Without True Edge Rusher, Pressure is now on Bowles Generate Sacks

[JetNation]

Even despite all of the glowing reviews of Gang Green’s 2018 draft class, it would be foolish to ignore the team’s failure to draft a potential impact edge rusher at any point during their three days in Dallas.  Whether it was Josh Sweat in round 4, Utah’s Kylie Fitts in round six or even Joe Ostman as an undrafted free agent, there were a few players who may have offered an upgarde off the edge, but the Jets took a pass at every turn.

Todd Bowles will have his work cut out for him in finding ways to pressure opposing QB’s.

With that being the case, when it comes to generating pressure against opposing quarterbacks, it’s going to come down to the man who was brought in as the head coach specifically due to his defensive acumen, Todd Bowles.

While the cupboard is bare in terms of established pass rushers, there are a few options at Bowles’ disposal that could see the Jets increase the amount of pressure they’ve been able to apply than in years past.  This isn’t to say there is any likelihood of a premier pass-rusher emerging, but merely a few methods that could give his defense a boost.  A few suggestions:

More Jamal Adams and Darron Lee off the edge:

A multi-dimensional safety, Adams was used as a blitzer roughly 10% of the time last season according to pro football focus.  The result was 6 hurries and a pair of sacks.  With a season under his belt and the lethargic Muhammad Wilkerson out of the picture, perhaps sending Adams off the edge when positioned in the box could see an uptick in his production.

Jamal Adams picked up a pair of QB sacks as a rookie safety.

Then of course, there’s Darron Lee.  The inside linebacker who moves around the defensive formation quite a bit, but should be used off the edge more frequently.  Like Adams, Lee blitzed on roughly 10% of the time last season and was more productive than Adams as he came away with 10 pressures (6 hurries, 2 quarterback hits and 2 sacks).  When you can’t get to the quarterback and you have a defender in the box who runs a 4.48 40, you find a way to get him chasing down quarterbacks.

Increased snaps for David Bass:

The team recently re-signed sub linebacker David Bass whose performance was overlooked by most fans in a lost 5-11 season.  Bass picked up 3.5 sacks on the season while playing just a handful of snaps and according to PFF, was one of the more productive pass rushers in the NFL among those defenders with at least 100 snaps on defense.

Per @PFF, Jets OLB David Bass tied for 9th in the NFL in pass rush production among 3-4 OLB's with at least 100 pass rush snaps. Jets should be working to bring him back.

— Glenn Naughton (@AceFan23) March 28, 2018

According to PFF, on just 143 pass rush snaps, Bass amassed 19 pressures (12 hurries, 3 QB hits and 4 sacks).  He’s far from an elite defender, but when you rank 9th in the NFL in pass rush production as mentioned in the above tweet, you should be out there until you prove you shouldn’t be.

Bring on the Blitzes:

Now that Mike Maccagnan added Trumaine Johnson and retained Morris Claiborne, the team’s secondary should be much improved as Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye enter year two.  Given the fact that Johnson is one of the NFL’s top press/man corners, this should give Bowles the freedom to send an extra defender or two more frequently than he has in year’s past.  Outside of Adams and Lee, there are a couple of linebackers who could have an impact if the secondary holds up for that extra split second.  Josh Martin comes to mind immediately as rush linebacker who, in his first season of extensive action, picked up just 1.5 sacks but came away with a total of 18 pressures.  Perhaps better coverage on the back-end leads to more sacks and fewer pressures moving forward.

Pray to the football gods:

Okay, this is probably the least effective method of getting a pass rush generated, but it’s said with tongue planted firmly in cheek.  There are some players on the roster who haven’t panned out for one reason or another, but should they turn the corner under the tutelage of Kevin Greene, there could be some notable contributors.

• Dylan Donahue: Plenty of fans seem to have given up on Donahue after learning of his multiple DUI’s since last season, but the fact of the matter is he played so little as a rookie that no fair evaluation of his play can be offered.  He rushed the passer just 36 times last year before going on IR and came away with 4 QB pressures.  Not a terrible rate, but far from an adequate sample size.
• Lorenzo Mauldin: Mauldin spent last season on IR and along with Donahue, may end up looking elsewhere for work once the season rolls around.  This is Mauldin’s final shot to prove he belongs.
• Jordan Jenkins: Jenkins has proven to be one of Mike Maccagnan’s best value picks as a stellar strong side run defender.  Even still, should he find his way to the quarterback more frequently as he enters year three and perhaps become a six or seven sack per year player, it would bode well for the “big picture” on defense as they’ll look to multiple players to contribute.

