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The New York Jets noticed a glaring weakness in their secondary this off-season and they've done everything in their power to rectify it. Marcus Gilchrist agreed to terms on a four year contract making him the 4th addition in the secondary this week. He joins Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie and Buster Skrine in what the Jets hope will be a dominating unit.
Gilchrist played over 900 defensive snaps last year at a number of positions and finished the season with 76 tackles, 1 interception, 1 sack and 2 forced fumbles last year. He played 401 of those snaps in the slot, 306 at strong safety and 201 at free safety, so he has the versatility to cover a lot of positions for the Jets, a very valuable commodity in this league.
The Jets strike again. Source confirms Jets have agreed to 4-year contract with former Chargers S Marcus Gilchrist, as @RapSheet reported.
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) March 13, 2015
He was drafted as a cornerback in the second round back in 2011 but was moved to safety in 2012. After spending a year getting used to the position, he has increased his tackle and pass defense numbers in 2013 and 2014.
Where will Marcus Gilchrist play? Logic would suggest he would play the strong safety position, however it wouldn't surprise me if he was to move to the free safety position for the majority of his snaps, allowing us to keep Pryor as the box safety. He hasn't always graded out well for his coverage ability, but it makes more sense to me to have him as the FS and let Pryor do what he does as SS.
On opening day last year, we set up like this in the secondary:
#1 CB - Antonio Allen
#2 CB - Darrin Walls
#1 SS - Dawan Landry
#1 FS - Calvin Pryor
#3 CB - Kyle WIlson
#4 CB - Phillip Adams
This year all being well, we will line up as follows:
#1 CB - Darrelle Revis
#2 CB - Antonio Cromartie
#1 SS - Calvin Pryor
#1 FS - Marcus Gilchrist
#3 CB - Buster Skrine
#4 CB - Dee Milliner
#5 CB - Dexter McDougle
I don't think you have to be an expert to pick which one will perform better.