Dissecting C.J. Mosley’s incredible 2020 impact for the New York Jets

What inside linebacker C.J. Mosley brings to the table for the 2020 New York Jets is beyond incredible. Nania's All-22 breaks it down. Twenty-nineteen turned out to be a lost season for C.J. Mosley. The star linebacker missed four games following a groin injury that he suffered during the season opener against Buffalo, and after returning for the Week 7 clash with New England, Mosley was put on season-ending injured reserve as the groin issue persisted. Mosley owns the richest contract of any linebacker in the NFL. As of right now, his deal is one of the biggest relative to positional average in all of football. His $85 million deal is 33% larger than that of second-ranked linebacker Jaylon Smith ($63.8 million), the third-largest gap between the first and second-richest players at one position (Ezekiel Elliott, 58%, Khalil Mack, 34%). The Jets do not have a realistic way to get out of Mosley's deal until after the 2021 season, so it is a good bet he is going to be around for at least two more seasons. While Mosley's debut season turned out to be a massive disappointment due to poor injury luck, something needs to be made clear: he was given that gargantuan deal for good reason. That reason? He's a star. If Mosley returns healthy, he is going to represent a major upgrade over what the Jets dealt with at linebacker in 2019. Let's dig into some plays that demonstrate how a healthy C.J. Mosley would elevate the Jets defense to new heights in 2020. ELITE INSTINCT While Mosley is a solid athlete, there is not a certain physical attribute that jumps off the screen when you watch him. He does not sprint from sideline-to-sideline like Luke Kuechly or crush skulls like Ray Lewis. Then what makes him a great player? His outstanding intangibles. Mosley's football IQ is incredible. Clearly well-prepared for every opponent, he showcases excellent awareness and recognition on a consistent basis. In Week 17 of 2018, Mosley sealed Baltimore's AFC North title with an interception of Baker Mayfield. His assignment on this play was to blitz, but he reads Mayfield's eyes and drops out, snagging his attempted slant route straight out of the air. The leaping grab is impressive, but it is Mosley's headiness that makes this a play almost no other linebacker would make. For him to intercept this pass (and not merely deflect it), he has to have a good idea of what route Mayfield is looking for. The fact Mosley was able to pick that ball off so cleanly makes it clear that he knew exactly what was going on — not just in front of him, but behind him as well. SOUND TECHNIQUE Mosley combines his superb football mind with top-notch fundamentals. When in pursuit, he finds creative ways to evade blockers. As a tackler, he finishes with precise form, allowing him to minimize yards after contact at a high level. Watch here as Mosley mirrors the running back's cutback on this outside zone run. Mosley then finishes strong as he lowers his shoulders to match the running back's attempt to power forward. A great display of technical mastery, and another example of his awareness. Here, Mosley sidesteps the guard at the second level, then finishes with power as he maintains his balance and perfectly times his shot on Chris Ivory. Mosley made nine tackles in his two games for the Jets without recording a miss. As a Raven, Mosley ranked 14th among linebackers in tackling efficiency in 2018 (6.4% miss rate with 103 made and seven missed) and seventh in 2017 (5.9% miss rate with 143 made and nine missed). In 2019, Jets linebackers James Burgess (14.4%) and Neville Hewitt (17.7%) ranked 45th and 55th, respectively, out of 58 qualified linebackers in tackling efficiency. EFFICIENT RUN DEFENSE From 2014-18, the Ravens allowed 182 rushes for 10 yards or more, second-fewest in the NFL over that span (Broncos, 176). Mosley was perhaps the leading force behind that accomplishment. He is a patient run defender, focusing on letting the play develop in front of him and preventing any huge gains from breaking loose. Watch here as Mosley meets Austin Ekeler one-on-one in space and comes up with a powerful stop. The Jets learned the hard way about Mosley's impact against the run in the season opener. With Mosley on the field, Bills running backs ran for 28 yards on eight carries (3.5 average). On the first drive following Mosley's exit, Buffalo's backs ran for 57 yards on four carries (14.3 average) en route to a touchdown. With that said, the Jets did rebound to rank second in rush defense DVOA over the course of the season, but I think they would have been even more dominant with a healthy Mosley out there. Mosley posted an average Pro Football Focus run defense grade of 76.5 over his five seasons in Baltimore. For reference, that number would rank 10th-best out of 58 qualified linebackers in 2019. Jets linebackers James Burgess and Neville Hewitt ranked 32nd and 52nd, respectively, in run defense grade among those 58 qualified linebackers this past season. VERSATILITY AND RECOGNITION IN PAS COVERAGE I believe pass coverage is where Mosley provides the most value. It is here where his intangible gifts — technique, preparation, play recognition, awareness, instinct, quick reaction time — all come together to create plenty of positive impact. Mosley can do it all in coverage. When asked to break on the ball and make tackles underneath, he finishes with great consistency. Mosley ranked 10th among linebackers in pass game tackling efficiency in 2018 and fifth in 2017. On this stop against New Orleans, Mosley puts his strong tackling and many of his other positive coverage traits on display. Three threats cross through