Jets 2018 Roster Countdown: Number 26 Marcus Maye

Marcus Maye is the next Jet to receive our roster countdown treatment.

Name: Marcus Maye

Number: 26

Year with Jets: 2nd

Projected Role: Starting safety

His 2017: The Jets had no qualms about throwing Maye into the deep end with a starting role. They traded incumbent starter Calvin Pryor a few weeks after the Draft and entered the second with a rookie safety duo as Maye paired with Jamal Adams. I think you can divide Maye’s 2017 into two phases. The first phase lasted from September through November. In that stretch, he was rock solid as the last line of defense for the Jets on defense with minimal hiccups. The second phase came in December, where he became a mistake machine. The transition from the first phase to the second coincided with the time of year when the college season typically ends, so this might well have been a simple case of somebody hitting the rookie wall. Maye also ended his rookie season suffering an ankle injury in the season finale that impacted his offseason program.

2018 will be a success if: Maye is the guy we saw in the first three months of last season and extends that level of play into December. The rough last month aside, Maye’s rookie season was a success by any standard.

Odds of making the roster: Lock (>99%)