Part seven in the series analyzes the New York Jets.
If you want to select an area, Jet is not enough to overcome this offseason, the edge-rusher.
It’s been a weakness on this team for 15 years now and every year you expect the Jets to solve this problem, but it’s still not solved. This year, general manager Joe Douglas faced a list with so many holes in it that he had to leave some unplugged, and edge-rusher in that category.
The big step was the re-signing of Jordan Jenkins, who led the team with eight sacks last season. Looks like Jenkins might have moved earlier in a free agent because he wasn’t happy with the Jets offer. But the Jenkins market did not develop as he had hoped and he finally took a year, a $ 3.75 million deal from the Jets. This is a cheap deal for the team. Even though Jenkins isn’t Lawrence Taylor, he’s also not bent. Jenkins has proven solid in setting limits and he has 15 sacks over the past two seasons.
When you pass Jenkins, there are lots of questions. The Jets set up Jabari Zuniga in the third round outside Florida. He only had three sacks for the Gators last year, but he was dealing with an ankle injury. Endurance and consistency are the biggest questions when it comes to Zuniga.
Jordan JenkinsThe AP
The Jets were impressed with Zuniga’s explosion when he was healthy and believed he could play outside and inside the sub packages.
“The first thing he showed was his flexibility throughout his career,” said Jets assistant, GM Rex Hogan. “Being able to play at the forefront of the Florida defense. He plays anywhere from right to left. They will kick him in as a sub-rusher too. And then he stood and ran from a different place. So the good thing is he shows flexibility, but what he has is explosions and spasms and loose ball.
“You are talking about a man weighing 265 pounds running 4.65. And having explosive explosions and twitches. Even though he missed six games last season, as Joe talked about, the level of production and what he showed when he was on the field, is what we see in him and what we expect from him for us at the Jets in terms of being able to get a quarterback. “
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It’s hard to predict how quickly Zuniga will be able to take the Gregg Williams system, especially with the current restrictions in place that have prevented players from starting to work with the coach directly.
The Jets did have a number of returning players who contributed last year. Among them was Tarell Basham, who made several impact games late last season. In the last four matches, he has sacks, interception, missed misses and clogged kicks.
Harvey Langi and Frankie Luvu also returned to the battle for backup roles. Bryce Huff, who entered as a free agent without a contract, also had a good chance to enter the team. He had 6.5 sacks last year for Memphis.
With the Jets so thin in the outside linebackers, it would not be surprising to see Williams move some people out of other positions. Defensive midfielder Kyle Phillips showed he could do it last year. Jet also has a lot of depth in linebackers inside and can train some of them outside.