his zone. First, he needs to carry the tight end up the seam until the safety can pick him up. Then, a crossing route comes by to try and divert his attention. Mosley needs to respect that route, but also understand that he has to stay home and pass that route off to his teammate to the right (#48 Patrick Onwuasor). Success — neither of those two throws is made and Mosley is still in good position. He reads the dump-off to Mark Ingram and makes a near-flawless break on the ball, meeting him at the catch point and dropping him shy of the first down marker on 3rd & 3. Mosley does an excellent job on that play of covering multiple routes, forcing the quarterback to continue moving through his reads and hold the ball longer. That is something he does at a high level. Most linebackers do not have the nimbleness or awareness to swiftly sift through numerous threats. Mosley can do that, as shown above, and it makes life on the quarterback difficult. Here is another example of Mosley managing multiple receiving options. He hangs tight on Jarvis Landry's slant route just long enough to discourage Baker Mayfield from attempting it, passing it off to the defenders inside. At the same time, Mosley does not commit to Landry too hard to the point where he cannot get back to David Njoku in the flat. After denying the throw to Landry, Mosley breaks hard on Njoku, and Mayfield pulls the ball down. The Ravens pick up a sack, thanks much in part to Mosley's headiness in covering two quick throwing options. Most linebackers cannot process that much information on a consistent basis. Watch here as Neville Hewitt gets caught looking at all of the action around him and loses sight of his responsibility. Need Mosley to hang with a tight end? Check. He can do that. Sticky coverage by Mosley here on Jesse James, resulting in a pass breakup. Need him to cover out of the backfield? That's in Mosley's bag of tricks as well. This is a sneakily tremendous play. Mosley dips underneath the attempted rub and covers James Conner step-for-step into the flat, forcing Ben Roethlisberger to throw the ball into the dirt. Had Mosley been clipped by the crossing route, Roethlisberger probably dumps this off to Conner for big yardage. Yet another example of Mosley's intangible and technical greatness. Here, Mosley shows great instinct as he covers Conner's delayed release out of the backfield. Mosley stumbles a bit when breaking downfield and could have been beaten with a better throw, but his lightning-quick reaction provided great initial coverage. Mosley's good positioning forced Roethlisberger to pull down his first attempt to throw, which led to him rushing the second attempt off of poor feet and thus misfiring. Once again, wherewithal like that is not normal. Watch James Burgess here. He is completely oblivious to the play fake, leaving his matchup, tight end Jeremy Sprinkle, wide open for a touchdown. Mosley is plenty comfortable dropping back and playing in the intermediate and deep ranges of the field. On this play, Mosley shows blitz and drops back. Mosley quickly diagnoses the play and understands that Tyler Boyd is the only threat to his zone, sliding in Boyd's direction and positioning himself to undercut Andy Dalton's throw. Mosley suffered the groin injury that would essentially end his 2019 season while making a terrific play in coverage down the field. He drops back and perfectly plays the deep middle against John Brown, positioning himself directly underneath the route. Mosley deflects the pass without even looking by extending his arms once he sees Brown reach out for the catch. It would have taken a perfect pass over the top to drop this one in over Mosley's tight coverage. Mosley is six-foot-two, 242 pounds, and ran a 4.63 forty. Brown is five-foot-ten, 179 pounds, and ran a 4.34 forty. The fact that Mosley was able to cover that matchup so well is a strong indictment of the two abilities we have been harping on — his awareness and his technique. He quickly realizes Brown is his responsibility and commits to turning and running with him, not looking back at the quarterback or any other distraction He understands what position he needs to take to best cover the throw, staying on Brown's back hip and forcing the throw/catch to be made over the top. By taking this position instead of trying to win a footrace, Mosley makes the throw/catch as difficult as possible while avoiding the risk of a penalty and keeping from overrunning the play to allow an underneath adjustment by the receiver He tops it off with excellent football IQ as he reads Brown's hands and eyes to get his hands up and make the deflection That is an extremely tough position for a linebacker to be put in, and the Jets learned throughout the season that most linebackers cannot handle that type of play like Mosley can. Neville Hewitt, in particular, made a handful of huge mistakes playing deep zone coverages. Here, he commits pass interference in the end zone against Tyler Boyd. Hewitt accomplishes the first bullet point above, as he recognizes the threat and turns and runs with Boyd, but he fails at numbers two and three. First, he overruns the coverage, sticking too closely, which could have allowed Boyd to dip underneath and adjust back to the ball. The only reason Boyd does not do that — Hewitt's over-aggressive pursuit and failure to play the ball leads to a penalty. The numbers show, quite clearly, how much of an upgrade in coverage Mosley would be over the duo that took most of his snaps in 2019. C.J. Mosley is an elite difference-maker. Add him to a defense that was 10th in DVOA with substantially below-average linebacker play, and there is no telling how high the unit could fly.