When an organization struggles in one facet of the game, the guessing game begins: Is it a result of poor player production or ineffective scheme?
The New York Jets are about to put a test to that very question.
While the Jets have fielded one of the better defenses in the league over the last few seasons, they featured one fatal flaw under Robert Saleh: They could not stop the run.
By the time the 2024 season rolled around, the organization not only struggled in that part of the game, but offseason trades and holdouts also rendered its pass rush even worse.
Instead of addressing the pass rush this offseason, the New York Jets believe one key difference from last season can alter the fabric of their defensive line.
Jets’ scheme can save the defense
The scheme is sometimes overlooked when evaluating a team’s best players. When a player struggles, it could be simply because the schematics around him don’t quite fit his skill set.
Jets fans know this well—with a former player of theirs to boot.
When Bryce Huff was a member of Gang Green, he excelled significantly in the wide-nine alignment. It allowed him to assume a pure pass-rushing role instead of focusing on his deficiencies in the run game.
When Huff signed a three-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles last offseason, he struggled greatly under Vic Fangio’s multiple approach. Does that mean Fangio was a bad coach for defensive linemen?
Considering Philly ended up winning the Super Bowl, of course not.
The wide-nine is a defensive alignment predicated on athletic linebackers and edge rushers who consistently get after the quarterback. The weakness of that alignment is that those edge rushers aren’t necessarily worried about stopping the run.
It’s why New York’s struggles in recent years weren’t mostly about its players.
It was about the scheme and why the organization is in much better shape to fix those issues in 2025.
With the hiring of head coach Aaron Glenn and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, the Jets are building a defense that is predicated heavily on doing what is in the best interest of their current players.
That includes building schemes and alignments that fit the players’ skill sets and the team’s needs, week after week.
“I think everything is predicated (on) our opponents,” Wilks said last week. “Each week it might be a little different, zone eyes, getting the ball out quick, making plays on the ball, being physical at the line of scrimmage, trying to take certain guys away, tighten things up so the D-line can get there. So, it’s going to fluctuate in how we play.”
There’s talent in the building
The Jets have plenty of options to work with along their defensive line outside of an All-Pro defensive tackle in Quinnen Williams.
Former first-round picks Jermaine Johnson and Will McDonald each have unique skill sets. Johnson is more of an all-around edge rusher with a blend of physicality that McDonald doesn’t have, whereas the Iowa State product is a quicker player and an athletic freak.
Add in role players like Micheal Clemons and Tyler Barron, and the Jets have a collection of young edge rushers with their own unique ways of performing.
It will be Wilks’ job to position these players in a way that is effective. There’s reason to suspect he will.
In his lone season as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator in 2023, Wilks’s talented defense ranked as the fourth-best run group in the league. In three seasons as a defensive coordinator and play-caller, Wilks has had a top run defense in two of them.
The New York Jets are not without defensive line talent. It is up to their new coaching staff to make that talent work against both the run and pass this time around.
