A massive collection of unique New York Jets stats to enjoy at the bye week
If you know me, you know I’ve been relaying stats to New York Jets fans in a variety of different ways over the years.
Starting with this piece, I’ll be experimenting with an all-new method of giving Jets fans the juicy stats they never knew they needed: a weekly “stat potpourri”, if you will.
As I research the team throughout each week, there are always plenty of fascinating statistical tidbits that I store in my brain but never make it into an article. With these weekly pieces, I want to unleash as many of those tidbits upon the world as possible. I’ll be dumping a boatload of stats I’ve discovered into these pieces, all there for you to consume at your heart’s content.
Use them to become the smartest fan at the next tailgate. Use them to kill time on the train. Or use them to win arguments on your favorite social media platform. It’s up to you. All I’m going to do is simply provide an enormous collection of concise statistical tidbits that cover every corner of the team.
Without further ado, let’s dive into our first-ever New York Jets stat potpourri. Here are 15 interesting stats to know as the Jets enjoy their Week 6 bye.
1. The Al Woods conundrum (The good news)
Al Woods is certainly having a positive effect on the Jets’ run defense, as they are allowing 3.1 yards per carry with him on the field and 5.2 with him off. That plus-2.1 differential is the best of any player on the team with at least 10 snaps against the run.
2. The Al Woods conundrum (The bad news)
However, Woods is 119th out of 128 qualified interior defensive linemen in pass-rush win rate (1.6%) and 108th in pressure rate (3.1%).
Woods is playing 12.8 pass-rush snaps per game, so it’s not as if he’s only out there for a couple of pass plays. In the previous game against Philadelphia, Woods played 19 pass-rush snaps and had zero pressures. That’s a lot of wasted reps.
3. Tyler Conklin’s strong hands
Tyler Conklin has caught 20 of his 25 targets this season (80%). He has zero drops and is credited with catching 4-of-5 contested targets. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Conklin has the third-most receptions above expectation among tight ends (+2.8).
4. Jets are shutting down deep passes
No NFL team is doing a better job than the Jets at defending the deep passing game. When throwing the ball at least 20 yards downfield against the Jets, opposing quarterbacks have completed 3-of-20 passes for 83 yards, no touchdowns, and four interceptions.
Here are some of the Jets’ ranks on 20-plus yard pass attempts:
- 3 completions allowed (T-1st)
- 15.0% completion percentage (1st)
- 4.8 passer rating (1st)
- 4.2 yards per attempt (1st)
- -0.95 EPA per attempt (1st)
5. But intermediate passes are a problem
While the Jets are clamping down on deep passes, they are allowing a lot of production in the intermediate range (10-19 yards downfield). In this part of the field, opponents have completed 25-of-40 passes for 489 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. Here are the Jets’ ranks against intermediate passes:
- 25 completions allowed (20th)
- 62.5% completion percentage (26th)
- 109.3 passer rating (25th)
- 12.2 yards per attempt (31st)
- 0.80 EPA per attempt (30th)
6. Sauce Gardner is still Sauce Gardner
Sauce Gardner had a shaky season debut against Buffalo where he allowed 59 yards and three first downs. Over four games since, he’s allowed 93 yards and four first downs. That’s just 23.3 yards and 1.0 first down per game.
Save for the season opener, Gardner’s coverage production has been essentially the same as it was last season. Gardner allowed just 0.60 yards per cover snap from Weeks 2-5. That’s right in line with his 2022 season average of 0.57.
