Taking Stock Part II: Jets Defense - EricAllen

[Gas2No99]

Taking Stock Part II: Jets Defense

 

Claiborne Joins the Defensive Backfield, Harris Will Continue to Lead

 

The Jets are young everywhere and that’s certainly the case on defense.

Every player on the defensive side of the ball is 28 or younger sans DL Steve McLendon (31) and ILB David Harris (33). After leading the club in tackles in nine of his 10 pro seasons, Harris will be back for an 11th season at the Mike ‘backer spot. His 35 career sacks are the most by any NFL player who’s played exclusively inside linebacker since 2007.

"He's our leader out there on the field,” said head coach Todd Bowles at the NFL Owners Meetings in Phoenix, AZ.

But the Jets have some other players on the unit who may help set the tone. DL Leonard Williamssurged in Year 2 and earned a Pro Bowl invite while ILB Darron Lee, who was selected No. 20 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft, could be poised for a similar jump.

“You can't force a leader. You can train them, and some of them are naturally gifted. They were all leaders in college,” Bowles said. “Then you take a back seat to some guys when you come into the league. But those guys I expect to see step up. We have about 15 of them that I'm pretty sure can lead."

With the draft around the corner, we examine the position groups as they stand today. We continue our series with the defense.

Defensive Line
Bowles said DL Muhammad Wilkerson “gutted it out” last year as he worked his way back from a broken leg. In 15 games, Wilkerson racked up 4.5 sacks along with 10 QB hits. The hope is Wilkerson returns with a vengeance. In his second pro season, the 6’5”, 302-pound Williams was voted Team MVP after recording 7.0 sacks along with 86 tackles.  Sheldon Richardson possesses rare athletic qualities and his versatility has been showcased throughout his first three seasons. Richardson has posted 18.0 sacks and six forced fumbles in his career. Slowed down the stretch by a hamstring injury, former Steelers DT Steve McLendon registered career highs with 3.5 sacks and 35 tackles last season.  There is intriguing depth here as well with the likes of Deon Simon and Lawrence Thomas and the Jets recently added Mike Pennel to the mix. The Green & White have options to play various fronts and don’t have glaring needs on the interior. It would be fascinating if Alabama’s Jonathan Allen was there at No. 6 and teams were interested in moving up for a 6’3”, 291-pounder who racked up 28.5 sacks for the Crimson Tide.
 

Linebackers 
Alongside Harris, is Lee ready to break out? He got his feet wet as a rookie, registering 76 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 13 games. The 6’1”, 232-pounder is blessed with tremendous speed and explosiveness and he’ll benefit from his early experience. Understanding how and why teams attack in this league is more than half of the battle and Lee is determined to become a playmaker.  On the outside, Jordan Jenkins, Lorenzo Mauldin, Corey Lemonier and Josh Martin will be tutored by one of the greatest pass rushers in the history of the sport in Kevin Greene. Jenkins flashed late, tallying 2.5 sacks over the final four contests while doing a decent job setting the edge. Mauldin has racked up 6.5 sacks in two seasons, but he was limited to 11 games in 2016 as an ankle injury kept him out of the lineup the last five games. This is considered an outstanding pass-rushing class as some pundits are predicting as many as six edge rushers could go in Round 1 and 10-12 could be taken off the board before the end of Round 2. Myles Garrett (Texas A&M) may go No. 1 overall to Cleveland, but there is plenty of depth beyond him in the form of Charles Harris (Missouri), Hasson Reddick (Temple), Tim Williams (Alabama), Takkarist McKinley (UCLA) and Zach Cunningham (Vanderbilt).
 

