The Jets have spent the last decade looking for an outside pass rusher. They have tried drafting them (Vernon Gholston), paying them (Calvin Pace) and finding one off the scrap heap (Aaron Maybin).
Nothing has worked.
Jordan Jenkins hopes he can change that run in 2017. The 2016 third-round pick had just 2.5 sacks as a rookie, so he spent this offseason working with pass-rushing guru Chuck Smith in Atlanta.
“I would hope to be a better pass rusher, after all that work and time I put in,” Jenkins said this week at teammate David Harris’ charity golf outing. “But I can’t really be a good judge of that. I have to let my play be the judge of that this year.”
Smith had 58.5 sacks in his career, which spanned 1992-2000. He works with many NFL players. He is no miracle worker, though; he once tutored Quinton Coples, another Jets first-round pick who was supposed to solve the pass-rush problem, but turned out to be a bust.
Jenkins worked with Smith for close to two months, beginning in February. Jenkins said it was a pass-rushing education.
“He really just helped me understand,” Jenkins said. “You have to really learn pass rush. And I never really was taught pass rush at any level, from high school on up. I didn’t realize how much I was missing until I started working with Chuck.
“He really broke everything down for me — reasons why to do this move, situations where this move will work, situations where this move wouldn’t work. He just sort of helped me understand pass rush, and understand my body movements and just different ways you can use your move. It just helped me understand when I should use a move and when I shouldn’t.”
Jenkins showed promise in his rookie season after the Jets took him out of the University of Georgia. A calf injury sidelined him early in the season, but Jenkins showed strides as the year went on. Jenkins did a good job setting the edge and made a few big plays. He missed one huge play against the Dolphins last year, when he nearly intercepted a Ryan Tannehill pass with an open field in front of him.
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Jenkins said he is a work in progress rushing the quarterback.
“I feel like I’m pretty good against the run. That’s willpower,” Jenkins said. “And if you’re a man, you’ve got to learn how to set the edge. Just something that’s always been a part of who I am. Pass rush is something I have to really work at. It didn’t come as easy as just being physical with guys.”
The Jets did not address the outside pass rush with any new players. They are hoping Jenkins and Lorenzo Mauldin can fill that void and complement the inside rush the Jets get from Leonard Williams, Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson.
They did not ignore the position, though. Jets coach Todd Bowles made a change at outside linebackers coach. He fired Mark Collins, who held the post since 2015, and brought in Hall of Famer Kevin Greene. It is a move that seems to excite everyone around the Jets, including Jenkins.
“When you think of pass rushing and you think of an outside linebacker, you think of K.G., Kevin Greene,” Jenkins said. “He physically dominated cats back in his time. You just want to soak up as much information as you can from him.”
-- Brian Costello
