Jets' pass rush problem is getting worse, and there's no easy solution in sight

When a position group has two first-round picks, both selected within the last three years, and a player who received the biggest free agent contract dished out by the team from this past offseason, it would be safe to assume that the position group would be a strength.

Well, there's a saying about assuming things, and in this case, the Jets' edge room, as constructed, cannot currently be described as a strength of this football team. In fact, it's one of the biggest reasons their defense is struggling.

New York Jets pass rush can't get home

The two first-round picks mentioned above are Will McDonald IV and David Bailey. Let's start with Bailey, the No. 2 overall pick from this past draft. To be clear, a player four games into his career is not a finished product.

There is absolutely a world where Bailey improves; at this point, I would still say a likely world, but at the same time, it's totally valid to point out the struggles over the last two games.

Through the first two weeks of the season, Bailey had two sacks and eight pressures. That's evaporated over the last two weeks, as he's combined for just three pressures in that span, which is far too quiet for a starting edge rusher.

The same can be said for Will McDonald, who is in year four. Since logging five pressures in Week 1, McDonald has only logged four pressures over the last three weeks.

Perhaps Joseph Ossai gets a slight break because of injury and the fact that he's only played two games; however, the Jets' big-ticket free-agent addition has not logged a single pressure and has a pass-rush win rate of just 6.7 percent.

How the Jets are trying to adjust

As a result of the lack of pass-rush juice, Aaron Glenn has been forced to pivot. Glenn is blitzing 37.1 percent of the time, which is the eighth-highest rate in the NFL. Unfortunately, sending more rushers isn't helping the problem.

The Jets rank 29th in the NFL in pressure percentage through Week 4. It's almost impossible to be an effective pass defense with the lack of pressure, and we're seeing the results of that over the past two weeks.

Tyson Bagent was 11-of-15 for 95 yards against the blitz in Week 4, while the previous week, Jared Goff was a perfect 14-for-14 for 127 yards through the air against the blitz.

The pass rush issues are not from a lack of trying. The Jets allocated appropriate resources to their edge room this past offseason. The coach has adjusted when his main three rushers weren't able to get home. At this point, it's on the players to execute.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow