Going into the 2020 off-season, general manager Joe Douglas of the New York Jets knew what he had to do. The weakest link on defense was easily the cornerbacks unit, and while there are nine players currently at the position vying to compete for a starting job, one corner should be indulged due to the potential he showed in 2019.
Reviewing who the New York Jets have at corner:
Arthur Maulet, who played in six games for the Jets in 2019 alongside Bless Austin and Brian Pool, could have a solid shot at earning starting time early on next season. The Jets also traded a sixth-round pick for Quincy Wilson, who showed some promise for the Indianapolis Colts. They also added Nate Hairston, who also came from the Colts last season. Hairston mainly served as depth, as he was unable to lock down reps over Austin or Maulet.
The Jets also drafted fifth-round pick Bryce Hall, who was considered a top prospect before suffering a significant injury last season. Scouts believe he could be a first or second-round pick in the draft — Jets might have landed an extreme value in the fifth round with Hall. He lead the nation in past break-ups and is one of the best pure cover-corners coming out of the draft.
Nonetheless, he is a bit shaky in man-coverage, and his ball skills are questionable. Hall will likely fit well in a zone cover-3 scheme, but he deserves an opportunity to feature his abilities in press-coverage. He struggled in off-ball with Virginia at times. Luckily, he has plenty of time to develop and refine his abilities, and he could earn a starting job sooner rather than later.
However, Bless Austin as a player I want to talk about, based on his production last season and what he’s bringing into year two out of Rutgers.
Austin played in seven games last year, starting at six. He logged 25 combined tackles, four passes defended, and one forced fumble, a 62.2% completion rate against and allowed one touchdown. One of his more problematic statistics was his missed tackles rate, at almost 20%.
Based on his rookie numbers, I’m not too convinced the Jets are as high on Austin as most believe. He missed a ton of tackles and was about average in coverage. With that being said, I do think he has a ton of untapped potential that the Jets could extract in the coming years. As a Rutgers player, he’s not expected to be a premium level option in the NFL, but he showed the ability to stick with NFL level receivers in his rookie year.
The competition for the No. 2 corner spot will be heavy, but Austin has his foot in the water.