Corner Depth & Takeaways

Edition #139

Good morning!

We’re 107 days away from the NFL kicking off, and now we’re through the draft and free agency that feels a lifetime away.

The Jets have completed phase two of their off-season workouts and will now progress onto phase three which will run through to June 10th.

Once that’s through the Jets will have a mandatory mini-camp between June 14th-16th before breaking until training camp.

Bleacher Report named Zach Wilson as a surprise prospect to lead the NFL in passing touchdowns in 2022. That’s a bold statement considering he threw just 9 touchdowns in 2021. He has the supporting cast and the arm talent to be at the top, but is year two a year too soon?

Former Jets WR and 3rd round draft pick ArDarius Stewart is attempting to make some noise in the CFL this year. He’s currently in camp with the British Columbia Lions who open up their season on the 11th of June. Stewart was a big disappointment for the Jets catching just 6 passes for 82 yards.

According to The Athletic’s Dan Duggan - Former Giants CB James Bradberry could have ended up across town with the Jets instead of playing in Philadelphia, with Joe Douglas close to trading for the former pro bowler. Bradberry’s reluctance to agree to a contract re-structure ensured the Jets (and Texans) dipped out of the conversation.

Corners

The Jets cornerback position is one of the more interesting positional groups heading into the 2022 off-season.

Just one year removed from it being a perceived weakness, it’s now considered a strength following the signing of D.J. Reed and the drafting of Sauce Gardner.

The Jets will be heading into the season opener with two new starting corners (barring injury), but where does that leave Bryce Hall and Brandin Echols?

The starters from 2021 are now slotted in as depth pieces, and it’s never a bad thing to have a guy with 14 pass defenses (Hall) and a guy with 2 interceptions in his rookie year (Echols) as depth, but chances are they won’t play that much unless there’s an injury.

Last season Isaiah Dunn and Javelin Guidry were the back-ups outside corners for the Jets, and due to the health of Hall and Echols, they played sparingly. Dunn was in for just 115 snaps (98 at outside corner) and Guidry 487 (247 of those at outside corner) - So that’s 345 snaps in total.

If you’re the Jets you hope that Reed and Sauce stay healthy and productive, but there is a comfort level there now that if someone were to get injured, the Jets have the talent to come in and hold the fort, at least in the short term.

I’ve heard a few people ask if Bryce could play inside as part of a bigger lineup? That’s absolutely possible, he does have 24 slot snaps to his name in New York over two years and I can see the appeal of using a 6’1, 200lb corner inside in certain sets, against certain teams over the 5’11, 190lb Michael Carter II. But playing inside when you don’t have the bracket of the sideline is a different proposition, so we can’t just assume that’s something Bryce or Brandin would be able to do. Especially as Carter performed admirably there last season.

Michael Carter II played the 2nd most snaps of any corner last season and spent the vast majority in the slot (614 snaps). He allowed just a single touchdown while recording 4 pass break-ups. As a 5th round corner in year one of a new system, I’d say that was a pretty good performance and there is reason to be optimistic about his overall potential in that position. The Jets already have the depth for Carter in Javelin Guidry who is more suited to playing inside than out.

The other question I often get asked is ‘Could Bryce Hall play free safety?’

The honest answer to that question is I’m sure he could play free safety, but whether he’d be any good or not is another question. His tackling is certainly good enough to play the position, he had 79 tackles last season and a missed tackle % of just 3.7%. But you would want more ball productive in terms of turnovers, but having the play in front of you makes it easier to make a play on the ball, so there’s a chance that if he does get time there his production in that regard could increase.

I’m always a fan of depth so having him backing up Reed and Sauce gives me confidence, and with Joyner back in the fold and the Jets transitioning Pinnock from corner to safety I imagine he’ll stick as an out and out corner. I think it’s also important to note that Hall is still on the upward trajectory and so is Echols. This will be year three for Hall and year two for Echols, so

Having too many good players is always a good problem to have.

Quincy Williams gave an interview to the official Jets website recently about wanting to take on more of a leadership role and the comfort level of being in year two.

"Last year, being a linebacker, you're the leader of the defense," Williams said. "With me, I lead by example, so last year no one knew who I was or what I could do. That's like a random person walking up to you and telling you to do something. You'd be like, 'Who are you?' Now, I have a year under my belt and I'm trying to prestige up. I like that 'Call of Duty' term. Now I feel like I've earned my stripes a little bit, so my word means something."

I’ve been pretty vocal in my opinion that linebacker may be a weakness for the Jets this year, but it’s important to give the same leeway to someone like Quincy who is also young and ascending. Just because he wasn’t the complete package in 2021, doesn’t mean he won’t be able to make that leap in 2022.

We need to remember that he was claimed late in the process after getting released by the Jaguars, so the steep learning curve to get up to speed was significantly tougher for Quincy than a lot of others.

One issue I had with Quincy was his focus on generating huge hits at the expense of keeping your head up and making a play on the ball. A bone-crunching hit is great for the crowd but a pick-6 will influence the final score a lot more, and that’s an area of focus for Quincy this season:

"Not always going for the big hit," he said. "That's my thing, going for the big hits, but with doing that I was missing out on turnovers and stuff. It can be second-and-long and I get a big hit, but Coach could be like we could've been off the field and get the offense another possession."

Turnovers win football games, the Jets had a -13 turnover differential last season which was one of the worst marks in the league (30th) and a lot of that is based on the defense not turning the ball over, they were ranked 31st with 14 takeaways:

"The biggest thing now is stealing a possession for the offense. I had a lot of forced fumbles [3 last season], but that's because I was focusing on the hit. So now it's like creating turnovers as far as strips and interceptions. I think I dropped like nine of them last year. But also just being a leader, learning my teammates, so I know how they like to be talked to. I can't talk to some people the same way I talk to my brother. I can't talk to C.J. the same way I talk to other people. For that to happen, I had to be a follower, which I was last year. I followed C.J., repeated after him, so now I know how to be a leader this year and put that into perspective."