Why not keep the focus on Wilson who the internet has deemed "can't turn his head around". It is pretty clear that the coaching staff wanted to experiment with Walls in the Titans game, and the first half struggles of Walls will make next week's defensive choices interesting. Tennessee was definitely picking on Walls intentionally for stretches, but Walls was in on every play I think. Rex did seem pretty irked that Walls failed to defend the TD throw which the Jets knew was coming, but it was a remarkable catch.
On the other hand no matter what you think of Wilson, let's just put it out there that one quarter of the season has passed and he is statisically performing not only better than average, he is far above average in several categories and even statistically better than Revis in his new home (surely not 100% yet). Wilson has played 58.5% of possible snaps on defense.
Using 25% PFF data - about 101 CBs generally, 32 CBs for slot numbers:
QB rating overall: 45.28 (10th in the league). - Revis is 19th at 63.1
QB rating when in the slot: 52.5 (4th in the league)
Yards per target: 2.7 (2nd in the league) - Revis is 14th at 4.6
Yards per target in the slot: 2.9 (1st in the league)
Yards per cover: .5 (4th in the league) - Revis is 9th at 6.2
Completion % allowed: 35.8 (6th in the league) - Dee is actually 3rd in the league (33.3%), Revis is 32nd (54.5%)
Completion % allowed in the slot: 45.4 (2nd in the league)
And while in run coverage he has had a few missed tackles, he also has been a bit of a hammer with a 4.4 run stop %, tied for 7th best in the league - the always excellent Revis is tied for 14th at 3.7.
Wilson is limiting production near the very top of the league in the slot, a role he struggled in 2 seasons ago, and at CB he has even better overall raw production numbers.
We all saw what happened with the Stevie Johnson conflict which seemed to come out of admitted too much mano-a-mano but also refs deciding to call some touch fouls that seemed personal almost like NBA refs. It should be noted that Wilson in that game held Stevie in check, even granting the penalties, better than Revis had previously, he is the kind of difficult receiver he can do well against.
The point isn't really that Wilson is a great corner, it is that he gets broad-brushed often because he is flawed, widely maligned while performing well above league average in many ways. People forget the talent drop that occurs on most NFL rosters by the 3rd CB. It will be interesting to see how this plays out going forward. Walls indeed seems to have nice potential in defending longer receivers, there is Dee Milliner who also is athletic and hyped (if a little physically fragile), and there is Wilson who has put together a season and a quarter of more than respectable cover numbers. The coaching staff actually has a lot of tools to choose from now in their mix and match while they wait for Milliner to bloom, and consider if Cromartie will be here next year. As much as people are concerned with the secondary after the Titans game, it is the least of Jet problems.