Defensive Backs
After parting ways with CB Darrelle Revis, the Green & White signed former Cowboy Morris Claibornein free agency. A first-round pick of Dallas in the 2012 NFL Draft, the 5’11”, 192-pound Claiborne played some of the best football of his career last season. Bowles thinks he got a good one if Claiborne can stay healthy. Juston Burris, a fourth-round pick out of NC State in 2016, flashed down the stretch and he should compete for playing time on the outside early in 2017. After being claimed off of waivers from the Patriots, the speedy Darryl Roberts finished tied for first on the team with eight passes defended. Buster Skrine can play inside at nickel or outside the numbers, having registered 116 tackles and 16 PDs the past two seasons. Marcus Williams has a knack for finding the football, hauling in nine interceptions over his first 34 games, and Dexter McDougle will look to make his mark in the spring.  This is a loaded draft class, starting at the top with Marshon Lattimore (Ohio State), but the list of big-time talents is long and includes Tre’Davious White (LSU), Jourdan Lewis (Michigan), Teez Tabor (Florida), Gareon Conley (Ohio State), Adoree’ Jackson (USC), Chidobe Awuzie (Colorado), Quincy Wilson (Florida) and Kevin King (Washington).  

 

At free safety, veteran Marcus Gilchrist is recovering from knee surgery.  Strong safety Calvin Pryor, a first-round pick out of Louisville in 2014, has collected 217 tackles in three seasons. Valuable backup Rontez Miles has paced the club with 19 special teams stops the past two years and Doug Middletonworked his way up to the active roster in 2016. There is a star-studded trio of prospects who look to be first-round talents in Jamal Adams (LSU), Malik Hooker (Ohio State) and Budda Baker (Washington). Adams and Hooker both could be top ten selections. Michigan product Jabrill Peppers is one of the more fascinating stories of the draft.

 

 

 

 

[Sarge4Tide]

I could see us going OLB, CB, or S with any of our picks in the 1st 3 rounds, perhaps even with 3 of the 4 picks 

[dbatesman]

Next week, Eric turns his famously critical mind to the question "Robby Anderson: How High Is The Ceiling?"

[T0mShane]

After reading this, I'm now convinced that we were one Lorenzo Mauldin sprained ankle away from being the best defense in the history of the sport.

[RESNewYork]

some non first round picks with high good college production that are explosiveness and high athleticism that I really like are 

Josh Jones safety,

Keion Adams OLB,

Kevin King CB.

It would be nice to develop players like this for a year.

[jack48]

This year we will discover that David Harris can no longer outrun an offensive guard, but his experience will be declared "invaluable".

[varjet]

I don't know how you read him or Randy Lange unless you have time to kill.  

[peebag]

4 minutes ago, varjet said:

I don't know how you read him or Randy Lange unless you have brain cells to kill.  

fixed that for you.

[flgreen]

Meh, I kind of like reading Lange and Allen.  Yes they are employees of the Jets and write Sunshiner fluff type articles, but with all the darksider vipers who cover the Jets I find them refreshing from time to time

[19andOhWait]

GOD FORBID someone tries to look at the positives.

edit 

apologies to Tom Shane for name calling. people should post whatever they want to post. free country. nature of this message board always being negative/sarcastic has worn on me. I guess thats the just the internet though. Peace. 

[RutgersJetFan]

Long winded, narrative-driven evaluations at this point are fruitless. Bottom line is over the past 10 years, the Jets have used 10 first rounders strictly on defense. From a statistical standpoint, at best it has produced a marginally above-average defense. Week to week, it is a unit that has seemingly done nothing but come up short in one critical situation after another. Given what they have invested on that side of the ball, to say that it's anything other than a disappointment would be an understatement. 

It's cool though, because we're drafting the next Eric Berry with the 6th overall pick. That should solve all our problems. 

[Warfish]

13 hours ago, Sarge4Tide said:

I could see us going OLB, CB, or S with any of our picks in the 1st 3 rounds, perhaps even with 3 of the 4 picks 

I.....but......no.....please, no......*soft sobbing sounds*......why God, why?!?

[Sarge4Tide]

43 minutes ago, Warfish said:

I.....but......no.....please, no......*soft sobbing sounds*......why God, why?!?

There is a lot of good talent at OLB, S, and CB that will be available in the 1st 3 rounds.  Obviously, taking 3 out of 4 top picks on defense when you have offensive issues would be problematic.

[Jetdawgg]

1 minute ago, Sarge4Tide said:

There is a lot of good talent at OLB, S, and CB that will be available in the 1st 3 rounds.  Obviously, taking 3 out of 4 top picks on defense when you have offensive issues would be problematic.

