Dawan Landry: 2014 and Beyond

Dawan Landry got a second season with the Jets in 2014. He was inexpensive and had plenty of experience in a Rex Ryan defense in both Baltimore and New York.

For his part, the Jets credited Landry with 107 tackles, good for third on the team. I think this number alone might overstate Landry's effectiveness. Landry played credible football at the safety position. He knows where to be. He doesn't miss a ton of tackles. He does have limitations, though, that ripple through the rest of the defense.

The biggest of these is that he doesn't have a ton of range. It seemed like this played into the coaching staff's decision to play Calvin Pryor as the deep guy as frequently as they did. Landry just could not cover enough ground to be effective in that role. It is in this sense that I think Landry might look better than he really is. He doesn't necessarily look really bad. His limitations are in what he cannot do. He doesn't  make a ton of big plays. He doesn't come out of nowhere to disrupt the offense, and to some extent he needs to be protected and given a certain role to avoid being exposed.

He's a stopgap and served the Jets decently enough, but I think it is time for all parties to move on. Landry's knowledge of Rex Ryan's defense doesn't do the team a lot of good now, and the Jets really should make some kind of investment in a free safety to allow Pryor more freedom to roam without the responsibility of covering deep.