The Jets must improve in this area, and cornerback D.J. Reed feels there is a way to do it.
As we know, after getting off to a 7-4 start last season, the team lost their last six games to finish 7-10.
There were a few reasons for the rough finish, and one was certainly the way their run defense played after their bye-week, with the 60-yard by Seattle’s Kenneth Walker on the Seahawks’ first offensive play being illustrative of the issue.
Reed feels a key to the Jets’ run defense improving is preventing “leaky yardage.” In other words, runners getting too many yards after initial contact, due to some first responders trying to strip the ball instead of practicing sound tackling technique.
“When you are the first guy there you gotta tackle him, and then after that, the second guy gets the ball,” Reed said. “If you are the first guy there you’ve got to tackle. You can’t try and get the ball because that leads to leaky yards, you stop them for a three yards gain and they end up getting five more. That’s not good football. We definitely gave up a lot of leaky yardage.”
So fixing these leaks in 2023, could help the Jets run defense take that next step.
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