Most worrisome New York Jets statistical trends through Week 3

These brutal numbers are cause for major concern regarding the short and long-term state of the New York Jets. No breakout pass-rusher Without any proven pass-rushers on the roster, the Jets defense needed someone to have a breakout season in that phase, but nobody has been up to the challenge. The Jets are currently led in pressures by Tarell Basham, John Franklin-Myers, and Jordan Jenkins, who have five apiece. That ties them for 84th in the league. Quinnen Williams broke out with a two-sack game against the 49ers in Week 2, but those two sacks were his only pressures of the game. On the season, he has three pressures over a team-high 64 pass-rush snaps. He ranks 36th among interior defensive linemen in pass-rush snaps but 56th in total pressures. His Buffalo and Indianapolis games were eerily silent, as he picked up a combined one pressure between them, which was a quarterback hit in Buffalo that was flagged for roughing the passer. So, he essentially produced nothing notable as a pass-rusher in either game. On the positive side, Franklin-Myers has been highly efficient in his first two games as a Jet, with his five pressures coming over just 28 pass-rush snaps. Franklin-Myers' pressure rate of 17.9% ranks second-best among the 122 interior defensive linemen with at least 20 pass-rush snaps thus far, trailing only former teammate Aaron Donald (18.9%). An extreme small sample size disclaimer is warranted here, but nevertheless, it's been an intriguing start for the 24-year-old. He deserves an uptick in playing time. Connor McGovern's shaky start While the Jets offensive line has been decent as a whole thus far - providing a massive upgrade over 2019 and fulfilling its expectations of being a below-average but competent unit - McGovern has not quite been the top-10 center he was for the Broncos last year. He has been credited with allowing eight pressures, second-most among centers. After allowing 15 pressures over 16 starts for Denver in 2019, McGovern is currently on pace to give up 43 in 2020. Marcus Maye's disappointing encore Maye was making plays all over the field in Week 1, looking like a potential star in his new strong safety role, but he has been poor in the two games since. Against the 49ers, Maye allowed two touchdowns in coverage to Jordan Reed and missed three tackles. This past Sunday against the Colts, Maye was not victimized in coverage, but he was credited with another three missed tackles. He leads safeties with seven misses so far this season. Jamal Adams was credited with four missed tackles in the entirety of his 2019 season. It also seems that Maye's breakout as a blitzer in Week 1 (2 sacks, 1 hurry, 1 batted pass) was an aberration. Gregg Williams has sent Maye after the quarterback only five times over the past two games after sending him seven times in Buffalo, and over those five blitz opportunities, Maye produced no impact. Sam Darnold's eerie company While it is important to look beyond Darnold's raw statistical production and evaluate him based on the things he has full control over, his numbers have stooped to such a low point that they have to be considered to some degree. Darnold's early-career performance puts him in some daunting company. Darnold - currently ranked 31st in the league with a passer rating of 70.7 - is well on his way to a third consecutive season with a passer rating below the NFL average. Here are the quarterbacks since 2000 that have started their NFL careers off with a below-average passer rating in each of their first three seasons (minimum 200 passes in each season): Patrick Ramsey, Joey Harrington, Kyle Boller, Mark Sanchez, Sam Bradford, Christian Ponder, and Blake Bortles. Each of them were first-rounders. Obviously, none turned out to be successful picks for their franchises. Darnold is currently averaging 5.9 yards per attempt (31st) with a touchdown rate of 3.1% (27th) and an interception rate of 4.2% (30th). If he cannot turn things around, this would be his third consecutive season with under 7.0 yards per attempt, a touchdown rate under 5.0%, and an interception rate of 2.5% or higher. The only other quarterbacks since 2000 to do that in three straight seasons to start their career (min. 200 attempts per season) are Harrington and Sanchez. There are plenty of very legitimate reasons to believe Darnold can overcome these trends and outperform some of the players listed above, most of whom were not as promising or talented as Darnold is. His ability to produce flashy numbers has been severely hampered by numerous factors throughout his years in New York. Regardless, the simple fact is that the majority of quarterbacks who begun their careers producing similarly to Darnold did not turn out to be good players. Perhaps Darnold bucks the trend, but history suggests it is unlikely. Darnold needs a red-hot run over the next 13 games to hoist himself back up to a production tier that has yielded a substantial number of successful quarterbacks. That would make it much more realistic to envision him finding success with the Jets, and thus allow the organization to feel far more confident in giving him another shot next season. Right now, Darnold's body of work is mirrored mostly by massive disappointments. With very few successful career arcs in league history that are comparable to the way Darnold's is shaping up, it will be hard for the Jets to remain committed to him heading into 2021 if he finishes the 2020 season without substantially improving his track record off of where it is now.