The New York Jets did what they needed to do after ranking 31st in sacks and 29th in rushing yards allowed.

General manager Darren Mougey completely revamped the team’s defensive line in the 2026 offseason. New York’s defensive line rotation is expected to include two draft picks, two eight-figure free agent pickups, and a trade acquisition.

With a plethora of new faces, it’s time to take our best shot at predicting the Jets’ 2026 snap-count distribution along the defensive line.

Defensive tackles

Third-year man Jowon Briggs should be expected to lead the Jets’ interior defensive line. He will get a chance to prove he can maintain the superstar ceiling he displayed in 2025.

Last season, across nine games following the Quinnen Williams trade, Briggs had a snap count of 65%. With Briggs remaining the Jets’ best pass-rushing option on the interior by a long shot, he should hold a similar number this season.

T’Vondre Sweat established himself as one of the NFL’s best run defenders in 2025, and at 25 years old, he’s still ascending. To boot, his pass-rushing chops are quite solid for a 366-pounder, so he can be trusted to handle more than just a situational run-stuffing role. Sweat had a 51% snap count for the Titans last season and should be expected to stay around there with the Jets.

David Onyemata remained a solid run-stuffer in 2025 at 33 years old, although his pass-rushing production began to drop off. He had a 57% snap count for the Falcons, but with Briggs and Sweat poised to lead the Jets’ unit, we’ll drop Onyemata down to 40% as he enters his age-34 season.

Harrison Phillips should be expected to see a similar shift to Onyemata. Now 30 years old, Phillips was still a quality run stopper in 2025, but his pass-rushing was almost non-existent (1 QB hit in 17 starts). That level of pass-rush production warrants a steep decline from Phillips’ 61% snap count. A cutdown to around 30% would make sense.

Finally, we have fourth-round rookie Darrell Jackson Jr., for whom the Jets seem to have unique plans. While there may not be many available snaps for Jackson on the interior with four quality veterans ahead of him, head coach Aaron Glenn stated that Jackson will play snaps out at 5-technique.

“I actually see him playing, we call it the big end, so he will play a 5-technique, a 4-technique, he’ll be able to do that,” Glenn said of Jackson.

DT Projection:

  • Jowon Briggs: 65%
  • T’Vondre Sweat: 50%
  • David Onyemata: 40%
  • Harrison Phillips: 30%
  • Darrell Jackson Jr.: 20%

Edge rushers

Only one of the Jets’ top four edge rushers was on the team last year, so there’s a lot of projection involved here, especially with a rookie in the picture.

The most important variable in this discussion is David Bailey. Are the Jets confident enough in his three-down ability to hand him a big role from the jump? Or will they ease him in with a more limited role?

Given that the Jets loved Bailey enough to choose him second overall, I lean toward the former, especially after defensive line coach Karl Dunbar brushed off concerns about Bailey’s run defense.

For those reasons, we’ll put Bailey at a unit-high 65% snap count, similar to the unit-high 66% snap count that Will McDonald held in 2025.

Speaking of McDonald, it is fair to expect a reduction to his role in 2026—not a massive one, but a reduction, nonetheless. The Jets used the second overall pick on Bailey and paid $31 million guaranteed for two free agent edge rushers who are superior to McDonald against the run, Joseph Ossai and Kingsley Enagbare. All signs point to him seeing fewer snaps.

After leading the Jets’ edge rushers with a 66% snap count in 2025, a drop to around 50% would make sense, with most of the removed snaps coming on early downs. This change would allow the Jets to transfer many of McDonald’s run-down snaps to better run defenders, while keeping him a fixture in the pass rush.

That brings us to Ossai and Enagbare. Ossai joined the Jets on a three-year, $34.5 million deal with $22.5 million guaranteed, so the team clearly sees him as a key piece of the defense. A 50% snap count is reasonable, with a lean toward early downs.

Finally, Enagbare rounds out the rotation as the fourth option. A 35% snap count, leaning toward early downs, would make him a useful complementary piece.

Keep in mind, too, that Darrell Jackson Jr. will likely take a small chunk of snaps on the edge, given Glenn’s comments that he will be playing some “big end” as the 5-technique.

EDGE Projection:

  • David Bailey: 65%
  • Will McDonald: 50%
  • Joseph Ossai: 50%
  • Kingsley Enagbare: 35%

2026 Jets DL snap-count prediction

  • EDGE David Bailey: 65%
  • DT Jowon Briggs: 65%
  • EDGE Will McDonald: 50%
  • EDGE Joseph Ossai: 50%
  • DT T’Vondre Sweat: 50%
  • DT David Onyemata: 40%
  • EDGE Kingsley Enagbare: 35%
  • DT Harrison Phillips: 30%
  • DT Darrell Jackson Jr.: 20%