New York Jets Preseason Position Battles Part 2 (DL, LB)
We’re getting closer and closer to first Jets’ preseason (and somewhat real football) game of the year, as they line up against Atlanta on Friday night @ 7:30 pm. With that in mind, we’re gonna keep the content coming because I know better than anyone how important it is to capitalize on the optimism oozing out from deep within Jets’ fans like the end of a tasteful short film starring Asa Akira.
I already hit all the non-Darnold rookies with breakdowns in an attempt to get you guys fired up about watching them find their footing in the league this summer, and we’ll continue to look at their progress once the games start, but there are so many other reasons to get excited about watching all 4 of the Jets’ preseason matchups.
For me, after months of pretending I don’t like sports to avoid the inevitable humiliation of being a Mets’ fan, the return of the NFL in the preseason has always been about taking tabs on the new guys, both rookies and free agents, and starting to get a feel for how all of the position battles will play out leading to the start of the regular season.
Rather than hitting you with all of them at once, I’m gonna split them up into groups to keep it all easy to chew and swallow. If this is still too much to take in, try dipping it in water first like they do at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. I’ve heard that helps.
Defensive Line
Current Depth Chart:
First Team: Leonard Williams, Nathan Shepherd, Steve McLendon
Second Team: Folorunso Fatukasi, Mike Pennel, Henry Anderson
Third Team: Xavier Cooper, Deon Simon, Mych Thomas
Fourth Team: Kendall Reyes
It’s been a few years now since the “Sons of Anarchy” were anchoring our front-7, headlining what many expected to become one of the NFL’s great, young defenses. Obviously, since then we’ve sent Muhammad Wilkerson packing after he got paid (rightfully so) and immediately proceeded to stop trying, traded Shelden Richardson to the Seahawks for Jermaine Kearse and a 2nd round pick (eventually sent to the Colts when we moved up in the draft), and refused to pay Damon Harrison what he was worth, eventually losing him to our cross-town rivals, the New York Giants.
Part of the reason the Jets were so willing to move on from these 3 former-beloved Jets was because Leonard Williams fell into our laps as we sat on the 6th pick of the 2015 NFL draft, a player highly regarded pre-draft at the elite talent of the entire draft class.
Throughout the first 3 years of his career, Leonard Williams has established himself as one of the premiere all-around D-lineman in the league. I know the numbers, specifically his sack totals, don’t necessarily back this up. But anyone who has watched him play game after game the past 3 years knows his talent level is far higher than what’s shown in the stat book. No one ever expected Williams to become an elite pass-rusher, but his athleticism and versatility combined with his size and strength point to a guy who can absolutely get to the next level in that area. His value as an anchor against the run still makes him arguably the most talented player on our roster.
Looking ahead towards the 2018 NFL season, in order for Leonard Williams to regain his 2015/16 form, it’s gonna be way more about the talent surrounding Williams and their production than it will be whether or not Williams can singlehandedly dominate opponent’s offensive lines.
Due to a lack of production on the edge of our defense, Williams faced constant double teams last season as there was no one else disruptive enough to draw attention away from #92.
Take a look at this video, put together by ESNY (Elite Sports New York) on Youtube, which pretty much breaks down my exact point here.
The title of the video sums everything up pretty nicely. Leonard Williams cannot THRIVE until the EDGE does it’s job. It doesn’t matter who it is, any elite-interior lineman is going to struggle when facing constant double teams play after play.
Heading into Friday night, Steve McLendon and Nathan Shepherd are listed as the other D-line starters. Nothing about that is surprising, given McLendon’s experience in our defensive scheme and his ability to take up space in the middle as well as Shepherd’s emergence so far this summer.
The issue with all of this is Steve McLendon has been around long enough for us to know he’s not much of a pass-rushing threat, and Nathan Shepherd (who I profiled and analyzed in much detail here), albeit incredibly talented and filled with potential, projects more as a player similar to Leonard Williams in that he will pick up sacks simply by playing his role. But his skillset is far more suited towards being an all-around DE; someone who can play two gaps and be incredibly effective against the run.
I think Nathan Shepherd has a very good chance of taking this opportunity and running with it, ultimately becoming a staple of our D-line for years to come. But that still doesn’t solve the problem that is our lack of edge production and how it effects Leonard Williams’ (our best player) ability to dominate like we know he’s capable of.
A few of the 2nd team guys like Mike Pennel, Foley Fatukasi (another rookie I analyzed in detail here), and even Henry Anderson (acquired from the Colts for a 2018 7th round pick) are gonna get some regular season burn and have a chance of producing. But none of them fit the bill as someone who can take pressure of Leo Williams on 3rd down.
Henry Anderson is a name worth keeping an eye on during the preseason. By all accounts he’s been impressive in camp so far and should get a real chance to show his stuff Friday night vs. Atlanta. A former 3rd round pick of the Colts out of Stanford, he stands at 6’6″ and has bulked back up to 290 after dropping weight in order to fit into the Colts new 4-3 scheme (he ended up getting traded before the scheme change was made). Although he never put up major numbers in Indianapolis, he dealt with multiple significant injuries and did put up very impressive numbers his senior year at Stanford, where he amassed 8 sacks and 14.5 TFL.
