Breaking Down All the New Faces on the 2015 New York Jets
Organized team activities and minicamp have both wrapped. The New York Jets are officially off until the beginning of training camp at the end of July.
If you're a Jets fan, there's almost no chance that you've yet to familiarize yourself with the many new faces on the roster, but perhaps one more in-depth breakdown is in order to refresh your memory.
Plenty of new faces will be competing for jobs in one way or another, whether it's a veteran trying to prove he is still worthy of a starting spot or a rookie who is trying to prove he can hang with the big boys in the big leagues. Training camp will be their opportunity to prove those points against their teammates, but ultimately, the proof will be in the pudding in the regular season.
Let's jog our memories on the new acquisitions the Jets have picked up this offseason.
Darrelle Revis
1 of 11
If it feels like it's been a while since the Jets fielded a competent secondary, that's because time flies on Revis Island. Not much else flies, though, as the eight-year pro has proved year after year.
Darrelle Revis was once again one of the top cornerbacks in the league last year, yielding only 41 receptions on 79 targets (51.9 percent) for 557 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions and 11 passes defensed. According to Pro Football Focus, his rate of 14.8 snaps in coverage per reception allowed was the third-best in the NFL. His rate of 7.7 snaps in coverage per pass thrown in his direction was second-best, and his rate of 0.92 yards allowed per snap in coverage was eighth-best.
Needless to say, Revis is still Revis.
The six-time Pro Bowler and four-time first-team All-Pro helped the rival New England Patriots win a Super Bowl in 2014, and the Jets hope he can deliver the same achievement to their franchise for the first time since 1969.
Antonio Cromartie
2 of 11
The Jets parted ways with Antonio Cromartie in a cap-clearing move that freed up nearly $10 million in 2014. He went on to revitalize his career as a member of the Arizona Cardinals, and the Jets went on to spend the year searching for answers at cornerback.
When Todd Bowles became head coach of the Jets, the rest was elementary.
Cromartie may not be the fastest thing in cleats anymore at 31 years old, but at 6'2" and 210 pounds, he has the prototype build for a boundary cornerback and can get physical with receivers at the line of scrimmage, allowing him to reroute them and disrupt the timing between a quarterback and a receiver. Those skills make him a perfect fit for Bowles' man-coverage-heavy scheme, which relies on its cornerbacks to run and cover one-on-one.
Those skills were also what allowed Cromartie to be so successful in his time with Rex Ryan and with Bowles. Last year, he ranked 10th in cover snaps per reception allowed (12.4) and fifth in cover snaps per reception (7.3), according to Pro Football Focus.
Cromartie's window of top-notch play may be closing, but if he can bring his A-game one more time, he could be a valuable pickup for the Jets.
Buster Skrine
3 of 11
What other choice did the Jets have?
Their secondary has been a shambles for a couple of years now, and with a new regime taking over, it was about time the team gutted the old group—or at least provided the possibility of significant upgrades across the board.
Former Cleveland Browns cornerback Buster Skrine is far from the physically imposing cornerback one would expect in Todd Bowles' scheme, at 5'9" and 185 pounds, but he has been effective in coverage playing all over the field, from the boundary to the slot.
According to Pro Football Focus, he yielded completions on 56.9 percent of the throws into his coverage last season, with eight touchdowns, four interceptions and eight passes defensed. A passer rating allowed of 86.9 is not particularly flattering, but when you consider opponents threw the seventh-most pass attempts at the Browns secondary overall, some context is added.
With Revis and Cromartie on the outside, chances are high that a majority of the passes will be thrown toward whomever Skrine is covering. He'll have to prove he's up to the challenge if he wants to hang onto his spot as the primary slot cornerback.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Leonard Williams
4 of 11
No one should have been all that surprised by the Jets' selection of USC defensive lineman Leonard Williams with the No. 6 overall pick.
He's a perfect fit for their scheme at 6'5" and 302 pounds with 34 ⅝" arms. He's a fit for any scheme, though, according to NFL.com's Lance Zierlein, who says, "Williams can play in an odd or even front, and is able to hold the point as a two-gapper or disrupt upfield." He was also the best defensive lineman in the draft and considered by some to be the best prospect in the draft overall.
Oh, by the way, the Jets have developed quite the penchant for drafting defensive linemen in the first round of the draft, using four first-round selections on defensive linemen in the past five years.
The Jets may not thrust Williams directly into the starting lineup, as he could rotate with the likes of Muhammad Wilkerson (assuming he returns from his holdout), Sheldon Richardson, Quinton Coples and Damon Harrison. With time, Williams' upside will shine through, and he will become an anchor for the 3-4 defensive front wherever he lines up.
Devin Smith
5 of 11
With Chan Gailey as the new offensive coordinator, it should come as no surprise that the Jets wanted to reshape the look of their offense overall. One of the keys to that reshaping was the increased priority on talent at wide receiver, and Ohio State's Devin Smith was one of the key additions in that respect.
The Jets used a second-round pick on the 6'0", 196-pound pass-catcher who has shown the versatility to line up both inside and outside. He has the long speed (4.42-second 40-yard dash at the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine) to stretch a defense vertically and the quickness (6.83-second three-cone drill at his pro day) to stretch the defense horizontally with quick-hitting routes over the middle.
Over the past two years, Smith hauled in 77 passes for 1,591 yards and 20 touchdowns for Urban Meyer's Buckeyes, and that's in an offense that was built around the running game. Imagine what he can do in a pass-happy offense like the one the Jets are bound to run in 2015.