Tweak the Scheme:

With their best defensive lineman, Leonard Williams, facing consistent double-teams, perhaps more four-man fronts in an attempt to free Williams up a bit more from time to time could lead to more opportunities than he’s had in the past.

Without an elite pass rusher on the roster, there’s no one single approach that will generate pressure, but there are a few options to explore, some being more realistic than others.  But come game days, it’s going to come down to Todd Bowles, and Kacy Rodgers to a degree, to find a way to stop quarterbacks from sitting back in the pocket and picking his defense apart.  Good luck, Todd.

Click here to read the full story...

[rangerous]

good points. they got a good pair of corners and adams and maye should be better than last season so at the very least the qb will need more time to find a target.  the slot guys and those going over the middle will still cause some issues unless lee can learn to cover better or skrine can play without penalty or any of the new guys.

[Bugg]

"Tweak the Scheme:

With their best defensive lineman, Leonard Williams, facing consistent double-teams, perhaps more four-man fronts in an attempt to free Williams up a bit more from time to time could lead to more opportunities than he’s had in the past."

When ever the Jets' defense has been good under Mangini and then Ryan, it's been less wedded to a 3 or 4 man front than giving what ever looks the DC thinks will work on that down.Certainly now have enough DL guys to play a 4 man front on passing downs or even 5 man front on run downs. Not sure  Bowles is that smart though. 

[Philc1]

What happen when you keep whiffing on olbs and end up with duds like Jenkins and Mauldin

[Philc1]

6 minutes ago, Bugg said:

"Tweak the Scheme:

With their best defensive lineman, Leonard Williams, facing consistent double-teams, perhaps more four-man fronts in an attempt to free Williams up a bit more from time to time could lead to more opportunities than he’s had in the past."

When ever the Jets' defense has been good under Mangini and then Ryan, it's been less wedded to a 3 or 4 man front than giving what ever looks the DC thinks will work on that down.Certainly now have enough DL guys to play a 4 man front on passing downs or even 5 man front on run downs. Not sure  Bowles is that smart though. 

Problem is we don’t have any capable 4-3 DEs on the roster 

[Bugg]

Just now, Philc1 said:

Problem is we don’t have any capable 4-3 DEs on the roster 

True, but if you had one of these vaunted spanking new DL guys on the field with a 4 man front , may be you can move Williams around and force them to only single him. More than a few postgame shows last year Colon mentioned they do not move Williams around enough, he's in the same spot every down. 

[CTJetsFan]

1 hour ago, JetNation said:

Even despite all of the glowing reviews of Gang Green’s 2018 draft class, it would be foolish to ignore the team’s failure to draft a potential impact edge rusher at any point during their three days in Dallas.  Whether it was Josh Sweat in round 4, Utah’s Kylie Fitts in round six or even Joe Ostman as an undrafted free agent, there were a few players who may have offered an upgarde off the edge, but the Jets took a pass at every turn.

Todd Bowles will have his work cut out for him in finding ways to pressure opposing QB’s.

With that being the case, when it comes to generating pressure against opposing quarterbacks, it’s going to come down to the man who was brought in as the head coach specifically due to his defensive acumen, Todd Bowles.

While the cupboard is bare in terms of established pass rushers, there are a few options at Bowles’ disposal that could see the Jets increase the amount of pressure they’ve been able to apply than in years past.  This isn’t to say there is any likelihood of a premier pass-rusher emerging, but merely a few methods that could give his defense a boost.  A few suggestions:

More Jamal Adams and Darron Lee off the edge:

A multi-dimensional safety, Adams was used as a blitzer roughly 10% of the time last season according to pro football focus.  The result was 6 hurries and a pair of sacks.  With a season under his belt and the lethargic Muhammad Wilkerson out of the picture, perhaps sending Adams off the edge when positioned in the box could see an uptick in his production.

Jamal Adams picked up a pair of QB sacks as a rookie safety.

Then of course, there’s Darron Lee.  The inside linebacker who moves around the defensive formation quite a bit, but should be used off the edge more frequently.  Like Adams, Lee blitzed on roughly 10% of the time last season and was more productive than Adams as he came away with 10 pressures (6 hurries, 2 quarterback hits and 2 sacks).  When you can’t get to the quarterback and you have a defender in the box who runs a 4.48 40, you find a way to get him chasing down quarterbacks.

