{"id":130216,"date":"2025-06-14T21:20:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T21:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/130216\/"},"modified":"2025-06-14T21:20:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T21:20:12","slug":"and-ny-jets-still-might-not-have-pieces-to-fix-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/130216\/","title":{"rendered":"And NY Jets still might not have pieces to fix it"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is easy to forget at this point, but Aaron Rodgers<\/a> looked pretty solid in his New York Jets<\/a> return. In fact, it ended up being one of his best games as a Jet.<\/p>\n

New York just couldn\u2019t get the football in his hands.<\/p>\n

The Jets\u2019 season-opening trip to San Francisco started promisingly. In the first quarter, Rodgers led a beautiful 12-play, 70-yard drive that culminated in a Breece Hall touchdown run, giving New York a 7-3 lead.<\/p>\n

That momentary sliver of hope was dragged into the abyss by a putrid defensive performance that minimized the offense\u2019s chances of building on its momentum. Robert Saleh\u2019s defense allowed the 49ers to hog the ball for nearly 39 minutes.<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s offense finished the game with just 21:20 of possession time. Excluding an end-of-half kneeldown, Rodgers was given only eight possessions until he was benched for garbage time. This included a 12:36 stretch from the second quarter into the third quarter where New York never ran an offensive play outside of a kneeldown.<\/p>\n

It was a disastrous season opener for the Jets. In many ways, it provided fans with a glimpse of what was to come throughout one of the most disappointing seasons in Jets history. Most will remember the Jets\u2019 2024 season for the underperformance of Rodgers and the offense, but the 49ers game revealed another fatal flaw that would hinder the Jets\u2019 season: their soft run defense.<\/p>\n

Despite the last-minute announcement that Christian McCaffrey would miss the game, New York allowed San Francisco\u2019s backup running back, Jordan Mason, to torch them for 147 yards on 28 carries. Each number remains his career-high.<\/p>\n

Those numbers undersell Mason\u2019s dominance that night. It wasn\u2019t about the total yardage \u2013 his longest run went for only 24 yards. The Jets\u2019 issue was how consistently Mason churned through them for chunks of positive yardage. This is what allowed the 49ers to control the clock and dictate the flow of the game.<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s defense missed 10 tackles in the run game alone. Nine of those were forced by Mason, the second-most of any NFL running back that week. They made him look like prime Frank Gore in Candlestick Park.<\/p>\n

Of Mason\u2019s 28 carries on the night, he gained positive yardage on 26 of them (93%). He gained 5+ yards on 14 of his 28 carries, a whopping 50% rate, which is well above the 2024 league average (36%).<\/p>\n

Simply put, the Jets\u2019 run defense was soft. They allowed the 49ers to run through them at will. And it was a sign of things to come.<\/p>\n

According to FTN Fantasy, the Jets finished 20th in run defense DVOA. It was their worst ranking since 2021.<\/p>\n

To the Jets\u2019 credit, they did a decent job of limiting breakaway runs, which is why they stayed out of the bottom-12 in overall run defense. They ranked sixth-best with only 4.1 yards per carry allowed. While this number is good, it was undermined by the same issues that plagued the Jets in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

The Jets finished the season allowing 22 rushing touchdowns and 192 rushes for 5+ yards, both ranking as the fourth-most in the NFL. They allowed teams to gain consistent chunks of positive yardage between the 20s, and when they were backed against their end zone, teams easily plowed through them to finish off drives.<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s soft run defense epitomized the essence of the entire team. They may have looked dazzling on paper, but the grit wasn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n

Aaron Glenn<\/a> is here to fix that.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Glenn coached a Lions defense that somehow finished 10th-best in run defense DVOA despite losing countless defensive starters. That includes their best player, Aidan Hutchinson, who went down in Week 6.<\/p>\n

Whereas the Jets allowed the fourth-most rushes of 5+ yards, the Lions allowed the second-fewest (127). Part of that is because the Lions faced the fewest rush attempts in the NFL (a product of spending so much time in the lead), but even if you adjust for volume, Detroit ranked 10th-best with 33% of opponent rush attempts gaining 5+ yards. New York was 24th in the same category (36.7%).<\/p>\n

The Jets have a coach who knows how to get his defense to clamp down on the run game. But do they have the players?<\/p>\n

While the addition of Glenn should improve the tenacity of the Jets\u2019 run defense, New York\u2019s roster might be too limited to facilitate any real improvement in this facet of the game. There are gaping holes in this unit that Glenn might not be able to coach around, no matter how good he may be.<\/p>\n

Here are a few concerns with the Jets\u2019 run defense that could be difficult to navigate.<\/p>\n

1. Little to no reliability on the edge<\/p>\n

When the Jets take the field in Week 1, they won\u2019t have a starting edge rusher who can be fully trusted against the run.<\/p>\n

On one side, they will have Will McDonald, who was arguably the worst run-defending edge rusher in the NFL<\/a> last season. The Jets are optimistic about his development in this area after his offseason weight gain<\/a>, but his issues were related to more than just his weight. His technique, instincts, and mentality were also poor. <\/p>\n

Some extra pounds won\u2019t fix those things. Until McDonald shows any real progress on the field, he is a sieve in the run game.<\/p>\n

On the other side, the expectation is that Jermaine Johnson will be ready to go after tearing his Achilles last September. Johnson is a stud in the run game if healthy, but it remains to be seen how he will perform after a major injury.<\/p>\n