Smith will not have it easy, and he'll have to prove he's worth playing time among receivers such as Eric Decker, Jeremy Kerley and Brandon Marshall, but he could be a dynamic playmaker for the Jets for years to come if he gets the chance.
Lorenzo Mauldin
6 of 11
Calvin Pace simply isn't going to cut it on his own anymore. At some point, the Jets needed to add some young, fresh legs to the edge of their defense. That point was this offseason, when they drafted Lorenzo Mauldin in the third round of the draft.
At 6'4" and 259 pounds with 33" arms, Mauldin has the perfect frame to play outside linebacker in a 3-4 front. He isn't the most explosive player (4.85-second 40-yard dash at the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine) or the most productive (16 sacks in the past two seasons at Louisville), but he has the skill set to be a versatile edge presence with experience as a defensive end in a 4-3 and as an outside linebacker in a 3-4.
The Jets are still deciding on what to do with him—whether he will handle the point of attack on a regular basis, drop into coverage on tight ends and play in space, or rush the passer as a sub-package specialist—but there's a good chance that the rookie will have his share of opportunities in every role in what will most likely be a spin-the-dial, change-up-style defense from the Jets.
Brandon Marshall
7 of 11
Brandon Marshall is on his fourth team in the past six years, and while his skills may not be what they were six years ago, his size is still elite at 6'4" and 230 pounds.
Last year was the first year since Marshall's rookie season that he posted fewer than 80 receptions and 1,000 receiving yards. So, while he may not be reaching those numbers again (although he might), he'll still be a weapon for the Jets offense.
It's strange to think of what the wide receiver depth chart looked like for the Jets just a few short years ago, when Santonio Holmes and Stephen Hill were sitting atop the lineup and earning a majority of the snaps. Now, though, with big bodies and veterans running wild through secondaries, the Jets have some devastating possibilities in the passing game.
Look for Marshall to be a solid No. 2 option for the passing game, with the younger, athletic Eric Decker filling the top spot in terms of receptions.
Stevan Ridley
8 of 11
When the Jets picked up Stevan Ridley on a one-year deal, the implications were odd. His skill set as a between-the-tackles hammer makes him a little redundant with regard to the other Jets running backs. Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell and Zac Stacy all share a similar skill set.
Ridley showed his upside, however, in a four-year stint with the Patriots and has the potential to be a bell cow if given the opportunity. In 2012, he had 1,263 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns, which was the first time that had happened for the Patriots since Corey Dillon did it in 2004.
It will be interesting to see how the battle for the role as the No. 2 back plays out. Ridley, Stacy and Powell will all be vying for that job, and while Powell has the advantage as the passing back, Ridley's talent as a pure runner could make him the true backup to Ivory.
If he has trouble holding onto the football, though (nine regular-season fumbles), he could lose that role in a heartbeat.
Zac Stacy
9 of 11
Much like the Jets' signing of Stevan Ridley, the trade for Zac Stacy—while sensible in value—is a little redundant in terms of how it fills out the roster.
Stacy is also a between-the-tackles hammer in the mold of Ivory and Ridley, and he doesn't offer much value in the passing game. Heck, even Stacy's value as a pure first- and second-down ball-carrier could be questioned, as he has posted only 3.9 yards per carry in his two-year career with the St. Louis Rams.
Clearly, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher also wasn't too high on his abilities; the Rams drafted running back Tre Mason in the second round in 2014 and Todd Gurley with the 10th overall pick in 2015. Those two selections made Stacy's value obsolete, but his play had already done the same thing.
At the very least, the Jets could plug Stacy into the No. 3 back role behind Ivory and Ridley. If his role is any bigger than that, the Jets offense could have a hard time getting off the ground.
James Carpenter
10 of 11
The Jets have a major cluster at the guard spots, but it looks like veteran free-agent signee James Carpenter is locked in as one of the starters.
That assumption is based on the fact that he is far better than any other guard on the roster and that the Jets gave him a four-year, $19.1 million contract to sign with them.
At 6'5" and 321 pounds, Carpenter is a physically imposing presence at guard and should be a mauler in the running game. He was part of an offensive line that helped the Seattle Seahawks rank in the top five in the league in rushing each of the past three years.
Carpenter will plug right in at the left guard spot and should be an immediate upgrade over Brian Winters, who started there last year. Now, it will be up to Winters, Oday Aboushi and veteran Willie Colon to battle it out for the other starting spot.
Ryan Fitzpatrick
11 of 11
With former Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey now calling the shots for the Jets offense as their coordinator, it makes perfect sense that the team would pursue former Bills starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Even if the Jets don't plan on him being the starter right away, he is as good of a backup plan as they could ask for.
His familiarity with the system would make him the ideal candidate to step in if incumbent starter Geno Smith is injured or ineffective as the starter.
The 10-year journeyman has started 89 games in his career with a 33-55-1 record, but he has completed 60.2 percent of his throws and has 123 touchdowns against 101 interceptions. He was solid for the Bills in the first seven games of the 2011 season, with a 67.7 percent completion rate, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions, but his play took a turn for the worse after he signed a $60 million contract extension.
If the Jets can hone in on what made him great in that stretch with the Bills, they could at least have a stopgap quarterback until Bryce Petty develops—but that's assuming Fitzpatrick ever gets a chance.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
