While the Jets suffered from below-average coverage production at every defensive position, their worst unit in coverage was undoubtedly the safety group.
New York’s safeties allowed an average of 11.2 yards per target on throws in their direction, worst of any safety group in the NFL.
No matter how you slice it, the numbers for this unit were bad. The Jets’ safeties ranked 30th in yards per target allowed when playing man coverage and 31st when playing zone coverage.
It’s tough to find a split that stands out as particularly bad for the Jets’ safeties in coverage (they were so bad at nearly everything) but one weakness that does stand out really glaringly is their inability to prevent yards after the catch.
The Jets’ safeties allowed 6.08 YAC per target, the worst mark in the league among safety units by an enormous margin. The Chiefs’ safety unit ranked 31st with 4.71 YAC allowed per target. The margin separating New York and Kansas City (1.37) is nearly equal to the margin between 31st-ranked Kansas City and 12th-ranked Houston (3.36).
Make no mistake: there is no defensive position where the Jets cannot substantially improve their coverage talent. But if they could only improve the coverage talent of one position, it would have to be safety.
Jets Global
New York’s safeties allowed an average of 11.2 yards per target on throws in their direction, worst of any safety group in the NFL.
No matter how you slice it, the numbers for this unit were bad. The Jets’ safeties ranked 30th in yards per target allowed when playing man coverage and 31st when playing zone coverage.
It’s tough to find a split that stands out as particularly bad for the Jets’ safeties in coverage (they were so bad at nearly everything) but one weakness that does stand out really glaringly is their inability to prevent yards after the catch.
The Jets’ safeties allowed 6.08 YAC per target, the worst mark in the league among safety units by an enormous margin. The Chiefs’ safety unit ranked 31st with 4.71 YAC allowed per target. The margin separating New York and Kansas City (1.37) is nearly equal to the margin between 31st-ranked Kansas City and 12th-ranked Houston (3.36).
Make no mistake: there is no defensive position where the Jets cannot substantially improve their coverage talent. But if they could only improve the coverage talent of one position, it would have to be safety.
Jets Global