7. Jets’ coverage tendencies defensively
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, here is a breakdown of the coverages utilized by the Jets defense in 2023:
- Cover 4: 27.3% (3rd) – NFL Average: 17.8% (Jets: +9.5%)
- Cover 1: 25.7% (10th) – NFL Average: 21.6% (Jets: +4.1%)
- Cover 6: 19.6% (5th) – NFL Average: 9.6% (Jets: +10.0%)
- Cover 3: 19.2% (29th) – NFL Average: 31.9% (Jets: -12.7%)
- Cover 2: 3.3% (30th) – NFL Average: 12.3% (Jets: -9.0%)
- Cover 0: 2.4% (25th) – NFL Average: 4.6% (Jets: -2.2%)
8. Carl Lawson is struggling
Among the 121 edge rushers with at least 40 pass-rush snaps, Carl Lawson is 112th in pressure rate (4.6%) and 99th in pass-rush win rate (7.1%). He only has two pressures on 43 pass-rush snaps this season.
9. Breece Hall is making things happen
Breece Hall is averaging 4.2 yards after contact per rush attempt, according to PFF, which ranks second-best among running backs with at least 30 carries. In addition, he also ranks second-best with 2.6 rushing yards over expected (RYOE) per carry, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
10. Michael Carter II is a stud
Michael Carter II has allowed only 11 catches for 77 yards across 163 snaps in slot coverage. He’s allowing 0.47 yards per cover snap in the slot, which ranks first among the 16 cornerbacks who have played at least 100 snaps in slot coverage. Even if you shrink the threshold to 50 slot coverage snaps, Carter II still ranks third out of 38 qualifiers.
11. Bryce Huff is playing well against the run
It’s a small sample, but Bryce Huff has the highest run-stop rate of any Jets defender at 14.8%, recording four run stops on just 27 snaps against the run. He also hasn’t missed a tackle against the run.
12. Thomas Morstead keeps booting bombs
Thomas Morstead ranks seventh-best with 44.3 net yards per punt. A big part of his success has been his ability to kick with hang time, which buys time for the Jets’ coverage team to rally. Morstead ranks ninth-best with an average hang time of 4.48 seconds.
13. What is Randall Cobb’s purpose in the offense?
With 20 receiving yards on 129 routes run, Randall Cobb is averaging 0.16 yards per route run, which ranks last in the NFL among wide receivers with at least 10 targets. Cobb has caught only three of the 12 passes thrown his way (25%).
14. Same question for Dalvin Cook: But the Jets are slowly working him out
Dalvin Cook remains last in yards per carry (2.8) and RYOE per carry (-1.4) among running backs with at least 30 carries. However, the Jets seem to finally be admitting defeat with this experiment. Cook’s snap count has decreased in every game this season, stooping all the way down to snaps (14%) against Philadelphia:
- Week 1 vs. Buffalo: 27 snaps (50%)
- Week 2 at Dallas: 17 snaps (36%)
- Week 3 vs. New England: 16 snaps (25%)
- Week 4 vs. Kansas City: 15 snaps (25%)
- Week 5 at Denver: 11 snaps (17%)
- Week 6 vs. Philadelphia: 9 snaps (14%)
15. Jets’ goal-line run defense is powering the red zone success
The Jets have the NFL’s fifth-best red zone defense, allowing a touchdown on just 36.8% of trips. The main reason is their run defense near the goal line.
On nine rush attempts inside of the 3-yard line, the Jets have allowed -13 yards (-1.4 YPC) with just two conversions (1 first down and 1 touchdown). The only touchdown was the controversial Jalen Hurts score in Week 6.
Regardless, even with the Hurts touchdown included, it’s incredible how much the Jets have exceeded expectations in goal-line running situations. NFL teams have scored a touchdown on 49% of carries inside of the 3-yard line this season. The Jets have allowed a touchdown just 11% of the time.
At the league-average rate of 49%, the Jets would have allowed 4.4 touchdowns on nine rush attempts, but they’ve only given up one – which means they’ve essentially saved 3.4 touchdowns versus average with their goal-line run defense.
Continue reading for Bonus Stats! (Jets X-Factor Subscribers Only)
Bonus #1: Jets’ personnel tendencies offensively
Earlier, we took a peek at the Jets’ schematic tendencies on defense. Here is a breakdown of how often they use each personnel package on offense:
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