Increased snaps for David Bass:

The team recently re-signed sub linebacker David Bass whose performance was overlooked by most fans in a lost 5-11 season.  Bass picked up 3.5 sacks on the season while playing just a handful of snaps and according to PFF, was one of the more productive pass rushers in the NFL among those defenders with at least 100 snaps on defense.

Per @PFF, Jets OLB David Bass tied for 9th in the NFL in pass rush production among 3-4 OLB's with at least 100 pass rush snaps. Jets should be working to bring him back.

— Glenn Naughton (@AceFan23) March 28, 2018

According to PFF, on just 143 pass rush snaps, Bass amassed 19 pressures (12 hurries, 3 QB hits and 4 sacks).  He’s far from an elite defender, but when you rank 9th in the NFL in pass rush production as mentioned in the above tweet, you should be out there until you prove you shouldn’t be.

Bring on the Blitzes:

Now that Mike Maccagnan added Trumaine Johnson and retained Morris Claiborne, the team’s secondary should be much improved as Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye enter year two.  Given the fact that Johnson is one of the NFL’s top press/man corners, this should give Bowles the freedom to send an extra defender or two more frequently than he has in year’s past.  Outside of Adams and Lee, there are a couple of linebackers who could have an impact if the secondary holds up for that extra split second.  Josh Martin comes to mind immediately as rush linebacker who, in his first season of extensive action, picked up just 1.5 sacks but came away with a total of 18 pressures.  Perhaps better coverage on the back-end leads to more sacks and fewer pressures moving forward.

Pray to the football gods:

Okay, this is probably the least effective method of getting a pass rush generated, but it’s said with tongue planted firmly in cheek.  There are some players on the roster who haven’t panned out for one reason or another, but should they turn the corner under the tutelage of Kevin Greene, there could be some notable contributors.

• Dylan Donahue: Plenty of fans seem to have given up on Donahue after learning of his multiple DUI’s since last season, but the fact of the matter is he played so little as a rookie that no fair evaluation of his play can be offered.  He rushed the passer just 36 times last year before going on IR and came away with 4 QB pressures.  Not a terrible rate, but far from an adequate sample size.
• Lorenzo Mauldin: Mauldin spent last season on IR and along with Donahue, may end up looking elsewhere for work once the season rolls around.  This is Mauldin’s final shot to prove he belongs.
• Jordan Jenkins: Jenkins has proven to be one of Mike Maccagnan’s best value picks as a stellar strong side run defender.  Even still, should he find his way to the quarterback more frequently as he enters year three and perhaps become a six or seven sack per year player, it would bode well for the “big picture” on defense as they’ll look to multiple players to contribute.

Tweak the Scheme:

With their best defensive lineman, Leonard Williams, facing consistent double-teams, perhaps more four-man fronts in an attempt to free Williams up a bit more from time to time could lead to more opportunities than he’s had in the past.

Without an elite pass rusher on the roster, there’s no one single approach that will generate pressure, but there are a few options to explore, some being more realistic than others.  But come game days, it’s going to come down to Todd Bowles, and Kacy Rodgers to a degree, to find a way to stop quarterbacks from sitting back in the pocket and picking his defense apart.  Good luck, Todd.

Click here to read the full story...

When did we re-sign David Bass? I never saw anything about it. Anyone know where else it was reported? I'd be happy if they did as I brought it up a few weeks ago wondering why they hadn't brought him back. Might explain why they didn't address the position with a pick (not saying he's that great that they still shouldn't have).

[Ken Schroy]

1 hour ago, Philc1 said:

What happen when you keep whiffing on olbs and end up with duds like Jenkins and Mauldin

Don't agree on Jenkins. He has looked real good at times.

[Thai Jet]

1 hour ago, Philc1 said:

Problem is we don’t have any capable 4-3 DEs on the roster 

We DID have one in Kony Ealy but sadly he's with Dallas now.

[Dcat]

1 hour ago, Philc1 said:

What happen when you keep whiffing on olbs and end up with duds like Jenkins and Mauldin

Jenkins is fine, if he only had a true edge rusher on the other side.  I think Jenkins would be a better fit as an OLB  in a traditional 4-3.  Mauldin was a bad pick for any scheme.   Mac passed on some promising pass rushers (multiple times) in this draft: Sweat, Key, Orokwono.  I wanted Sweat but would have been happy with the Oklahoma kid.  Too many bad reports about Key being out of shape and having off field issues.

