NY Jets: Marcus Maye ahead of Jamal Adams in safety rankings

NY Jets safety Marcus Maye is coming off a career year in 2020 in which he established himself as one of the best safeties in football. His former teammate, Jamal Adams, on the other hand, didn't find quite the same luck.

Adams was shipped to the Seattle Seahawks in July of last year for a massive haul that saw the Jets receive a pair of first-round picks for the All-Pro safety. However, an injury-riddled year followed as Adams put together the worst season of his NFL career.

Now, nearly a year after that blockbuster trade, Maye and Adams find their careers trending in very different directions.

Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus recently released his ranking of the top-10 safeties in football. Both Maye and Adams made the list, but the current Jets safety out-ranked his former position-mate.

NY Jets safety Marcus Maye was ranked higher than Jamal Adams

Maye came in at a healthy seventh on the list, one behind Derwin James and a spot ahead of Jessie Bates III. As for Adams, he just squeaked into the top-10 coming it at No. 10, right behind Adrian Amos.

Maye was exceptional in 2020 finishing as PFF's fifth-ranked safety with a superb grade of 82.9. It was the best season of his career, one that even saw him earn All-Pro votes at the end of the year.

Adams, however, battled multiple injuries, missed four games, and finished with a career-worst 62.7 PFF grade which ranked him as 53rd out of 94 qualified safeties.

The former All-Pro did make his third consecutive Pro Bowl and broke the single-season sack record for a defensive back with a whopping 9.5 sacks, but he struggled mightily in coverage receiving a dismal 52.5 coverage grade from PFF.

It was far and away the worst coverage grade of his career, perhaps made worse by his nagging injuries.

Maye took his game to a new level in 2020 ascending from an above-average starter to one of the best players at his position. Meanwhile, Adams played the worst football of his career in his first season away from New York.

The Jets continue to be involved in extension talks with Maye after they placed the franchise tag on him earlier in the offseason. Maye is one of the few players who has not been in attendance for voluntary OTAs, something that was expected given his current contract situation.

Either way, Maye will be looking to carry over his success from a year ago into another excellent campaign in 2021.