Jets Run Sack Leaders at the Bye

A few years back I created a stat called run sacks. Sacks are some of the most celebrated plays on defense. When the quarterback is dropped for no gain or a loss on an attempted pass, everybody notices.

The same result on a run play gets some credit but nowhere near the attention level. In a passing league, it pays more to get into the backfield than it does to destroy run plays. The result is similar, though.

That is where run sacks come in. These are rushing plays that result in either no gain or a loss.

Here are Jets leaders through nine games.

Quincy Williams 7

Kwon Alexander 5

Micheal Clemons 5

CJ Mosley 5

Jermaine Johnson 4

Quinnen Williams 4

Sheldon Rankins 4

DJ Reed 4

Jordan Whitehead 3

Lamarcus Joyner 3

Solomon Thomas 2

Carl Lawson 2

Michael Carter II 2

Vinny Curry 1

John Franklin-Myers 1

Marcell Harris 1

Sauce Gardner 1

It is interesting to see Jets linebackers rank so high on the list. One might think this is a linebacker centric stat, but it doesn’t appear to be that way looking at the league as a whole.

I looked at run sack stats across the league, and the top ten included only two linebackers. The list was full of defensive linemen.

I think Jets defensive linemen probably deserve a lot of the credit. The unit has been excellent, and the way they have drawn attention has freed up linebackers to make plays.

Jets linebackers also are pretty aggressive at shooting gaps. Whether that is by design or instinct is difficult to tell. As we know, sometimes it leads the group to run themselves out of plays, but it certainly produces its share of run sacks.