2% chance at making the playoffs if the team doesn't pick up its play somewhere.

When the QB gives the other team a TD via interception or fumble, that counts against the "scoring defense." Take away the TDs that Geno has given away, and the Jets defense is top ten in that category. They're also top ten in sacks, forced fumbles, and yards against. Number one against the run. They're pretty good. And if Geno is getting better, they'll get better, too, by defending fewer short fields.

But are you really saying the Jets currently have a 2% chance of making the playoffs?

[T0mShane]

Meh, the lack of guarantees (which were supposed to be GINORMOUS) really mitigates this. Plain and simple, it would have been feasible to keep him through the Richardson and Smith rookie contracts. The trade didn't do anything but save Woody money.

By virtue of trading a first and third, $32 million dollars is guaranteed. Tampa is stupid, but they're not cutting ties with Revis after one year AND throwing away a first.

[slats]

By virtue of trading a first and third, $32 million dollars is guaranteed. Tampa is stupid, but they're not cutting ties with Revis after one year AND throwing away a first.

You'd think, but all bets are off if they decide to clean house after this season. A distinct possibility. Saves the new GM $16M next year, and nets him a third round pick for a fourth.

#vilma'd

[Larz]

When the QB gives the other team a TD via interception or fumble, that counts against the "scoring defense." Take away the TDs that Geno has given away, and the Jets defense is top ten in that category. They're also top ten in sacks, forced fumbles, and yards against. Number one against the run. They're pretty good. And if Geno is getting better, they'll get better, too, by defending fewer short fields.

But are you really saying the Jets currently have a 2% chance of making the playoffs?

 

and short fields.

[T0mShane]

You'd think, but all bets are off if they decide to clean house after this season. A distinct possibility. Saves the new GM $16M next year, and nets him a third round pick for a fourth.

#vilma'd

He's PFF's top-rated corner right now, so it's not as if he's not playing well. If Glazer approved the deal to start with, you'd think he'd be in all the way. That team isn't bad enough to go scorched earth on personnel. They're a good coach and a vet QB away from being ready to compete for a title. Maybe a Rex-Revis reunion?????

[Matt39]

If the Bucs can Schiano that's a fantastic starting point for a new coach.