Does NY Jets’ defense have a single building block entering 2027?

It went from his superpower to the New York Jets’ kryptonite.

The early returns for Aaron Glenn’s run as the Jets’ defensive play-caller were strong. But over the last six weeks, Glenn’s Jets defense has turned into a complete mess, costing the team multiple victories in which the offense played well.

Since Week 3, the Jets rank 26th in defensive EPA per play (0.093), 30th in defensive success rate (48.2%), and 31st in first downs allowed per game (23.2). They have been particularly awful against the pass, ranking 31st in EPA allowed per dropback (0.279) and 29th in opponent passer rating (107.0).

Glenn’s coaching has come under fire over this span, and rightfully so; after all, when you take over your team’s defensive play-calling and tout it as your “superpower”, you raise a high bar for your unit, and the Jets’ defense is coming nowhere close to it. Coaching seems to be a major factor in the struggles, as opponents are scheming open answers with ease.

Last week, the Las Vegas Raiders had no issues routinely creating wide-open completions over the middle for their tight end duo of Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer, which is exactly how they want to play. Glenn never found an answer over 60 minutes.

The week prior, the Miami Dolphins, who had not held a lead all season, put up three 60-plus-yard touchdown drives on Glenn’s defense in the first half, with Dolphins offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik consistently cooking up easy answers in the short passing game for quarterback Malik Willis against Glenn’s blitz-heavy game plan.

It’s clearly been a rough run for Glenn. However, it’s also worth examining the roster at his disposal, and what the players’ role has been in this slump.

When you scan across the Jets’ defensive depth chart, there arguably is not a position that ranks as one of the best units across the NFL. Simply put, the team does not have any high-level starters at the moment.

It’s subjective whether Glenn’s coaching is to blame for the team’s inability to develop any stars on the defensive side, or whether it’s simply due to a sheer lack of talent. The bottom line, though, is that as the Jets close in on a 2027 offseason in which they will have an abundance of assets, there does not seem to be a defensive position that should not be off-limits with New York’s high first-rounders and lucrative free-agent deals.

Is any position off-limits?

Who has been the best player on the Jets’ defense this year?

It’s a difficult question to answer, and no matter who you come up with, that player will be heavily flawed.

Has it been David Bailey? He’s surely generated the most fanfare. While that is largely because he was the second overall pick, his box-score stats back it up: 5.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, and 35 total tackles. His 26 total pressures are impressive, too.

However, a deeper dive into Bailey’s game reveals that his surface-level numbers are rather misleading. His sacks, pressures, and tackles are largely of the “cleanup” variety; he does not have many high-quality wins in either phase. Give him credit for his motor and athleticism, but he isn’t making many game-altering plays for the Jets.

Oftentimes, Bailey is a liability for the defense, whether it’s his rush-lane discipline (yielding scrambles to mobile quarterbacks) or his gap integrity against the run (chasing TFLs and ceding large holes to run through). He also gets moved a little too easily by tight ends in the run game, often getting pushed multiple yards vertically off the line of scrimmage. It sometimes leads to him making tackles over five yards downfield, which pads his stats, but isn’t a good play.

Bailey has displayed an obvious superstar ceiling, given how productive he has been despite having so many improvements to make, but he isn’t a plus starter just yet.

So, Bailey isn’t the Jets’ best defensive player. Perhaps it’s multi-time All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick?

Pro Football Focus would agree; Fitzpatrick is the Jets’ highest-rated defender at PFF with a 75.5 overall grade, placing him 13th among safeties.

However, that is a questionable ranking, given Fitzpatrick’s performance in coverage this year. Whether it’s his brutal tackle attempt to allow a game-sealing 63-yard touchdown against Miami, his apparent blown coverage to allow a 42-yard deep touchdown against the Patriots, or the three catches for 75 yards and three first downs that he allowed against the Bears, Fitzpatrick has made too many crushing mistakes in just five full starts to be considered a top-15 safety.

Okay. Well, maybe the Jets’ best defender has been their other starting safety, Dane Belton.

For a while, Belton was probably the easy answer, but he, too, has had a recent run of killer mistakes.

Belton followed up Fitzpatrick with another whiffed tackle attempt on the aforementioned game-sealing Miami touchdown. A week earlier, he was charged with allowing two touchdown receptions against the Patriots. This past week against the Raiders, he had an ugly whiff to allow a huge fourth-quarter screen play to Ashton Jeanty, setting up the Raiders’ game-winning touchdown.

