In taking over as head coach of the New York Jets, Aaron Glenn has his work cut out for him in a variety of areas. He has to oversee the development of a quarterback. He has to find a way to stop the run with undersized tackles and linebackers. He has to figure out who is going to catch passes other than Garrett Wilson.
Another chore for Glenn, and one that hasn’t gotten enough attention, is finding a safety who can make plays on the football the way his safeties managed to do in New Orleans and Detroit where he was the secondary coach and defensive coordinator respectively.
With the Saints we saw the emergence of Marcus Williams, who had thirteen interceptions in four years. Then it was on to Detroit where Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph combined to pick off 24 passes in a combined five seasons.
Compare that to the Jets, whose safeties have combined to intercept more than two passes in a season just twice since 2016.
It’s clearly more than just the safety position for the Jets too. Nobody on their defense has been able to pick off the football over the past decade. Meanwhile, Aaron Glenn’s defensive units have done a remarkable job.
Since taking over as the Saints defensive backs coach in 2016, his defense, all players included, have intercepted 126 passes. Of those, 52 were taken away by his safeties.
In that same time frame, Jets safeties have exactly half as many with 26. The defensive unit as a whole hasn’t been much better, picking off only 85 passes. The difference is remarkable.
So who, if anyone, will emerge for Aaron Glenn?
Keep an eye on free agent addition Andre Cisco. A ball hawk in college for Syracuse, Cisco is a four-year pro who picked off a total of seven passes over the course of his second and third pro seasons. Last year he had just one on a Jacksonville defense that ranked 32nd in the NFL against the pass.
College cornerback turned safety Tony Adams is the most athletic player in the group, but rookie draft choice Malachi Moore is expected to challenge Adams for his starting job.
The dark horse candidates on the roster are made up of second-year undrafted free agent Jarius Monroe and former colts draft choice Jaylin Simpson. Undrafted rookie Dean Clark has a shot to stick, but we would expect that to be in a role that sees him play far more than just safety.
We thought Monroe had a chance to make the roster last pre-season which didn’t happen, but he did hang around on the practice squad before being a late-season add to the active roster.
So while the Jets don’t have much in terms of proven talent at safety, they have some guys who have shown flashes and others with quality attributes.
Will Glenn find his next difference maker in the group? If so, who do you think it will be?
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