Now Officially Eliminated From The Postseason, Here’s An Early Keep/Dump List For 2022 Jets
Part II, The Defense
Regarding the Jets’ 30-9 debacle to the visiting Saints on Sunday, nothing new needs to be written that I haven’t already laid out in prior posts. The season is now officially over, as the loss means New York (3-10) has been eliminated from the NFL playoffs for an 11th consecutive season.
To quickly recap: Against a New Orleans squad that had lost its five previous games, the Jets’ injury-depleted offense was as dysfunctional as ever, with rookie quarterback Zach Wilson throwing inaccurately to practice squad level skill position players. As for Gang Green’s defense, they did no favors, allowing a team featuring a lousy quarterback with four fingers on his throwing hand to roll up 344 yards of offense. For the seventh time in 13 games, the Jets failed to force a turnover and, once again, it appeared like they just gave up in the fourth quarter.
After focusing on the offense in his first two offseasons, General Manager Joe Douglas will likely target defensive positions in the upcoming NFL Draft and free agent market, which can’t come soon enough. But the question remains: Can anyone on this unit play this game?
Last week, I went position-by-position on the offensive side of the ball, so now it’s the defense’s turn:
Interior Defensive line:
Keep: Quinnen Williams, Folorunso Fatukasi, Jonathan Marshall
Dump: Sheldon Rankins, Nathan Shepherd
Maybe the team’s most disappointing position group of them all. Last season, the Jets were at least respectable, even finishing seventh in yards allowed per opponent rush attempt. This season has been a disaster, with New York yielding 139 yards rushing per game, the second-most in the league, after surrendering 203 yards to the Saints. Williams, a bubble Pro Bowler who may be looking for an extension on his rookie contract this offseason, and pending free agent Folorunso Fatukasi are among the league’s top 11 interior linemen in ProFootballFocus.com’s run stop category, but defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich rotates his personnel so frequently that depth is a prerequisite. Unfortunately, Rankins hasn’t produced as expected (3 sacks and a meager 3.8 pressure percentage, per PFF) while Shepherd, when he’s not committing killer penalties, is whiffing on tackles. Take the $750,000 dead money hit to save $5.5 million against next season’s salary cap on Rankins, let Shepherd walk, extend Williams and Fatukasi, and look for reserves who are better fits for this scheme.
Edge Rusher:
Keep: Carl Lawson, Bryce Huff, John Franklin-Myers, Kyle Phillips
Dump: Shaq Lawson, Jabari Zuniga, Tim Ward, Ronald Blair, Hamilcar Rashed, Vinny Curry
Who knows how much difference having Carl Lawson, the Jet’s biggest offseason fish reeled in by Douglas in last offseason’s free agency period, would have made to an inconsistent pass rush were it not for an awful Achilles tear in training camp? His namesake Shaq was a poor replacement and in no way can the Jets accommodate his $9 million cap hit for next season. Huff also landed on injured reserve after recording 2 sacks and 7 QB hits in 6 games, so he’s worth bringing back, as is Franklin-Myers, even if his production slowed a bit after the enormous (4-year, $55 million) contract extension he signed in mid-season. Phillips is constantly injured, but he does make some impact when he plays, so signing him at a team-friendly price shouldn’t be difficult. None of the other fill-ins (Curry never even made it to the active roster due to a blood disorder discovered in training camp) need return, including Zuniga, a Douglas bust as soon as he was selected in the third round of the 2020 Draft.
Linebackers:
Keep: C.J. Mosley, Quincy Williams, Jamien Sherwood, Hamsah Nasirildeen,
Dump: Jarrad Davis, Blake Cashman, Del’Shawn Phillips, Noah Dawkins
It would be too financially imprudent to cut Mosley, who has a $17.5 million cap number for next season coming off a horrid year, according to PFF’s grades. A termination would cost the Jets more against the 2022 cap instead of saving money, so maybe a restructuring is in order. Besides, Mosley is not easily replaceable. I mean, look at the above list. Sherwood and Nasirildeen, a pair of converted college safeties who were part of Douglas’ 2021 Draft class, don’t have the size or expertise to lead the defense, as we saw when Mosley missed the game in New England and the Jets defense collapsed to the tune of a 54.13 whipping. Williams has potential as an outside linebacker with his speed and knack for making highlight reel plays, but he’s a loose cannon when it comes to fundamental execution. Davis’ preseason ankle injury has made him a shell of the player Douglas expected him to be when he signed him in free agency—it wasn’t a bad one-year gamble, but there’s no need to double down. Meanwhile, Cashman has never been able to stay on the field since he was drafted in the fifth round of the 2019 Draft, so he won’t even be missed. Phillips is a decent special teams player (his 7 tackles rank 42nd in the league), but his defensive snaps have been much less impressive.
Cornerbacks:
Keep: Bryce Hall, Michael Carter II, Javelin Guidry, Brandin Echols, Jason Pinnock
Dump: Isaiah Dunn, Justin Hardee
There were too many guys on my original “keep” list so expect at least one of them (my guess is 2021 fifth-round pick Pinnock) to receive his pink slip at training camp. Hall and Carter are certainly keepers and I wrote last week about my admiration for Guidry, even if his future is just as a backup slot guy. The organization is more gaga over Echols, a 2021 sixth-rounder, though in my view he was the corner most often beaten like a drum this season. Undrafted free agent Dunn may get a camp invite, but if he makes it through, Douglas didn’t do a good enough job in the offseason. Even if the team has roster space, $2.05 million is an awful lot to allocate to a special teams specialist like Hardee, who missed three tackles and was penalized four times this season.
Safeties:
Keep: Ashtyn Davis
Dump: Marcus Maye, Lamarcus Joyner, Elijah Riley, Sharrod Neasman
What a disaster area. Jets fans eyes will surely focus on what happens to Maye, the longest-tenured Jet (second round, 2017 Draft), in free agency this offseason. Would Douglas dare franchise tag him a second time? He certainly could, since I don’t see any other worthy candidates on this team. However, Maye’s Achilles tear and impending adjudication of a DUI arrest in February make him a high risk on a one-year deal, so maybe he’ll just exit quietly. Unfortunately, when Maye went down, the group collapsed, with the Jets spinning a revolving door at the position. Davis is another 2020 Draft class member whose PFF grades won’t be posted on Douglas’ refrigerator—he has one more year to show he belongs here. Local kid Riley is a great story, but he’s a practice squad talent. Joyner: We hardly knew ye.
Punter:
Keep: Braden Mann
An early season knee injury cost Mann seven games and it appeared to take him until Sunday to get his full strength back. Specialists always have competition in camp, but I’d expect Mann to end up as the, um, man again next season.