Pass Rush

by Nick Terp on Aug 29, 2011 11:32 PM EDT

Recently I read an interview with Calvin Pace where the Jets’ pass rush ability was once again questioned. Nearly every fan has wondered why nothing has been done yet to address this issue. While I expect Mo and K. Ellis to contribute greatly in the coming years they are still rookies. It is unfair to expect them to have a rookie season like the Lion’s Suh did.

In every interview about pass rushing Rex Ryan loves to quote the statistic that the Jets were ranked 8th in the league for sacks. However this is simply a misdirect, a football side-step. Rex is a defensive genius and is able to devise such unusual blitzes that QB’s fail to recognize them in time and they are sacked. This would be the main reason that there is no sack leader on the Jets, the sacks are spread around. However this statistic is very deceiving. Unlike what Rex would have you believe sacks do not equate to a pass rush. Rex is able to generate sacks using clever blitzes. Not through a consistent pass rush by our line. What we need to be able to do is generate pressure without an extra DB coming in to create the pressure. For example during the Patriots game in the play-offs our DB’s had to wait and extraordinary amount of time (a credit to their skill) for there to be enough pressure on Brady to force a throw.

Despite what Rex Ryan says we still need a 2-3 down player who can force QB’s to rush the throw. With the added size and youth of our line eating up more double teams and wreaking havoc on the inside shouldn’t a consistent edge rush be the Jets primary concern on defense?

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it should have been the primary concern in the draft

dont get me wrong mo wilk is a hell of a value at 30 but i would have liked to see them trade up into the third to take dontay moch with ellis also. We should have signed roth, sims, lawson or one of the other Pass rusher in free agency too.

J✈E✈T✈S✈ JETS! ✈JETS! ✈JETS!

by SLAUGHTERHOUSE on Aug 29, 2011 11:50 PM EDT reply actions

Couldn’t agree more with the first half of your post. Moch could be good and paired with Ellis, the approach makes more sense. I just don’t know if any of those available FA’s would have made the difference as pass rushers…

by nationalist88 on Aug 30, 2011 2:55 AM EDT up reply actions

i think rex would have lobbied for one

but he had this faith in westerman that quite frankly I didn’t. I think to be a designated pass rusher you have to be a vet (J-Tay, Pryce etc. ) westerman might suprise me but i still believe we should have dipped into FA they were cheap anyway

J✈E✈T✈S✈ JETS! ✈JETS! ✈JETS!

by SLAUGHTERHOUSE on Aug 30, 2011 8:50 AM EDT up reply actions

Agree Except for Moch

I like Wilkerson, too, but at the draft would rather the Jets have traded down and taken Brooks Reed. I don’t feel as strongly that way as I did, but the Jets don’t seem to have a guy that can consistently pressure the QB.

Even if they didn’t address the OLB during the draft, they easily could have during FA and didn’t. I don’t know if that’s because they are over confident in the guys they have or didn’t think Lawson or Roth are that good.

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by joeklecko on Aug 30, 2011 12:10 AM EDT reply actions

Maybe Tanny is a little gun shy when it comes to drafting pass rushers after the Gholston debacle. But this is definitely a concern going into the season. Especially with Shaun Ellis gone

by nationalist88 on Aug 30, 2011 2:51 AM EDT up reply actions

i have to agree

i wish we took reed. he looks very good with the texans. still, for some reason rex will not go after a long term plan at OLB. it’s been 3 years, and we haven’t drafted or signed a long term option. to me i just thinkrex doesnt think it is a priority

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by rexthejet on Aug 30, 2011 10:17 AM EDT up reply actions

FA

It looked to me that they spent way to much time chasing namdi while they should of been out trying to address a weakness in their team. Waiting for talks with him to take form kept them out of the race for many other free agents. The Jets were surprisingly inactive during free agency at a time i would of thought Tanny was in his glory.

by Nick Terp on Aug 30, 2011 12:22 AM EDT reply actions

believe me

if we got nnamdi, no one would be complaining about the pass rush

by rexthejet on Aug 30, 2011 10:18 AM EDT up reply actions

Disagree

I don’t think that Nnamdi would be significantly better than Cro, and he wouldn’t have helped the pass rush much at all, if any. Incidentally, I watched a few minutes of the Bucs-Dolphins game and they said that Nnamdi’s agent lied, that the Bucs never were in the running for Nnamdi. They just had a lot of cap space.