If he can prove healthy and learn the defensive playbook, I see him as someone who will continue to carve out a role and perhaps even spell some of our DL starters in pass-rushing situations. He should get significant playing time Friday night and I’m excited to see how he takes advantage of it.
Linebacker
Current Depth Chart
First Team: (OLB) Josh Martin, (ILB) Darron Lee, (ILB) Avery Williamson, (OLB) Jordan Jenkins
Second Team: (OLB) David Bass, (ILB) Kevin Pierre-Louis, (ILB) Kevin Minter, (OLB) Lorenzo Mauldin
Third Team: (OLB) Dylan Donahue, (ILB) Neville Hewitt, (ILB) Anthony Wint, (OLB) Brandon Copeland/(OLB) Frankie Luvu
Considering everything I just said about our defensive line and what it’s gonna take this year to help maximize everyone’s potential, it’s essential we figure out which combination of guys will be playing behind them in the box and the type of role each of them will be expected to fill.
Starting with the 1st team, things are pretty much settled on the inside. Darron Lee is a former 1st round pick out of THE Ohio State University, and despite receiving a lot of criticism over his first 2 NFL seasons, I’m still pretty high on him and what he can do in our defense. Lee was drafted despite really having a clear cut, permanent projected position in the NFL. He was used all over the field in college in an attempt to maximize his athleticism, something I think Todd Bowles is still trying to figure out how to do headed into year 3.
His numbers significantly improved from his rookie year to last season, when he racked up 94 total tackles and 3.0 sacks working from the ILB position. I think another year’s worth of experience and conditioning will do wonders for him, and I think he’s a guy who can be used all around the defense on passing downs given our lack of an established edge-rusher.
Avery Williamson is expected to start besides in him in our base defense. The former-Titan was signed this past offseason to a 3-year, $22.5 million deal, after starting the last 32 games of his career in Tennessee. Pro Football Focus rated him 3rd out of the 52 ILBs they graded last year, ranking only behind Bobby Wagner and Luke Keuchly, two Pro-Bowl caliber defenders.
There have been concerns about his abilities in coverage, as the Titans often replaced him in passing situations last season. But by all accounts Williamson regards himself as an “every down LB” and Todd Bowles isn’t known to take his leaders in the middle off the field situationally, so I expect Williamson to be on the field for the majority of plays this season.
On the outside, things get a lot more complicated. It’s no secret we haven’t gotten much production at all from any of our OLBs over the past few years, to the point we even tried Shelden Richardson in the spot for almost an entire season.
Right now the projected starters on the outside are Josh Martin and Jordan Jenkins, but I think a lot of that can change with some big preseason performances by the guys behind them.
Jordan Jenkins has been around long enough to not have to worry about a roster spot, and the coaches seem to still be high on him despite a lack of consistency so far in his career. But the same cannot be said for Josh Martin. Everything I’m hearing so far out of camp is that Jenkins has the SAM or “strong-side OLB” spot locked up, however the competition is wide open on the weak-side.
A few names to keep an eye on headed into Friday night are David Bass, Brandon Copeland, and Frankie Luvu. (I’m leaving Lorenzo Mauldin off the list because even though he’s currently listed with the 2nd team, he’s banged up and has been so completely underwhelming to this point in his career it wouldn’t shock me to see him jumped on the depth chart and ultimately cut before the summer is over.)
David Bass got some burn for us last year and flashed some potential on the edge, while Brandon Copeland has spent the last 2 years as a reserve in Detroit, starting 1 game last year. Copeland, along with UDFA Frankie Luvu out of Washington State, have gotten some looks so far this summer running with the starting defense and shown enough to impress Coach Bowles and warrant longer looks during Friday’s preseason opener.
Luvu is more of an undersized OLB who flashed a ton of speed and athleticism throughout his college career, so I’m excited to see how he looks when the lights come on Friday night.
Here are 2 of his 6.5 sacks last season for Washington State.
I expect Luvu, along with Copeland, Bass, and Dylan Donahue (a 2017 5th rounder who had his season cut short last year) to get extended looks in hopes of one of them establishing themselves as a true contender to take the 1st team OLB spot away from Josh Martin.
In order for our defense to reach it’s full potential this upcoming season, it’s gonna take some combination of Nathan Shepherd, Foley Fatukasi, and Henry Anderson along with Darron Lee, Avery Williamson, Jordan Jenkins and the other OLB guys playing behind them taking the next step and becoming enough of consistent disruptive presence in the backfield to draw attention away from Leonard Williams on a consistent basis.
If even 2 or 3 of them can show significant improvement getting to the QB, it will ultimately do wonders for Williams’ production, lessening his load and allowing him to see more 1-on-1 matchups, something he’s already proven to dominate so far in his career.
Stay tuned for the next breakdown of the New York Jets Preseason Position Battles as we move closer to Week 1 of the NFL preseason vs. Atlanta.