The New York Jets were horrendous at many things in the 2025 season.
Some of those weaknesses were more glaring than others, so a handful of them stole the headlines, including their zero interceptions and their 32nd-ranked passing offense.
But one weakness, which hasn’t gotten nearly as much attention as the headliners, had to have ground the gears of the old-school, defensive-minded Aaron Glenn: the run defense.
The Jets finished 29th in the NFL with 139.5 rushing yards per game allowed. Part of that was because they faced a league-high 31.7 rushing attempts per game, but even on a per-attempt basis, they were a disappointing 23rd, allowing 4.4 yards per attempt.
Within that run defense, the Jets were horrendous in a specific area: stopping runs through the left A-gap.
Across 83 attempts (4.9 per game), New York allowed a whopping 5.9 yards per carry on rush attempts directed between the center and the left guard. To boot, the Jets yielded 0.17 EPA (Expected Points Added) per attempt, the worst mark in the NFL, showing that those carries often went for first downs and touchdowns.
That’s an insane amount of production to allow on rushes through one particular gap. Nearly five times per game—over once per quarter—teams attacked the Jets through the left A-gap, and they averaged almost six yards a pop.
Few things could make a defensive coach more upset than that. If there’s one thing they hate seeing, it’s poor gap integrity straight up the gut. That’s the meat and potatoes of football.
It is abundantly clear that the Jets’ coaching staff and front office identified this issue and made a concerted effort to correct it. They made two offseason moves that should turn this glaring weakness into a strength.
By acquiring defensive tackles T’Vondre Sweat (trade) and David Onyemata (free agency), the Jets could flip from one of the worst teams in the NFL at defending the left-side A-gap to one of the best.
Sweat and Onyemata were both among the best interior run defenders in the league last season. Among defensive tackles with at least 300 snaps in 2025, Sweat ranked fourth-best in Pro Football Focus’ run defense grade (79.3), while Onyemata ranked eighth (74.3).
Each player can be trusted to defend either side of the line of scrimmage. In 2025, Sweat played 45.5% of his snaps on the defense’s left side, 45.5% on the right side, and 9% head-up over the center. Onyemata played 48.2% on the left, 44.2% on the right, and 7.6% head-up over the center.
Returning Jets defensive tackles Harrison Phillips and Jowon Briggs can also play both sides of the line. We will likely see the Jets rotate all of their defensive tackles between both sides of the line; alignments will probably depend on the strength of the formation rather than left versus right.
So far, the Jets haven’t been able to get a glimpse of Sweat’s potential impact in training camp, as he remains on the NFI (non-football injury) list with a minor hamstring injury. When the 25-year-old returns, the Jets will finally get to see the complete version of their revamped defensive line.
The Jets have too many headline-grabbing problems for a large portion of fans to be talking much about the interior run defense right now, but it’s something worth paying attention to. We just saw the Seattle Seahawks win a Super Bowl thanks largely in part to their run defense, specifically on the interior.
In the 2025 regular season, Seattle led the NFL with 3.7 yards allowed per rush attempt, their best yards-per-play ranking among the four main facets. To get even more specific, it was the left A-gap where the Seahawks were at their most dominant. They allowed just 3.0 yards per rush attempt in that gap, their best of any direction.
So, who knows? If the Jets flip their run defense in the left A-gap, they could just win a Super Bowl this year.
Okay, that might be a stretch, but the point stands: interior run defense is a critical part of being a great football team, even in the modern NFL. For that reason, it’s a big deal that the Jets have added two high-quality run-stuffers to help plug the gaping hole that existed between the center and the left guard.
