Why Chad Muma Makes Perfect Sense For The Jets?

The Jets may not need a first round linebacker, but they certainly need a coverage linebacker.

🗽Good morning Jets fans and welcome to a new week of Jets football. It’s 51 days until free agency kicks off and 94 days until the NFL draft, so we’ve got a little bit of time to talk about what the Jets should do.

The Jets will be busying themselves creating an off-season plan of attack, as Joe Douglas said in his end of season press-conference, four wins aren’t good enough. We know that, and he knows that. If he wants to keep his job well into 2023, he’ll need to give Coach Saleh the ammunition he needs to turn the Jets from bottom dwellers to playoff contenders.

On February 5th the Jets will be coaching the Senior Bowl in Mobile Alabama, the week leading to the game the Jets will be coaching the National team and on that national team is Wyoming linebacker Chad Muma, a guy I’m a big fan of, and a guy I firmly believe the Jets could use in 2022 and beyond.

I fully accept that the Jets love CJ Mosley and that the Jets like Quincy Williams. I also accept that we still don’t know what we have in 2021 draftees Jamien Sherwood and Hamsah Nasrildeen. I accept that due to the way the league is going and the way the Jets line up, we spend a lot of time in a 4-2-5 formation with our nickel corner on the field and our 3rd linebacker off it.

When you add all of this up, it means a first-round linebacker is unlikely…as much as I love Nakobe Dean and think a Dean/Mosley partnership would catapult the Jets defensive into respectability. Let’s not forget that the Jets defensive unit ranked 32nd in total defense and in the bottom five of most statistical categories.

For as much as the Jets love what they have, they don’t have any linebackers capable of covering…and as people like to remind us every second of every day, this is a passing league. So in short, the Jets have a problem.

What do the stats say about the Jets coverage?

🏈 If you don’t like numbers, then look away now.

According to PFF, the Jets have the 34th/53 (Mosley) and 37th/53 (Williams) best coverage linebackers in the NFL when you introduce a minimum snap quantity of 50%.

I don’t always trust the eyes of PFF, but when you look at every statistical category the Jets linebacking duo is average to below average in pretty much every one:

Yards after the catch per reception allowed: Mosley 20th, Quincy Williams 30th

Yards after the catch: Mosley 40th, Williams 49th

Missed tackles in coverage: Mosley 30th, Williams 41st

Yards after the catch in man coverage: Mosley 24th, Williams 51st

Yards after the catch in zone coverage: Mosley 45th, Williams 49th

Missed tackle percentage in zone coverage: Mosley 25th, Williams 38th

It just doesn’t paint a pretty picture and this is not to say that Mosley and Williams are not good players, they do a lot of things well. But when it comes to coverage and coverage in our zone-heavy scheme, the Jets are missing a trick. There’s a reason we were burned on screens and misdirection this year.

As much as the Jets pay publicly say they have every confidence in their current position group, I can’t imagine they won’t be exploring all options to improve the 32nd ranked defense, and linebacker was as culpable as anyone else.

Where does Chad Muma come in? 🤠

🏈 Let’s just take a cursory glance at Muma when it comes to PFF who had him rated as the 14th best coverage linebacker in the FBS last year amongst all those who played at least 50% of their team snaps. So that’s 14th out of 203 players.

Now, I’m always cautious around using PFF for college players, in my experience they’ve never as accurate as the NFL ones and the NFL ones are hot and cold. So I tend to want to use my own eyes when it comes to evaluating college prospects.

But here are some undisputed facts that are not based on my aging eyes. Muma is a converted safety who started two years in Wyoming.

In 2021 he made an absurd 83 solo tackles on his way to a 142 tackle season, including 8 for a loss and 1.5 sacks. He had 3 interceptions, 2 of which he returned for a defensive touchdown.

So why do I like him so much for the Jets? Here are my five main reasons…

1. Instincts. This is something you will hear me bang on about time and time again. It’s why I like Nakobe Dean too. Instincts go a long way to making the jump to the next level. Muma is disciplined and patient and rarely gets fooled on misdirection. He diagnoses quickly and flows to the ball, working his way through traffic with ease. It’s clear he studies hard because it’s clear he knows and plays opposing team tendencies. Flip on the Boise or San Jose State game to see this in action.

2. Tackling. You can be the most instinctive player in the league, if you miss 25% of your tackles you’re not going to do much damage. Muma’s form and technique when it comes to tackling is textbook, he doesn’t overpursue he doesn’t do anything flashy, he just brings the ball carrier to the ground. He’s shown consistently in college that he’s one of the best, if not the best tackling linebacker in the 2022 NFL Draft.

3. Zone Coverage. This is something that jumps out on film and it’s probably thanks to his safety background and his instincts. He drops to the right depths consistently in zone and is always aware of the throwing lanes and spaces available against certain looks. His movement skills in the open field are excellent and his speed is better than expected.

4. Leadership. Muma was a starter on this Wyoming defenses for two years and he was a captain on this Wyoming defense for two years. You know how much Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh value leadership, well he shows it on and off the field. When asked if there was any question of him skipping the Idaho Potato Bowl to ensure he stayed healthy, he said absolutely not. On the field you can see him aligning players across the formation, it’s clear he’s the leader and it’s clear he’s expected.

5. Versatility. In my opinion, Muma’s game is perfectly suited to a team that plays in an even front and he could man any of the three positions in the base defense. But his ability to be stout against the run and drop back into coverage would enable him to play straight away in a team that often finds itself in a 4-2-5 look, especially one that plays a lot of zone. MLB is where his future lies and while we have CJ Mosley there right now, 2022 will be the final year of his contract and who knows if we bring him back in 2023.

I’m not going to sit here and say that Chad Muma is the perfect prospect because he isn’t. If he were, he’d be going at the top of the first round. His coverage skills aren’t as polished in man as they are in zone, his pass-rush hasn’t really developed and it could be argued went backward in 2021, he has also played his football in the Mountain West conference, the SEC it is not.

What I will say is his teammate Logan Wilson went to the Bengals in the 2020 draft right at the top of the 3rd round. On Saturday night we saw Wilson help the Bengals to the Championship game. Muma is a better prospect coming out than Wilson was, a much more rounded prospect, and as such, I think if you want him you’re going to have to take him in the 2nd round.

As always I appreciate you guys taking the time to read. If you like the content, please do consider sharing it with fellow Jets fans and if you’re not subscribed you can do so my putting your email in below. You can also read some of my work at SB Nation’s Gang Green Nation as well as Jets X-Factor. I also co-host the Jets UK Podcast, and we’ll be back with new episodes as soon as the Super Bowl is done and dusted.