Over the course of today, we’ll be breaking down the performance of every player that took the field in the Jets’ preseason game against the Giants. We’ll start now with the defense and look at offense and special teams later on.
Defensive Tackles – Leonard Goin’
Undrafted rookie Leonard Taylor III made the biggest impact on the defensive interior this week as he played a big role in a solid Jets defensive performance that saw the Giants held to under 200 yards.
Taylor was credited with a half sack on three consecutive plays in the second quarter, then blew up a run in the backfield by blowing past his man with a slick arm-over move. He had a chance to add a solo sack in the second half but missed the tackle and someone else got the credit instead. Still, it was a disruptive performance from Taylor, who was only driven off the line once or twice.
Tanzel Smart also made an impact with two half-sacks among his team-high six tackles. He also tripped Tommy DeVito on a fourth down quarterback draw with under a minute to go to preserve the win. Smart had one other pressure and shed a block to make a run stop, but was also driven off the line once.
Bruce Hector didn’t have much of an impact on the face of things, with just one tackle and no quarterback hits and a few plays where he was sealed off or driven back. However, he penetrated three times to help blow up runs.
Rounding out the rotation was the newest Jet, Jaylen Twyman, who was driven off the line a couple of times and didn’t generate any pressure as he looked a little off the pace. His best moment saw him hustle back to make the tackle after a short pass.
Defensive Ends – Takk a chance on me
Takk McKinley and Braiden McGregor both have a realistic shot at a spot on the 53-man roster and they combined for 4.5 of the Jets’ eight sacks in a dominant display.
McKinley added a run stuff and a couple more pressures to his 2.5 sacks on which he blew by Evan Neal on a speed rush, collapsed the pocket on a bull rush and cleaned up after pressure from someone else. He did get blocked out of two runs and had a missed tackle and an offside penalty, though.
McGregor had two sacks and also blew up two screens, one by getting upfield and the other with a good tackle in the flat. He was blocked to the ground on this big run though.
This week, Jalyn Holmes was back on the edge and he had a few pressures to go along with being in on a couple of run stuffs. He had a few negative plays against the run.
After a strong start to training camp, Eric Watts lost ground to the likes of McKinley and McGregor but he had a few positive moments here. One pressure led to a sack, he had a half-sack of his own and his batted pass saved a certain touchdown. He was blocked out on a couple of runs.
It’s somehow become fashionable in some corners of the Jets fanbase to bash the likes of Michael Clemons because the backups have been more productive than he was in preseason. However, by all accounts Clemons has had a strong camp and is in line to start at least until Haason Reddick reports. He would’ve racked up plenty of production himself against the Giants’ beleaguered second and third stringers.
Linebackers – McCrary-Ball don’t lie
Chazz Surratt, Zaire Barnes and Sam Eguavoen all got a chance to start this week, as the Jets opened up in base. Of the three, it was Barnes who made the biggest impact. Four of his six tackles were near the line of scrimmage and included a half-sack. He was blocked out of a couple of plays and allowed a runner to drive him back to get to the marker on one run though. He does seem to have made some improvements since his rookie year.
Surratt’s five tackles included a fourth down stop in the backfield and another near the line but he was blocked off at the second level on one play. Eguavoen had a quiet game but did make a good run stuff in the hole.
Marcelino McCrary-Ball had five tackles, including two near the line of scrimmage and was in good position in coverage, including on a pass to the flat which he broke up with a well-timed hit. However, he was fooled on a fake toss play and involved in a coverage mix-up that almost led to a touchdown.
Undrafted rookie Jackson Sirmon and recent addition Anthony Hines got to finish the game and each took the opportunity to put some good moments on film. Sirmon had a good stop near the line and deflected a third down pass. However, he also had some negative plays, mostly caused by his awareness and play recognition being too slow.
Hines had two tackles for loss in limited action but did get sealed off on a successful fourth down run.
Cornerbacks – Shemarvellous
Tre Swilling and Qwan’tez Stiggers got the start this week and played their part in nullifying a Giants’ passing game that generated less than 1.5 yards per dropback. Nevertheless, Stiggers gave up a first down catch and had a defensive holding penalty and Swilling had a bad missed tackle.
They each made positive contributions as well, though. Stiggers run blitzed to trip a runner on a short yardage stop and Swilling made a stop in the flat and was in position on one downfield incompletion.
Kendall Sheffield was one player who didn’t fare so well. He gave up three first down catches and was blocked out of the action on one running play. He had an unblocked pressure on a corner blitz.
Undrafted rookie Shemar Bartholomew has progressed nicely in preseason and put together a nice game in which he was credited with two pass breakups. He was also in position on two other deep incompletions and got in on two run stuffs. However, he also got hurdled in the open field and was half-beaten on a pass that was dropped.
Brandon Codrington had a few negatives as he lined up offside on one play, gave up a first down in zone coverage and was called for a defensive hold away from the ball. He did blow up a screen that was dropped and was in on a nice stop in the flat, though.
Finally, Nehemiah Shelton was also credited with a couple of pass disruptions. However, he also gave up a third down catch and got lucky a couple of times when he left someone open on a key play but the pass was deflected incomplete.
Safeties – Blades of Glory
Jaylen Key and Jarius Monroe started this week and on the basis of preseason as a whole it’s probably fair to say that the undrafted Monroe has outplayed the seventh round pick Key. Three of Monroe’s five tackles were made near the line of scrimmage, although he did have a missed tackle on the edge. Key didn’t really have any positive plays but was blocked out on a 4th down conversion and involved in a blown coverage.
Undrafted rookie Al Blades Jr. didn’t make an impact as the third safety again. He was sealed off on one run and badly fooled on this misdirection play.
We’ll be back with more on the offense and special teams later…