Adams, Herndon highlight Jets Pro Football Focus 2018 Recap

Pro Football Focus has released their New York Jets 2018 Season Recap. Here are the highlights and lowlights from the team’s season in review.

The 2018 season didn’t necessarily go quite as planned for the New York Jets. The team finished with a lowly 4-12 record and while they weren’t exactly expected to compete for a playoff spot, the hope was that they’d be a bit more competitive.

Regardless, while it’s always best to look to the future when disappointment strikes, it can be equally helpful to look back and reflect on what went right and more importantly what went wrong.

The critically acclaimed Pro Football Focus did just that with their recent release of their New York Jets 2018 Season Recap. The report highlighted some of the major areas of strengths for the Jets in 2018 while also shedding light on their biggest positions of concern.

One of the major standouts was, of course, All-Pro safety Jamal Adams. Adams finished as the team’s highest-graded overall player receiving a stellar 89.7 grade. The report also indicated that the LSU product led all safeties with 44 defensive stops and 22 total pressures.

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Adams, in many ways, had a breakout season in 2018 leading the Jets with 86 solo tackles en route to his first Pro Bowl appearance. With an apparent bright future ahead of him, Adams will hope to improve upon his already incredible 2018 PFF grade with an even better one in 2019.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Jets were led by tight end Chris Herndon who came away with a solid 74.1 grade. The rookie finished with an impeccable 152.7 passer rating when targeted which was the best among all receiving targets in the entire NFL. His 78.9 receiving grade also topped all rookie tight ends solidifying his excellent first professional season.

PFF also named defensive lineman Henry Anderson the “Secret Superstar” for the Jets. Anderson finished the year with a 76.5 grade which ranked 35th among all interior defensive linemen. As noted in the recap, his 48 total pressures also ranked 12th among all players in his position group as well.

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Still, the Jets lost 75% of their games in 2018 for a reason. Cornerbacks Morris Claiborne and Buster Skrine struggled with the duo receiving coverage ratings of 60.3 and 50.8 respectively showing the team’s weaknesses in the secondary. Skrine, in particular, was bad allowing a 124.2 passer rating when thrown his way.

Elsewhere, the team’s edge rushers were a major cause for concern with the top rated edge defender being Brandon Copeland who finished with a lowly 56.2 pass-rush grade. This will, of course, be an area the Jets look to improve upon in the offseason ahead of the 2019 season.

PFF also noted the early struggles and late-season progression of rookie quarterback Sam Darnold. Although Darnold finished the season with a poor 64.7 grade which ranked 29th out of all signal-callers, his 87.7 grade over the final four weeks of the season was the highest among any quarterback in the league giving the Jets plenty of hope for the future.

Altogether, the Jets will not only like to improve upon their PFF grades in 2019 but their overall record as well. But at the very least, it’s nice to see the team’s young players like Adams and Herndon step up and emphasize the youth movement in Florham Park.

The Jets may just have a solid foundation of young, budding stars to build around.