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When the Jets picked cornerback Azareye’h Thomas in the third round, it gave us a little glimpse into the kind of corners Aaron Glenn is looking for.
He wants big, physical corners who can win in press coverage, guys who are effective at jamming receivers at the line, delaying their release.
Thomas ran a 4.58 forty, which allowed the Jets to get him in the third round.
“If he had posted a good time, he likely goes at the top of the second round,” said
former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah. “When he ran that time, I think it’s what dropped him to this point in the draft.”
But he’s superb at playing bump-and-run, which makes him a good system fit for what Glenn and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks are looking to run.
“It’s a reason that we drafted him because that’s one of the things that we look at highly when it comes to corners and how disruptive you are at the line of scrimmage,” Glenn said. “He was one of the better ones coming out this year.”
It’s also a big reason they signed former Baltimore Ravens corner Brandon Stephens in free agency. He is a strong, powerful 6-1, 215-pound mauler at the line.
But for corners like Thomas and Stephens to play at their best, they need a dominant pass rusher.
Because the idea here is for the corners to disrupt wide receivers’ release as much as possible in man-to-man situations and for the defensive front to get home quickly.
A team that relies on this approach quite a bit is Kansas City. The Chiefs like to jam on the outside, looking for the defensive line, led by superstar Chris Jones, to get quick pressure.
So the Jets need a better pass rusher than last year, especially off the edge.
Defensive end Will McDonald was solid with 10.5 sacks, but he didn’t get much help.
They need Jermaine Johnson to get back to his old form from before the Achilles injury suffered in Nashville early last season
Actually, they need even more than his old self. He was a good pass rusher before the injury, but they need him to be very good or great. And he needs that as well in a contract year.
But they need more guys to emerge to help spell these guys. As we know, edge-rushers platoon a lot, unless your name is Maxx Crosby.
But right now, it’s unclear if the Jets have a difference-making edge-rusher behind McDonald and Johnson.
Michael Clemons is not a dynamic edge-rusher because he lacks quick-twitch and elite bend, so he should probably be moved inside to defensive tackle, or offensive tackle (I’m dead serious about offensive tackle – 6-5, 295 with arms like vines). Eric Watts has a great motor, but must lower his pad level. Will Braiden McGregor emerge in his second year? In his defense, the former Michigan Wolverine didn’t play much last year as a rookie. Maybe 2025 fifth-round pick Tyler Baron will be a late-round steal. But the bottom line is they need one or two guys to emerge behind McDonald and Johnson for the sake of having a solid end rotation.
They also need Quinnen Williams to dominate as an interior pass rusher.
But the bottom line is, for this system to work with bigger, mauling press corners on he outside, you need to get home quickly up front.
We will see if the Jets can do that.
June 2, 2025
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