– Yefim Novikov

by joeklecko on Aug 30, 2011 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions

I think you right..

Revis is going to be on the opponents top WR every week so I think that Cro can do just about a good a job on the number 2 guys as Nnamdi could. With Revis on the other side of him Nnamdi would be getting a lot of throws his way and I’m not sure he would handle it that much better then Cro. We will see how he does in Philly…in Oakland there was never any reason to throw the ball his way, you didn’t need to so teams didn’t test him that often…I do remember him getting lit up one game last season…but point and case if we got Nnamdi our pass rush would be about the same. Our D already gets coverage sacks as is adding another slightly better corner isn’t going to increase that number by that much if at all..

by RhodesRocks on Sep 1, 2011 12:47 AM EDT up reply actions

+1

10000

– Yefim Novikov

by joeklecko on Aug 30, 2011 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions

There are a few OLB/DE prospects coming up. A lot of them, at least from what I heard

about 7-12 that could be taken in the 1st 3 rounds.

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by Noble_Lance on Aug 30, 2011 12:40 AM EDT reply actions

Hybrid 4 man fronts and inside pass rush?

Could see a lot of that this year. Jenkins going down in week one left no depth on the D-Line. This year the Jets have 3 legit nose tackles if they keep MTV, plus Ropati who is a legit 4-3 DT. Patriots used 4 man line subpackages last year a lot, and we have a lot more D-Line talent than the Patriots did. Just keep rotating the guys, change fronts, pound the O-line inside.

Plus, Pace is apparently 100% finally. Westerman may not be a full on Designated Pass Rusher just yet but he can be very useful and Rex may be able to get some situational production out of Maybin. And of course, as ever, with the secondary he has Rex will bring the house a lot. Not sure if we can completely discount blitz production as part of the pass rush, Rex does it more than anyone and it’s a part of the Jets identity.

Of course, ideally the Jets would have found a way to add a legit 3-down OLB who can provide sustained rush but overall, I’m hoping the Jets should get enough rush to elevate the rest of that otherworldy defense back to no.1 in the league.

by ArunK on Aug 30, 2011 7:51 AM EDT reply actions

I Wouldn't Hold My Breath if I Were You

In terms of being a pass rusher, Pace, at best, has only been slightly above average in his career, and for most of it has been well below average. I don’t think it will make one bit of difference that he is 100% healthy now. He could easily get banged up within a week or so. Even if he doesn’t, he isn’t that fast or agile, doesn’t have the shoulder dip, and is too tall imo to be an effective pass rusher. He isn’t very good in coverage, either.

I think Pace is one of the worst FA signings the Jets have ever made… not because he’s awful or hasn’t contributed, but for the amount of money they gave him, the length of the contract, and the importance of the position he plays, he has handicapped the team for years and will continue to for a couple more. They can’t get rid of him or bench him. They have to hope he will produce if they can put better players around him.

Rex’s blitzes don’t fool too many people any more, either. There are only so many variations that can be done, and the league has caught on to Rex’s variations. The Jets were so successful in the playoff wins over NE and Indy because they basically stopped blitzing and stopped playing man-to-man coverage. I love Rex, but I think that either he is badly mistaken if he thinks the guys he has here can get the job done or Tanny isn’t getting him the pass rusher he wants and needs. Maybe Maybin will develop and become a player, but again, I’ll believe it when I see it.

– Yefim Novikov

by joeklecko on Aug 30, 2011 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions

The Jets were so successful in the playoff wins over NE and Indy because they basically stopped blitzing and stopped playing man-to-man coverage.

Basically true. But even that will get old and/or beatable if those looks are out there a lot. The lack of a pass rush from 4 or fewer this year is going to be an issue, i am afraid.

by Buzzy on Aug 30, 2011 1:09 PM EDT reply actions