Florham Park – When you look at the Jets’ free agent class, one thing the team’s brass accomplished with this group is not getting enough attention.
“J*E*T*S, Depth, Depth, Depth!”
With a lot of cap space, instead of spending the lion’s share of the money on a big-ticket free agent or two, they spread the money around to myriad players, and not only filled several starting spots, but helped their depth a great deal, especially on defense.
Not only did they have some issues with several starting spots defensively, but their depth was a big problem last year.
And the depth issues didn’t just manifest themselves when starters got hurt, but at rotational positions.
The defensive line is a perfect example.
In the NFL, defensive line rotations are huge, and the Jets’ D-Line depth could have been better last year.
The team’s brass knew they had to roll up their sleeves and fix their D-Line.
First, they traded former first-round pick, defensive end Jermaine Johnson, to the Tennessee Titans, for massive, run-stuffing nose tackle T’Vondre Sweat (6-4, 366). and then signed defensive tackle David Onyemata, an excellent veteran run-stuffer.
And by adding these two guys, this all of a sudden created the kind of defensive tackle rotation they desperately needed last year, because the starting DT tandem from the second half of last year, Harrison Phillips and Jowon Briggs, are now likely the 3rd and 4th DTs, perhaps better roles for them. Phillips and Briggs will still play a lot because DTs rotate quite a bit.
The Jets also improved their depth at safety and cornerback in free agency.
So, something that can’t be minimized is how much the Jets improved their defensive depth, which was clearly an issue last year.
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