Roster Projection: Defence

Edition #684

Good morning! ☕

We’ve got a game to look forward to this weekend, as players get one last chance to stake a claim for a roster spot.

Yesterday I went through my roster projections for the offensive side of the ball and today I’m turning my attention to the defence and special teams.

I found the offensive projection relatively straight forward, but the defensive one was anything but.

Robert Saleh confirmed that Aaron Rodgers and the starters will not play the final pre-season game and it sounds as though Tyrod Taylor will also sit out. So expect Martinez to start with Peasley to finish.

The Jets HC was asked directly if he believed that Reddick would report in time to appear in week one against the 49ers, his answer? “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.”

Chuck Clark absolutely levelled Giants RB Eric Gray at the start of practice yesterday and this is what he had to say about it: "It kind of wakes you up and makes you feel alive," Clark said of his hit. "It gives you a high, honestly. I love stuff like that."

He also believes that the joint practices are important to get a measure of where you are and what you still need to work on before the show gets going: "I definitely feel like it's an opportunity to gauge where you're at, what you can work on and what you can get better at," Clark said about the joint practices. "You're going against your teammates every day so you get used to their techniques and how they do things. Seeing someone different that is at a top level as well, it's definitely a good measuring stick for you."

Sauce Gardner waved the Giants off the field after practice ended with a huge TD catch by Jason Brownlee from Tyrod Taylor, but played it down afterwards: "We were just having fun out there," Gardner told Jets reporters. "Two New York teams, we all know each other pretty much outside of football. We were just having fun with it. ... It was all love, nothing disrespectful. At the end of the day, we're all competing, being competitive."

Giants star wide receiver Malik Nabers certainly didn’t take offense - "They can do that. I mean, they won on the day. Their defense came out, executed well. We beat ourselves today."

Gardner for what it’s worth liked what he saw from Nabers, despite not being matched up with him very often: "He's nice. He's very sudden when it comes to getting in and out of his breaks. I know this might sound kind of weird, but he reminds me of an LSU receiver, a little Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. I'm not going to compare him to anybody because at the end of the day he's Malik, but those are two guys he reminds me of a little bit. He's going to be a really good player."

Training camp is done and dusted. The Jets had a very light practice today after the joint session with the Giants yesterday. That officially wrapped up the 2024 training camp and I’ll be honest, I’m ready for the next step.

The Jets will play their final pre-season game on Saturday, then all roster cuts need to be made by Tuesday. Once that’s complete, the Jets go into game preparation mode.

The focus turns completely to the San Francisco 49ers!

For my offensive roster construction I used 27 slots of the 53 man roster. That’s the exact same amount the Jets used with their initial breakdown last season.

There is a world where they may carry three TE’s or nine OL’s to generate more space on the defensive side of the ball where they have more talent.

One thing is for sure, there are a lot of teams in the NFL who will be paying close attention to the Jets defensive cutdowns. They know we have a stacked defence and they know that we’ll likely need to try and sneak someone through. I can see a Jason Pinnock situation all over again, but that’s what happens when you’re a good team.

I doubt many people are looking at the Patriots or Commanders to see what they’re doing, because if you’re not making the 53 for them, it’s unlikely you’re making it for anyone else either.

So without further ado, here is my defensive and special teams roster projection for your 2024 New York Jets. I’m starting with the easy ones.