Buster Skrine Is Already a Starter for the Jets

Todd Bowles created a bit of a stir yesterday when he indicated Buster Skrine would open training camp as Antonio Cromartie's replacement. If Skrine takes over the spot, it would really mean that he is lining up in a different spot. He might take Cromartie's position on the outside, but he is not necessarily going to see a large increase in snaps.

As the slot cornerback last year, Skrine was already a starter for the Jets. He had the seventh most defensive snaps on the team. Yes, the Jets did have a few injuries at cornerback that increased his snap total in certain games but not by much. Skrine played in over half of the snaps in 12 of the 16 games. In 9 of the 16 games, he played over 70% of the snaps.

If you watch the NFL, you hear frequently how it is a passing league. That is true.

Quinn told me NFL teams used nickel defenses 60% of the time last year. He expects that number to increase in 2016.

— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) March 21, 2016

This is an era of teams spreading the field. In today's NFL, teams have three starting cornerbacks. Last year for the Jets they were Darrelle Revis, Cromartie, and Skrine.bus

Skrine might move outside to take Cromartie's role, but that means somebody needs to take Skrine's slot snaps, which is the workload of a starter (or quite possible, Skrine will slide to the slot when the Jets use three corners). Whether that is Marcus Williams or someone else remains to be seen, but the Jets are getting increased snaps from a cornerback next season.