Aaron Glenn and Steve Wilks are bringing an all-new defensive scheme to the New York Jets.
However, Glenn and Wilks’ ultimate plans for the Jets’ defensive scheme will remain discrete until we see the Jets play a real game. Even if they occasionally drop subtle hints of their vision, we will not see the scheme unleashed to its fullest until the regular season.
Such is the nature of a league where coaches are deathly afraid of leaking the slightest inkling of intel to their rivals. In the meantime, all we can do to project the Jets’ scheme is nibble on the breadcrumbs left on the practice field.
Rookie offensive tackle Armand Membou may have tipped us off to a fascinating piece of the Jets’ defensive plans.
The Jets are cooking something big for Will McDonald
Membou’s battles with third-year edge rusher Will McDonald have been the talk of Jets training camp thus far. McDonald has been one of the Jets’ top standouts through four practices, although Membou started battling back late in the week.
On Saturday, Membou called McDonald “his biggest opp” in camp. In other words, McDonald is the man Membou seems to be blocking most often.
Membou lines up at right tackle. So, based on Membou’s comments and the chatter surrounding his matchups with McDonald, it would appear that McDonald is spending most (if not all) of his time lined up at left defensive end.
This would be a new role for McDonald compared to the one he played in 2024.
Under Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich, McDonald rotated between both sides of the defensive line. Last season, he logged 231 pass-rush snaps from the left side and 180 from the right side, which is a 56%/44% split.
McDonald was already an excellent pass rusher while playing both sides of the line. But if the Jets move McDonald to the left side full-time, it will push his production ceiling to a whole new level.
In 2024, McDonald recorded eight sacks on his 231 pass-rush snaps from the left side, compared to just two on 180 pass-rush snaps from the right side.
Even in his 2023 rookie season, McDonald had three sacks on 57 pass-rush snaps from the left side, versus one sack on 36 pass-rush snaps from the right.
Overall, McDonald has racked up 11 sacks on 288 career pass-rush snaps from the left side. That’s a rate of one sack every 26.2 pass-rush snaps.
Exactly how good is that?
Let’s estimate that McDonald will log 500 pass-rush snaps this season. He played 462 across 17 games last year (15th among EDGE) despite not starting in the first two games.
Across 500 pass-rush snaps, a rate of one sack every 26.2 pass-rush snaps would yield… 19.1 sacks.
That’s what a full-time move to the left side could do for McDonald.
Even if McDonald only replicated his 462 pass-rush snaps from last year, his left-side pace would put him on track for about 17.6 sacks.
A feather in the coaches’ caps?
To be clear, we do not yet know for certain whether the Jets plan to use McDonald on the left side full-time. As we mentioned, the Jets will keep their schematic plans as discrete as possible until Week 1.
Still, based on what we’ve heard out of camp, it sure seems like New York has given McDonald a home on the left side. If true, it’s tantalizing news for Jets fans.
Not only does it boost McDonald’s production ceiling, but it shows that the Jets’ coaching staff understands its players. New York could have put McDonald on either side of the line; after all, he’s spent plenty of time on both edges. Choosing the left side suggests that New York closely analyzed McDonald’s film and metrics, leading them to place him at the spot that should get the most out of him.
New York’s early usage of McDonald is a subtle indicator of the new coaching staff’s knack for optimizing its players.