Positive-impact abilities that Arthur Maulet and Neville Hewitt offer the Jets

Arthur Maulet and Neville Hewitt will each bring a few valuable skills to the table upon returning to the Jets in 2020. [sc name="nanianumbers" ] Joe Douglas' approach to his first free agency period as the general manager of the New York Jets has been relatively conservative. Four of the six signings that have reportedly been agreed to are involving players who were with the team in 2019 - presumed starters Brian Poole and Alex Lewis, as well as depth pieces Neville Hewitt and Arthur Maulet. Depth players are often overrated by fans and media due to the fact that expectations tend to be astoundingly low, but Hewitt and Maulet each offer a handful of abilities that make them truly useful backups. Neville Hewitt Blitzing ability Before getting into the positives of Hewitt's skill-set, I want to make it clear that we are not advocating for Hewitt to be a starter. We are examining the facets of the game where he can provide positive value in small dosages. Hewitt did not play well as a starter in place of Avery Williamson last year. In fact, he was a substantial downgrade. Sticking with Williamson as the starter and having Hewitt lead the second-team is the wise move. I have already written extensively about this. Now we can get into the areas where Hewitt excels. As you can see above, he was efficient as a pass-rusher in 2019. Hewitt logged the 24th-most pass-rush snaps among linebackers (73), but he tied for 20th at the position with 12 pressures. Watch here as Hewitt gets a sack on (new Patriots starter?) Jarrett Stidham as he blitzes the A-gap and beats Ted Karras to the inside. Quality blitzing has always been something Hewitt has brought to the table. Hewitt had only seen a tiny diet of pass-rush opportunities prior to 2019, but he made the most of them. Over 52 pass-rush snaps from 2015-18, Hewitt collected 12 pressures. That's a rate of 23.1%, which would have ranked fourth-best among qualified linebackers in 2019. Special teams value Hewitt has a ton of special teams experience, participating in 1,171 snaps over the course of his career. He has played extensively on the punt (366), kickoff return (266), kickoff (239), and punt return (215) units, also playing 85 snaps on the field goal/extra point block unit. Hewitt had a phenomenal season covering kicks for the Jets in 2018. He collected nine tackles without being knocked for a single missed tackle. Pro Football Focus scored Hewitt with a 73.9 special teams grade, which was the 32nd-best mark out of 215 players with at least 200 special teams snaps (86th percentile). His total of 281 snaps ranked third on the team behind Brandon Copeland and Terrence Brooks. Despite elevating to a starting defensive role in 2019, Hewitt maintained responsibilities on special teams, although his role was slashed a bit. Brant Boyer removed Hewitt from the kickoff and kickoff return teams, but he remained one of the primary pieces on the punting unit (team-high 5.5 snaps per game). Hewitt sporadically appeared on the punt return unit (1.7 snaps per game) and was part of the field goal/extra point block unit (3.8 snaps per game through Week 13) until he was pulled off over the final four weeks of the season. Here, Hewitt provides good protection for Lachlan Edwards, hooks his man inside to free himself up downfield, and makes a great open-field tackle as he holds Tavon Austin to a one-yard return. Thomas Hennessy and Maulet do a nice job of bouncing the return outside. Hewitt notched three special teams tackles and was tagged with only one miss in 2019. His 64.0 special teams graded ranked in 62nd percentile among players with at least 100 special teams snaps. Over 397 special teams snaps as a Jet, Hewitt has recorded 12 tackles, one missed tackle, and zero penalties. It can hardly get any better than that. Arthur Maulet Underneath tackling proficiency Maulet provided the Jets with some respectable coverage once he was elevated to a starting role. Over 38 targets from Weeks 10-17 (six games played), he yielded 259 yards and 12 first downs, rock-solid numbers of 6.8 yards per target and a 31.6% first down rate. When you take a deeper look into Maulet's coverage numbers, you get a good idea of what his responsibilities were and exactly where he was adding value. On the season, out of 119 qualified cornerbacks, Maulet allowed the 12th-highest completion percentage (75.0%) and yielded receptions at the third-highest rate (one catch per 7.5 snaps in coverage). Teams targeted him at the 20th-highest rate (one target per 5.7 snaps in coverage). Those numbers make it seem like Maulet was absolutely horrible in coverage, but they are really just showcasing the nature of Maulet's role. Maulet was tagged with a lot of targets on throws into the flat in which he had no chance of preventing a reception. His job in those situations is to break on the ball and make a tackle in space, and that is where he shined. Maulet allowed just 9.5 yards per reception, 12th-best among qualified cornerbacks. In particular, he allowed a staggeringly-low 3.6 yards after catch per reception. On this 3rd & 7 play against Oakland, Maulet passes off the No. 1 receiver's vertical route and then breaks underneath to make a beautiful tackle on a dump-off to the running back. It's a two-yard loss with absolutely nothing gained after the catch. Naturally, having to defend so many throws like the one above, Maulet did miss a healthy number of tackles. He whiffed on six attempts against 26 converted tackles in the passing game, giving him a miss rate of 19.0% that ranked in the 10th percentile among cornerbacks. Even so, Maulet made enough high-impact tackles to provide plus-value overall in spite of his issue with missed tackles. Run support The Jets were flat-out dominant against the run in 2019. Everyone played a role in that success, from the behemoths inside to the rangy athletes on the outside. Maulet and Bless Austin did an excellent job of providing support against the run. Maulet made 10 tackles against the run without a single miss, while Austin chipped in seven tackles without a blunder. Five of Maulet's ten tackles against the run were considered "run-stops" - tackles that constitute a negative-value result for the offense. With five run-stops over 104 snaps against the run, Maulet recorded a run-stop percentage of 4.8% that ranked eighth-best out of 109 qualified cornerbacks (94th percentile). Maulet makes a tremendous one-on-one tackle against Joe Mixon on this play, saving a potentially huge gain. The Jets may add a veteran cornerback or two before training camp arrives, but the odds are strong that there is going to be a starting spot up for grabs on the outside. It is going to be exciting to watch Maulet and Austin battle it out. Both players showed intriguing upside over their first extended action as starters in the NFL.

Arthur Maulet and Neville Hewitt will each bring a few valuable skills to the table upon returning to the Jets in 2020.

Archives

Sections