A Scarecrow would upgrade the secondary from last season. The Jets need offense early and often. A RB at 6 like Fournette would keep Brady off the field and rest the D

[rangerous]

allen sees the world through green colored glasses.  nothing wrong with that.  he doesn't seem to be making fake news like mehta or cimini.

it's nice to see the team younger and presumably faster.  okay harris is still old and slow but he must be doing something right given his ability to make tackles.  players are getting to his level means the dline isn't doing the job or he's closing the holes.  either way he limiting yardage.  and he may yet be a camp cut.  mcclendon?  he was always more of a stop gap after snacks left. he needs to play a whole season or can be pushed out by simon or maybe fennel.  wilk? i guess he needs to have the benefit of the doubt for last season.  he needs to earn his contract this season.

[Warfish]

1 hour ago, Sarge4Tide said:

There is a lot of good talent at OLB, S, and CB that will be available in the 1st 3 rounds.  Obviously, taking 3 out of 4 top picks on defense when you have offensive issues would be problematic.

I can only hope that at some point Jets Management stops bashing it's collective heads against an extremely outdated ideal whilst expecting different outcomes from the ones they've been getting.

Defense is a losers game.  The NFL is an offense-driven, offense-controlled, offense-dominated sport, and has been for some time.

And we're consistently one of the worst offenses of the past 20 years.

But no worries, BAP above all else say some, so lets draft three Safeties because they happen to be BAP at our spots!  Championships inbound!

Sarcasm aside, I don;t care how much talent there is this draft on D.  We need O, badly, and should take O.  Pick one CB high?  Sure, no worries.  But otherwise, all O all the time.  

[peebag]

24 minutes ago, Warfish said:

I can only hope that at some point Jets Management stops bashing it's collective heads against an extremely outdated ideal whilst expecting different outcomes from the ones they've been getting.

Defense is a losers game.  The NFL is an offense-driven, offense-controlled, offense-dominated sport, and has been for some time.

And we're consistently one of the worst offenses of the past 20 years.

But no worries, BAP above all else say some, so lets draft three Safeties because they happen to be BAP at our spots!  Championships inbound!

Sarcasm aside, I don;t care how much talent there is this draft on D.  We need O, badly, and should take O.  Pick one CB high?  Sure, no worries.  But otherwise, all O all the time.  

I don't mind taking a defensive pick if that's what is graded to be the best.  

I just want to see the picks made from this draft contribute.   We have way too many holes to miss with this draft.

[jeremy2020]

3 minutes ago, peebag said:

I don't mind taking a defensive pick if that's what is graded to be the best.  

I just want to see the picks made from this draft contribute.   We have way too many holes to miss with this draft.

^this

Positions of need influence whether a player can make an impact, but they shouldn't be chosen based on position to the detriment of impact.

There's already a lot of "chance" in the draft even with high 1st round picks that limiting your chances that a player can make an impact is not likely to be the best way to go.

[flgreen]

3 hours ago, Warfish said:

I can only hope that at some point Jets Management stops bashing it's collective heads against an extremely outdated ideal whilst expecting different outcomes from the ones they've been getting.

Defense is a losers game.  The NFL is an offense-driven, offense-controlled, offense-dominated sport, and has been for some time.

And we're consistently one of the worst offenses of the past 20 years.

But no worries, BAP above all else say some, so lets draft three Safeties because they happen to be BAP at our spots!  Championships inbound!

Sarcasm aside, I don;t care how much talent there is this draft on D.  We need O, badly, and should take O.  Pick one CB high?  Sure, no worries.  But otherwise, all O all the time.  

I was just curious how that played out in real life.  Here are the positional selections of the last 4 picks of the 1st round  in the 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013 drafts.  These should be the 1st round picks of the 4 best teams in respective years.

2016-----OG DT DT OG

2015------DT  ILB  FS  WR

2014------QB  CB  SS DT

2013-----S  C  LB  WR

 

Of the 16 picks 10 were on defense, and 6 were on offense.  Of the 16 picks only 3 were offense skill positions.  1 QB, and two WR's.

Hardly a good sample for a scientific study, but interesting none the less