[Philc1]

1 hour ago, Bugg said:

True, but if you had one of these vaunted spanking new DL guys on the field with a 4 man front , may be you can move Williams around and force them to only single him. More than a few postgame shows last year Colon mentioned they do not move Williams around enough, he's in the same spot every down. 

I don’t think Williams is that good and he’s not a pass rusher

[Thai Jet]

2 minutes ago, Dcat said:

Jenkins is fine, if he only had a true edge rusher on the other side.  I think Jenkins would be a better fit as an OLB  in a traditional 4-3.  Mauldin was a bad pick for any scheme.   Mac passed on some promising pass rushers (multiple times) in this draft: Sweat, Key, Orokwono.  I wanted Sweat but would have been happy with the Oklahoma kid.  Too many bad reports about Key being out of shape and having off field issues.

Totally agreed and glad we stay away from Key. He has some MAJOR red flags.

[Philc1]

2 minutes ago, Dcat said:

Jenkins is fine, if he only had a true edge rusher on the other side.  I think Jenkins would be a better fit as an OLB  in a traditional 4-3.  Mauldin was a bad pick for any scheme.   Mac passed on some promising pass rushers (multiple times) in this draft: Sweat, Key, Orokwono.  I wanted Sweat but would have been happy with the Oklahoma kid.  Too many bad reports about Key being out of shape and having off field issues.

Jenkins stinks he can’t sniff the qb and that’s his job.  Jets fans overrate him because he’s decent against the run but worthless on passing downs like a poor man’s Bryan Thomas

 

We are never going to find a pass rusher until Bowles is gone

[Thai Jet]

1 hour ago, Philc1 said:

What happen when you keep whiffing on olbs and end up with duds like Jenkins and Mauldin

I like Jenkins and think that he'll be fine.

[Warfish]

Given the massive ongoing investment in this Defense, it better be top 10. 

No excuses for the supposedly Defensive-minded Bowles if it fails (again) to deliver in 2018.

Guy's gotten more passes than....a guy....who....um.....gets alot of passes.

[Philc1]

3 minutes ago, Thai Jet said:

I like Jenkins and think that he'll be fine.

Jenkins sucks

[Philc1]

2 minutes ago, Warfish said:

Given the massive ongoing investment in this Defense, it better be top 10. 

No excuses for the supposedly Defensive-minded Bowles if it fails (again) to deliver in 2018.

Guy's gotten more passes than....a guy....who....um.....gets alot of passes.

Top 10?  Can we be top 25 first?

[Warfish]

1 minute ago, Philc1 said:

Top 10?  Can we be top 25 first?

No.  Top 10 or Bowles should be fired for the complete and utter failure to coach a Defense.

[Philc1]

Just now, Warfish said:

No.  Top 10 of Bowles should be fired for the complete and utter failure to coach a Defense.

Bowles sucks but we don’t have a lot of talent.  Jets defense was ranked 27th overall last year.  We burn first round picks on defense but most of those players either suck(lee, Millner, Gholston) or are extremely overrated (Leo, Adams) and none can sniff the qb because Macagnan wouldn’t know a pass rusher if one bit him on the d-ck 

[British Jet]

This year is the year of the D. Next draft will be 4 picks of O Line talent, and most of the $100m cap space will go towards making a beast of an O Line. You've heard it here first. 

Where's those meds.

[Jetster]

25 minutes ago, Ken Shroy said:

Don't agree on Jenkins. He has looked real good at times.

Jenkins is a solid edge setter like Pace was all those years. Every player has a role & his is a thankless one but much needed.

[Jetsfan80]

2 minutes ago, Warfish said:

No.  Top 10 or Bowles should be fired for the complete and utter failure to coach a Defense.

Agreed.  Same problem we had with Rex Ryan.  Neither him nor Bowles had any interest or ability to develop a young QB.  That would ONLY be forgivable if you have a Jim Schwartz or Wade Phillips-type ability to turn just about any personnel on defense into a top 10 unit.  If you can't do that, you should be gone.  

[Philc1]

20 minutes ago, Thai Jet said:

We DID have one in Kony Ealy but sadly he's with Dallas now.

Ealy did nothing last season.  1 sack.  He’s living off that super bowl from a few years back

[Philc1]

2 minutes ago, Jetster said:

Jenkins is a solid edge setter like Pace was all those years. Every player has a role & his is a thankless one but much needed.

