There isn’t anywhere else to go when a top-rated defense like the 2023 New York Jets reaches the NFL’s mountaintop as a unit. Yet, they are looking to ascend to even greater heights in 2024, which could fuel the franchise to their first Super Bowl win since 1968.
The Jets were widely regarded as the best defensive unit in football for the previous campaign. They took the end zone away from opposing aerial attacks, conceding the third-fewest receiving TDs in the league (19) and the second-fewest passing first downs (150) on the year. Their front seven held ball-carriers to a 21.5 percent rushing first down percentage, which came in at fifth-fewest in the NFL, and came down with the seventh-most sacks (48) when things were all said and done.
Call them well-rounded. Call them balanced. Call them elite. All of those labels fit the bill for the Jets’ defense. Those who have seen them play know it, and they themselves do too, which one of their key cogs spoke on recently.
Jets safety Tony Adams wants his defense to turn it up a notch in high-stakes 2024 season
Per Jack Bell of Newyorkjets.com, Adams detailed the journey that New York’s defense has been on since banding together and the goals they have for next season:
“This is our third year under the same staff, the same guys,” said third-year S Tony Adams, an undrafted free agent. “You grow up with these guys. You grow up and you see these players transform into these unbelievable players. … We took some amazing steps, but now it’s time to take the next step. It’s time to be a dominant defense. We have been before, but we all know what’s at stake. We all know what time it is.”
Had the Jets enjoyed the luxury of having star linebacker Haason Reddick enter their fold entirely this offseason, their defense would be primed for a considerable jump in 2024.
However, 11 sacks don’t grow on trees. If it’s not coming from Reddick, who produced that for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023, or from now-Eagles defensive end Bryce Huff who he replaced this spring, the latter of whom having given the Jets 10 of his own last season, then there will be a void for the Jets to fill on the upcoming campaign.
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The Jets’ front seven and secondary are in good hands for 2024
Moreover, it has been reported that Reddick is staunch as ever about his position and will miss their Week 1 opener on Monday as a result. Thus, it appears as if the front seven will have to rely on defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and defensive end Jermaine Johnson up front, as well as linebackers C.J. Mosley and Quincy Williams in the trenches behind them.
Outside of that, the Jets’ defense looks like it will be airtight moving forward. Their secondary is fortified, especially after they made their standout nickel cornerback Michael Carter II the highest-paid player at the position earlier this summer. He, along with who many consider to be the gold standard at corner in Sauce Gardner, as well as D.J. Reed, will do a number on opposing receivers with help from safeties Chuck Clark and Tony Adams in the secondary.
It is likely that the Jets finish with the No. 1 rated defense yet again in 2024. They’ll also feed off of the energy from their upgraded offense and the points they are forecasted to put on the board next time out, and vice versa. All they can do at this point is strive to lead the NFL in any and every measurable category there is against the rush, pass and special teams next season. As outlandish as it seems, there may not be a unit in the league better equipped to strive for and potentially achieve such grandiosity than them.
