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Robert Saleh admitted it on his own, perhaps because he’s never asked about it.
They had to get bigger on the interior of their defensive line because they have been getting pounded against the run the last couple of years up the middle.
“To get (Javon) Kinlaw and (Leki) Fotu, we managed to get bigger on the interior, which was important for us, but not at the risk of losing athleticism,” Saleh told the team’s website last week.
Being too small up the middle has been a problem, and Saleh finally said the quiet part out loud.
Going with undersized defensive tackles just wasn’t cutting it against the run.
Enough was enough.
You can’t have a bunch of 280-pound DTs and expect them to consistently beat huge guards and centers into gaps to win off the snap.
Yes, they can do it sometimes, but when they don’t, and they get engulfed by interior offensive linemen who outweigh significantly, let’s just say for argument’s sake 320 to 280, it’s a formula to fail struggle the run.
And the goalline defense was a problem. There were times when we saw goalline defensive line groups, and perhaps thought, “This doesn’t have a chance. How can you go that small up front at the goalline?”
They brought in 330-pound Al Woods last year, kind of admitting this problem, but the 36-year-old defensive tackle, who was past his prime, was playing very little, and then tore his achilles against the Giants in late October ending his season.
And once he was out of the picture, even in his limited role, the Jets had no girth up the middle and they got gashed quite a bit.
So this idea that the Jets had a great defense last year, which you hear over and over, was an embellishment.
Good pass rush and secondary, but a substandard run defense, finishing 25th in that category.
Maybe it’s not sexy to talk about run defense. It’s more fun to talk about getting weapons for Aaron Rodgers, but this problem had to be addressed, and the Jets did that with the signings of Kinlaw and Foku.
And they should not be done.
The need to add somebody else like these two in the draft.
Kinlaw had some knee issues in San Francisco, playing in just 41 games in his four seasons with the 49ers.
He did stay healthy last year, so that is perhaps a good sign for the Jets, but they need to protect themselves by adding another massive, athletic defensive tackle.
They need to make sure they field a formidable goalline defense and get off the field more on third/fourth and short situations.
I would consider this position in the third round.
Maybe one of the LSU prospects like Maason Smith or Jordan Jefferson.
If I owned the team, I would give an edict that this run defense up front has got to get better.
Obviously Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich know that, and the signings of Kinlaw and Fotu is a good start.
But no more of this pollyanna thinking, especially in third/fourth and short and on the goalline, thinking you can get by with smaller, quicker guys shooting into gaps.
You can’t in these situations.
End of story.
April 8, 2024
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