The rest of the depth chart is littered with question marks. Eric Watts was a strong run defender in limited reps<\/a> last season, but his abysmal pass rushing limits the number of reps he can play.<\/p>\n

Outside of Watts, the Jets do not have another edge rusher who has shown viable run-defending capabilities in the NFL.<\/p>\n

Defensive line coach Eric Washington has his work cut out for him when it comes to edge-setting.<\/p>\n

2. Quinnen Williams is all alone (again)<\/p>\n

The Jets are poised to waste another year of Quinnen Williams\u2019 prime due to a complete lack of support<\/a> on the interior. The previous regime learned the hard way that Williams, as great as he is, cannot carry a run defense on his own, and the new regime might be about to learn the same lesson.<\/p>\n

Players like Derrick Nnadi, Byron Cowart, Leonard Taylor III, and Jay Tufele are expected to compete for reps on the interior. None of these players have been plus starters in the NFL over the past few seasons. It would even be a stretch to say any of them have consistently been quality backups.<\/p>\n

Nnadi was once an excellent run stopper for the Chiefs, but his production plummeted<\/a> over the past few seasons, culminating in Kansas City removing him from their starting lineup last season. Demand for him on the free agent market was almost non-existent, as he ended up signing with the Jets for just $417K guaranteed.<\/p>\n

Cowart has some upside<\/a> and is capable of playing some 1-technique. However, his sample size in the NFL is too limited to count on anything. <\/p>\n

Taylor conceivably has potential going into his second season, as he showed flashes in his rookie year, but he is an undrafted prospect who will already be 26 this year. Not to mention, his game revolves around explosive pass-rushing, not holding his ground in the run game, which is the skill New York has lacked next to Williams since Foley Fatukasi skipped town.<\/p>\n

In 2024, New York\u2019s movable interior was among the main reasons for their struggles against the run. Players like Javon Kinlaw, Solomon Thomas, and even Taylor were easily moved off their spots, allowing teams to plow up the middle for chunk gains whenever they pleased. Going into 2025, this weakness has not been addressed.<\/p>\n

Unwilling to recklessly overspend in hopes of fixing every position in one offseason, the Jets skimped on some roster holes in Year 1 of the new regime, with defensive tackle being chief among those. It would be a gigantic feather in the caps of Glenn, Washington, and Steve Wilks if they could muster up respectable production out of this unit, especially in the run game.<\/p>\n

3. Poor tacklers are everywhere<\/p>\n

One of the main themes of this Jets offseason was the team\u2019s willingness to take on flawed players with upside. They targeted players with coachable weaknesses and uncoachable strengths.<\/p>\n

Regarding the defense, there was a common flaw among the players New York took fliers on: poor tackling.<\/p>\n

The Jets are betting on their coaching staff to fix the tackling woes of countless defenders. Whether it\u2019s free agent safety Andre Cisco<\/a> or rookies like Azareye\u2019h Thomas<\/a>, Francisco Mauigoa<\/a>, and Tyler Baron<\/a>, the Jets are loaded with unreliable tacklers.<\/p>\n

This is bad news for a defense that already had the fifth-most missed tackles in the league last season (per Pro Football Reference), with many of their worst tacklers returning. <\/p>\n

Tony Adams, Sauce Gardner, and Will McDonald are all back after ranking among the Jets\u2019 most whiff-prone tacklers in 2024. Quincy Williams also isn\u2019t the most reliable tackler at linebacker, as he\u2019s more of a hit-or-miss type (although his tackling has come a long way since earlier in his career).<\/p>\n

Once again, the Jets are counting on their coaching staff to get the players to perform well above their track records. It will be extremely difficult to fix the tackling woes of every player on this defense.<\/p>\n

The Jets\u2019 run defense ceiling might be capped<\/p>\n

It is not impossible for the Jets to improve upon their No. 20 ranking in run defense DVOA from a year ago. <\/p>\n

The scheme and culture changes imposed by Glenn could go a long way. If they get 17 games of a healthy Jermaine Johnson, that would also be a massive advantage over the Johnson-less unit they used for most of last season. Even if Johnson is 90% of who he was, he would still be a significant upgrade.<\/p>\n

However, it seems like the Jets flat-out do not have the talent to be much better than average against the run. The depth on the defensive line is not there, and the collective tackling ability of the back end is subpar.<\/p>\n

To return to elite status against the run, the Jets will need to make some major additions in the 2026 offseason. For now, Glenn and the Jets should strive for competency.<\/p>\n

But Jets fans should prepare for the worst. Among the game\u2019s four primary phases \u2013 pass offense, pass defense, run offense, and run defense \u2013 the Jets\u2019 run defense is in a close battle with the pass offense for the least inspiring outlook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is easy to forget at this point, but Aaron Rodgers looked pretty solid in his New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[1585,198,7,3228,8142,226,31152,1917,255,2321,2097,6,22126,22125,6736,3234,20113],"class_list":{"0":"post-130216","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-aaron-glenn","9":"tag-featured","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-free-content","12":"tag-jermaine-johnson","13":"tag-jets","14":"tag-nanias-numbers","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-jets","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkjets","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-ny-jets-analytics","21":"tag-ny-jets-stats","22":"tag-quinnen-williams","23":"tag-standard","24":"tag-will-mcdonald"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114683813771948575","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}