Here we go again.  Jets fans rationalizing pass rushers who can’t pass rush 

[Warfish]

Just now, Philc1 said:

Bowles sucks but we don’t have a lot of talent.

WTF are you talking about?  We've done nothing BUT invest in talent on the Defense since Bowles and Macc got here.

Now the excuse de jour will be "we really had no talent".

Ok, you get a choice then.  Fire Macc TODAY for picking all sorts of no talents on Defense the past few years.

Or, fire Bowles at seasons end for failing to produce a top 10 Defense.

Up to you, or do both if you prefer.

Just now, Philc1 said:

 Jets defense was ranked 27th overall last year.

A colossal failure of our coaching staff to get results from the talent they had.

Just now, Philc1 said:

 We burn first round picks on defense but most of those players either suck(lee, Millner, Gholston) or are extremely overrated (Leo, Adams) and none can sniff the qb because Macagnan wouldn’t know a pass rusher if one bit him on the d-ck 

Excuses, excuses, excuses, you think Bowles isn't getting a word in on the Defensive picks?  Lol, got a bridge to sell you if so....

[Philc1]

Only good pass rusher in the draft who fit our scheme was Marcus Davenport who I was salivating over but we needed a qb 

[Philc1]

2 minutes ago, Warfish said:

WTF are you talking about?  We've done nothing BUT invest in talent on the Defense since Bowles and Macc got here.

Now the excuse de jour will be "we really had no talent".

Ok, you get a choice then.  Fire Macc TODAY for picking all sorts of no talents on Defense the past few years.

Or, fire Bowles at seasons end for failing to produce a top 10 Defense.

Up to you, or do both if you prefer.

A colossal failure of our coaching staff to get results from the talent they had.

Excuses, excuses, excuses, you think Bowles isn't getting a word in on the Defensive picks?  Lol, got a bridge to sell you if so....

Look I don’t know what you are trying to say I think you are trying really hard as usual. We don’t have any talent on defense and Bowles sucks.  We will again have a bottom 6-7 ranked defense again next season I’m not defending Bowles I think he’s awful but our players are awful too

[MDL_JET]

I think pray to the football gods is our best option there. 

But now looking at the roster on defense, what the hell is the plan here? It's nothing but interior guys on the DL with no actual pass rushers. Is that on purpose, is that a Todd Bowles thing i'm unaware of? The guy with the most sacks last year was Demario f'n Davis with FIVE. What did we do to improve this? It looks like a whole lot of nothing.

Well.....next years draft is supposed to be good for defensive line and pass rushers I think, so there's that! 

[Embrace the Suck]

8 minutes ago, Warfish said:

No.  Top 10 or Bowles should be fired for the complete and utter failure to coach a Defense.

It'll be Kacey Rodgers' fault first.

[JoJoTownsell1]

The NFL isn't a one-size-fits all league. We do not have very good edge rushers but that isn't the only way to generate pressure on a QB. The other way is to invest in a great secondary which allows you to blitz more and get your sacks from non-edge rusher types like Lee/Adams etc..

The Pats were 7th in the NFL in sacks and they had no legit edge rusher and gave away Chandler Jones a couple of years ago. 

[Jetster]

6 minutes ago, Philc1 said:

Here we go again.  Jets fans rationalizing pass rushers who can’t pass rush 

Jenkins was NEVER considered an edge rusher. Go back & look at his draft write up before & after he was drafted. 

[Philc1]

Just now, Jetster said:

Jenkins was NEVER considered an edge rusher. Go back & look at his draft write up before & after he was drafted. 

Then why draft him?  It’s like drafting a WR not known for pass catching

[UnitedWhofans]

I will say that this Luvu kid is interesting as an edge rusher

[jbt]

3 minutes ago, Philc1 said:

Then why draft him?  It’s like drafting a WR not known for pass catching

because in a 3-4 you need a OLB who can set the edge and be a run stopper.  then the other OLB should be a pass rusher

[Warfish]

9 minutes ago, Philc1 said:

Look I don’t know what you are trying to say I think you are trying really hard as usual. We don’t have any talent on defense and Bowles sucks.  We will again have a bottom 6-7 ranked defense again next season I’m not defending Bowles I think he’s awful but our players are awful too

So how do you feel about a GM who invests regularly in the Defense, but produces a Defense with "no talent"?