NY Jets: Who Is Making the Big Tackles?

Sometimes tackle stats do not tell the entire story. A player might make a tackle 15 yards down the field. He might make contact short of the first down marker and get dragged across the sticks. In these cases, he gets credit for a tackle, but the impact is typically not a major positive.

To put a new spin on tackles, I decided to take a look at the Jets' tackle stats on third and fourth down plays. Namely, I wanted to see which Jets have the most tackles on third and fourth down plays that did not result in a first down. These are drive ending tackles. It isn't necessarily that these are the only tackles, but it is just a different way to look at things.

I was not surprised to find David Harris and Calvin Pryor respectively as the two leaders. Harris has 6 such tackles. Pryor has 5. In 2015, Harris has looked as good as he has in years. Pryor has become a valuable part of the defense in his second season flying to the ball and making plays, using his range to bail the defense out of trouble. We saw Sunday in Oakland that the defense missed him. Buster Skrine was third. It is important for the slot corner to be a good tackler. He is going to give up completions. He does not have the sideline to use as a weapon. The important thing is minimizing these completions.

Despite being the team's second leading tackler, Demario Davis has only one such tackle. Again, this is only one limited way of looking at things. At the same time, I do get the impression that Davis' play has perhaps been less impressive than his tackle totals would suggest.

The full numbers are below.

David Harris 6

Calvin Pryor 5

Buster Skrine 4

Antonio Cromartie 2

Dion Bailey 2

Muhammad Wilkerson 2

Marcus Gilchrist 2

Sheldon Richardson 1

Darrelle Revis 1

Demario Davis 1

*Big hat tip to Pro Football Reference's Game Play Finder for making compiling this much easier.