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If the Jets are going to have a good season in 2022-23, this area of the team must take a big step . . .
Talking about their pass defense.
You can’t win in a passing league playing the kind of pass defense the Jets played for most of last year.
Jets GM Joe Douglas was asked about the importance of adding corners in the draft.
“First of all, I’ve said it before, we were such a young group last year,” Douglas said. “Our secondary coaches and defensive coaches did such a great job developing the young players we had. They did a phenomenal job with, frankly, a bunch of first- and second-year players, and quite a few of those guys played good football.”
Perhaps, but it has to be a lot better. The Jets defense ranked 32nd in the NFL last year, and the pass defense had a lot to do with it. There were too many games where opposing quarterbacks looked they were conducting a seven-on-seven drill. Too often opposing receivers were given too much cushion and defensive backs didn’t play the sticks properly, giving up easy third-down conversion passes.
They need to add an elite CB in this draft. This is what I wrote in the last issues about they need – “AÂ cover guy with great ball skills who diagnosis fast, stalks the QB with his eyes, jumps routes and isn’t baffled by route combinations – one of those guys who’s consistently in the right place at the right time.”
Douglas feels the addition of free agent cornerback D.J. Reed will help.
“Adding a player like D.J. Reed who brings intensity, his love of the game, his passion, it just permeates, you see that. It doesn’t take you one, two plays to see that passion jump out on tape,” Douglas said.
Yes, he “loves the game” and has great “passion,” but he’s probably ideally suited as a #2 CB since he’s 5-9 and runs a 4.51 forty. He’s a solid player who should help the Jets, but probably not a #1 cornerback.
So while they should not reach for need, if the value is there at pick 4 or 10, they should add a corner.
And another huge need high in the draft is an elite pass rusher. Because as we all know, there is a symbiotic relationship between cover guys and great pass rushers.
“If you want the secondary to be better, fix the pass rush,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said recently in a conference call with season-ticket holders.
So if the value is there, because you should never reach for need, picking a #1 CB and a dynamic edge-rusher with picks 4 and 10 would be ideal for Gang Green.
Because while Douglas was trying to support his players and coaches, it’s hard to say anybody did a “phenomenal” job on the defensive side of the ball for Gang Green last year.
I’m not ripping coaches. Perhaps they weren’t dealt the best hand, but it’s hard to use the word “phenomenal” with much related to that defense last year aside from the fact that they always played hard. It was never an effort issue.
But 32nd is 32nd.
So while they did add Reed, and the addition of a good coverage safety in Jordan Whitehead will help, they need more parts high in next week’s draft to improve their pass defense.
There is no way around it.
April 22, 2022
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