Secondary Makeover
Free agency day two
Good evening Jets fans. Joe Douglas has been hard at work today improving the Jet’s secondary and although we may have missed out on the big fish of Marcus Williams, we’ve signed a couple of outstanding players.
D.J. Reed Signs
There were a few raised eyebrows last year when the Jets decided to not sign a cornerback, in the end, they found a good piece in Brandin Echols in the draft who performed above his draft position. But, the Jets needed to address corner and they did that by signing D.J. Reed.
Reed played under Robert Saleh in San Francisco in 2018 and 2019 before being waived. He found a home in Seattle and saw his career take over under Pete Carroll. He moved from nickel corner to playing outside and recorded 17 passes defended in 24 games with the Seahawks.
Over two years in Seattle, D.J. has allowed 3 touchdowns on 123 targets while allowing a completion % against of 57.5%. According to PFF D.J. Reed was graded as the 13th best corner in the league, and his 114 yards allowed after the catch was 11th among all cornerbacks who played at least 500 snaps (49).
Regarded as a good coverage corner and run defender, Reed will slot into the outside corner role opposite Bryce Hall giving the Jets a good 1-2 punch on the outside with Michael Carter II and Javelin Guidry battling for the inside slot and Echols offering depth.
It’s also worth noting that Reed was regarded as the 8th best cornerback in the league in zone coverage among all CB’s who played at least 500 snaps (49).
Jordan Whitehead Signs
All off-season we’ve hypothesized that the Jets would be players in the safety market, looking at the depth chart, you don’t need to call me Nostradamus. It wasn’t a case of if the Jets would sign a safety, it was who that safety would be. The Jets were in on Marcus Williams, but he decided to head to Baltimore instead. Throughout the process, the Jets were in communication with a number of safeties and they’ll be delighted to sign former Tampa Bay man Jordan Whitehead.
I’d say that Jordan has been brought in to play strong safety with LaMarcus Joyner being slated as the starting free safety. Whitehead is one of the hardest hitters in the game, and while he can be over-aggressive (16.1% missed tackle percentage in 2021), he is more than capable of making plays in coverage (2 INT & 5 PBU in 2021).
Whitehead was a fan favorite in Tampa Bay lining up all over the field, just take a look at his alignment over his 4-year career with 2021 being at the top:
According to PFF, Whitehead had 33 plays which constituted an offensive failure, that ranked him as the 3rd best safety in that regard. His 8.8 yards allowed per reception ranks him as the 9th best safety among players who played at least 500 snaps. He was also ranked inside the top 10 in terms of overall run defense according to PFF.
Last year in the Super Bowl, Whitehead played with a torn labrum in his shoulder showing just how tough he is. He’s a tone-setter in so many ways and strikes me as the prototypical Joe Douglas player.
Like tight end, I’m not sure this prevents the Jets from dipping into the safety market in the draft. Whiteheads deal is for just two years and Joyner can’t be relied on after missing pretty much the entire 2021 season. Ashtyn Davis has shown little development and relying on converted corner Jason Pinnock or waiver wire add Will Parks would be a mistake.
I’d still look at the Jets to add at the safety position in the middle of the draft.
Jets Twitter seemed particularly annoyed at Reed’s size without looking at his performance. Saw way too many Douglas bargain shopping again hot takes!