T'Vondre Sweat injury could create major opportunity for Darrell Jackson Jr.

After a loss like the New York Jets suffered on Sunday to the Miami Dolphins, it's very hard to try to find the positives in a game like that. There's no positive spin to losing to a winless team in your own building with your season on the line.

However, going forward for the rest of the year, you want to see the young players on the Jets who will be here for the foreseeable future get their chances and continue to grow.

That is exactly what we should see for Darrell Jackson Jr. after this game.

New York Jets rookie Darrell Jackson Jr. set to fill in for T'Vondre Sweat

In the second quarter of the Jets' 28-25 loss to the Dolphins, T'Vondre Sweat went down with a knee injury. It happened when Dane Belton was attempting a tackle on Malik Willis, and Sweat caught some friendly fire from Belton.

You never want to see injuries, but in the NFL it's a next-man-up mentality, and that next man for the Jets is their rookie fourth-round pick.

Looking at interior defensive linemen who played at least 100 snaps this season, Jackson ranks fourth in the NFL at 11.4 percent in run-stop rate. That's happened with Jackson getting just 40% of defensive snaps for the Jets this season.

Sweat, as a true nose tackle, was playing more than Jackson, getting 49% of snaps through the Jets' first seven games of the season. That will likely change with the injury Sweat suffered against Miami, and Jackson will take that opportunity.

At six-foot-five and 337 pounds, the Florida State product can absolutely handle a nose tackle role that will now be vacant, with Sweat likely to miss time. It took a few weeks, but over the last four games, we've seen Jackson take his game to another level.

He had seven combined run stops against Chicago and Cleveland and then added another three in the Jets' loss to the Dolphins on Sunday. After playing 58 percent of snaps in Week 7, expect that number to increase for Jackson going forward.

For Darren Mougey, this provides another opportunity. One of the bigger criticisms of Mougey's draft classes has been the lack of impact from players selected on day three. Of the eight players that Mougey has selected in rounds four through seven, Jackson has had the biggest impact.

Jackson doesn't project to be a major impact guy as a pass rusher; however, in his last three games, he has a sack, four pressures, and two batted passes. His impact on the Jets' defense should not be understated.

If Jackson can prove to be a reliable run-stopping interior defensive lineman for the Jets, found in the fourth round, that would bode well for the Jets' general manager. It would show year-over-year scouting improvement in the final rounds of the NFL Draft.

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