Overall, though, Belton has been a plus starter for the Jets, and he still probably has the best case to be their top defender. He’s second among safeties with 12 run stops, trailing only Kyle Hamilton, and he is also one of the NFL’s best tackling safeties, ranking seventh at the position in PFF’s tackling grade (84.3) thanks to his combination of consistent hard hits and a low missed tackle rate (6.7%). He brings the boom without much bust.

If not Belton, who would be the pick?

It’s not Demario Davis, who, like most veteran stars who join the Jets (Tyron Smith, Aaron Rodgers, Dalvin Cook, etc.), does not meet Father Time until their first season in green. Davis’ tackling has fallen off a cliff, as he is tied for third among linebackers with 11 misses; he is on pace to comfortably surpass his career-high of 17.

It’s not one of their two starting cornerbacks, Azareye’h Thomas or Brandon Stephens, who still have yet to record an interception but have given back a combined five touchdowns, eight penalties, and nine missed tackles.

And it sure isn’t anybody on the defensive line, which has been pushed around effortlessly this year.

Ultimately, it sure seems that Belton has been the Jets’ defensive player. Without intending this as a slight on Belton, who has been an excellent pickup on his one-year, $4 million deal and should be extended or re-signed… that isn’t a pretty picture for the long-term state of the roster.

Given this, the Jets could conceivably target any defensive position with their premium assets this offseason.

Let’s run down the list.

Safety is the position that would probably draw the most flak for a first-rounder or large free-agent signing, but let’s be honest: Fitzpatrick will be 30 this month, and he has played like it at times. While he is under contract for the next two years, the Jets can safely dump him after 2027. There is no reason that his presence should preclude them from looking for a long-term difference-maker at the position.

Beyond safety, there isn’t a single position where the Jets aren’t in obvious need of help.

At cornerback, the Jets lack a difference-maker. Thomas, a second-year player who is still only 22 years old, has played like a solid starter, and it would be understandable if the Jets went into 2027 with him as their CB2, but he hasn’t shown enough just yet to be viewed as a potential CB1 entering next year. That could change if he progresses over the next nine games, of course, but for now, he isn’t the type of player who should stop a team from investing in a position as valuable as cornerback.

New York also has Brandon Stephens under contract going into 2027, the final year of his three-year pact, but the Jets should try to upgrade over him, as the near-29-year-old has shown a capped-out ceiling by now.

At linebacker, it’s the same story: where’s the difference-maker? The Jets obviously hoped it would be Jamien Sherwood, considering their new regime immediately handed him a three-year, $45 million contract, but he has been a mediocre starter at best, with no knack for splash playmaking.

Davis is under contract in 2027 after signing a two-year, $20 million deal. It wouldn’t be the worst situation in the world if he started again next year, as long as the Jets added a new starter beside him, but with his tackling woes, he might be best suited for a backup/leadership role.

Up front is where the Jets are in the most blatant need of help. In fact, if they spent two of their three first-round picks on defensive linemen, it would be completely justified.

On the edge, they have Bailey, who will obviously return and be counted on to develop into the unit’s best player. Outside of him, though, it’s slim pickings. Will McDonald is under contract, but his future is murky. Joseph Ossai is also locked up. While this year’s injury-plagued campaign can be chalked up as a mulligan for him, he is still just an average starter at his best and should be relegated to a rotational role next year.

Kingsley Enagbare has been the Jets’ best edge defender, playing at around a league-average level with his above-average run defense and decent pass rushing. He will be a free agent; bringing him back to play a role in the rotation makes sense, but the Jets need to raise their ceiling here.

On the interior, things are even more bleak. Outside of T’Vondre Sweat, the Jets don’t have a defensive tackle who has looked close to league-average this year. Most of the rotation is not under contract, anyway; Jowon Briggs, Harrison Phillips, and David Onyemata will be free agents.

The only usable pieces under contract in 2027 are Sweat and fourth-round rookie Darrell Jackson Jr., who, to his credit, has recently shown some impressive flashes. Jackson has a chance to solidify a spot in the 2027 rotation, but unless he makes a shocking rise to stardom over the next nine weeks, the Jets probably need two starters on the interior.

And there you have it: The Jets’ defense is rather light on talent heading into 2027, to say the least. It’s a far cry from the offensive side of the ball, which seemingly has one of the more talented groups in the league on paper. Besides quarterback and center, the Jets might not have much work to do on offense.

That means Jets fans should expect the majority of the team’s 2027 capital to be dedicated to the defense, at least as things stand right now. Nine games remain for players on the current roster to strengthen their case as long-term building blocks. For now, no player on this defense cannot be upgraded upon.