NY Jets stat potpourri: Facts that will give fans a dose of hope

A massive collection of unique New York Jets stats to enjoy at the bye week

After debuting the series during the New York Jets’ bye week, I’d like to welcome you back to another Jets stat potpourri!

As I dig feverishly into the numbers each week, I always stumble upon a myriad of fascinating factoids that find a home within my brain but never see the light of day within an article or tweet. With these stat potpourris, my goal is to send as many of those factoids out into the Jets-verse as possible.

Without further ado, let’s dive into the second-ever New York Jets stat potpourri. Here are 10 interesting stats to know as the Jets’ season tumbles into oblivion. Considering the bleakness of the team’s current situation, I’m going to trend positive with these stats. Most of them will be on the optimistic end of the spectrum, hopefully providing fans with some much-needed hope going into Thanksgiving.

1. The cornerback trio is the NFL’s best in coverage by an enormous margin

It hasn’t necessarily been a perfect year for the Jets’ starting cornerback trio of Sauce Gardner, D.J. Reed, and Michael Carter II. The trio has yet to record an interception, and Gardner has been having trouble with tackling.

Regardless, this is still the NFL’s best cornerback trio from a pure coverage standpoint, and it’s not even remotely close.

Gardner, Reed, and Carter II have combined to allow 509 yards on throws into their coverage across 919 coverage snaps. That’s an average of 0.554 yards per cover snap – the best mark among cornerback trios by a wide margin.

Here are the top cornerback trios based on yards allowed per cover snap:

1. Jets (0.554) – 509 yards on 919 cover snaps – Sauce Gardner, D.J. Reed, Michael Carter II
2. Seahawks (0.758) – 741 on 977 – Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Tre Brown
3. Colts (0.762) – 595 on 781 – Kenny Moore II, Jaylon Jones, Dallis Flowers
4. Ravens (0.803) – 724 on 902 – Brandon Stephens, Marlon Humphrey, Ronald Darby
5. Bills (0.835) – 909 on 1,088 – Rasul Douglas, Taron Johnson, Christian Benford
6. Chiefs (0.867) – 753 on 870 – L’Jarius Sneed, Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson
7. Bears (0.893) – 860 on 963 – Tyrique Stevenson, Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon
8. Lions (0.912) – 970 on 1,063 – Cameron Sutton, Jerry Jacobs, Brian Branch
9. Falcons (0.929) – 845 on 910 – A.J. Terrell, Jeff Okudah, Dee Alford
10. Cowboys (0.937) – 867 on 925 – Stephon Gilmore, DaRon Bland, Jourdan Lewis

“Cornerback trios” are designated based on each team’s top three cornerbacks in coverage snaps played.

The gap between the Jets and the second-ranked Seahawks (0.204) is larger than the gap between the Seahawks and the 10th-ranked Cowboys (0.179). New York’s trio is in its own stratosphere.

Despite the countless issues that plague the rest of this Jets team, fans should appreciate the fact that they are watching one of the best positional units in the history of the franchise. Whether it’s the New York Sack Exchange, the 2009-10 offensive line, or the Brandon Marshall/Eric Decker duo, this Sauce/Reed/Carter cornerback trio is right up there among the legendary units in Jets history.

2. Will McDonald is starting to come alive

Will McDonald‘s rookie year got off to a slow start. Through his first six games, McDonald recorded one pressure on 41 pass-rush snaps (2.4% pressure rate). Sure, the Jets aren’t giving McDonald many snaps, but the rookie wasn’t showing much of anything when he was on the field.

But over his last two games, McDonald has started to show flashes of being the dynamic pass rusher that New York thought it was getting. McDonald has four pressures on just 12 pass-rush snaps over his last two games (33.3% pressure rate).

On the season as a whole, McDonald has been better than given credit for, even when you include his apparently slow start. McDonald’s statistical production is somewhat misleading since he’s been unlucky to have some of his pass-rush wins not translate into tangible production (due to the ball coming out quickly or another mitigating factor).

McDonald has a pass-rush win rate of 14.0% this season, which is very solid. It ranks 38th out of the 138 edge rushers with at least 50 pass-rush snaps, putting him at the 73rd percentile.

On top of that, McDonald has been particularly excellent in true pass set situations. McDonald has a 28.6% pass-rush win rate in true pass sets, which ranks ninth-best out of 138 qualifiers (94th percentile). Unfortunately, McDonald has only gotten 21 true pass set reps this season, so he hasn’t been able to fully flaunt his success in these situations, but he won six of those 21 reps, which is very notable even in a small sample.

With more snaps, McDonald could have the opportunity to translate more of his wins into pressures, hits, and sacks.

3. Jermaine Johnson’s explosion

Like McDonald, Jermaine Johnson started off slowly as a pass rusher. But for what has now extended to a six-game span, Johnson has become one of the most active pass rushers in the NFL.

After recording five pressures over his four games, Johnson has 28 pressures over his past six. Since Week 5, Johnson ranks 13th-best among edge rushers in pressures per game (4.7), and his 17.4% pressure rate ranks fifth-best among edge rushers with at least 100 pass-rush snaps:

1. Bryce Huff, NYJ (25.6%) – 31 pressures on 121 pass-rush snaps
2. Trey Hendrickson, CIN (19.6%) – 35 on 179
3. Micah Parsons, DAL (19.0%) – 35 on 184
4. Odafe Oweh, BAL (18.0%) – 23 on 128
5. Jermaine Johnson, NYJ (17.4%) – 28 on 161

4. Joe Tippmann is showing potential

The Jets’ pass protection has mostly been a complete mess this season, but rookie Joe Tippmann has flashed some excellent potential as a pass-blocker. On the year, Tippmann has allowed only nine pressures on 276 pass-blocking snaps (3.26% pressure rate), including only one sack and one hit.

Tippmann has been performing especially well since moving to center after he returned in Week 9, allowing four pressures on 147 pass-blocking snaps (2.72% pressure rate). Over his past two games, Tippmann has allowed one pressure on 87 pass-blocking snaps (1.14%).

His most recent game came against a Bills defensive line that includes Ed Oliver, who is tied for third among interior defensive linemen in pressures (39), and Tippmann still allowed just one pressure on 40 pass-blocking snaps.

5. Thomas Hennessy continues to justify his contract

In April, the Jets signed Thomas Hennessy to a four-year, $5.97 million contract extension that includes $2.625 million in guarantees. It set a record for the most guaranteed money in league history for a long snapper at the time.

Hennessy is showing why the Jets think so highly of him. After a two-tackle performance in Buffalo, Hennessy now has four tackles on the season, tied for the most among long snappers. It’s just the norm for Hennessy, who entered the season with 20 tackles over his six seasons with the Jets – tied for the most among long snappers from 2017-22.

Hennessy only needs one more tackle to tie his career-high of five, which he set in 2020.

For perspective on how impressive Hennessy’s tackle production is, consider that the average long snapper in 2023 has 1.4 tackles to this point of the season. Eleven of the league’s 32 long snappers have zero tackles.

6. Greg Zuerlein is making a Pro Bowl bid

He’s definitely going to miss a kick on Black Friday because of my decision to mention this, but at least up to this point, Greg Zuerlein has been a Pro Bowl-caliber kicker for the Jets.

Zuerlein has nailed 22 of his 23 field goal attempts, giving him a 95.7% conversion rate that ranks third-best among kickers. He is a perfect 20 for 20 on attempts from under 50 yards, ranking as the most makes without a miss in that range.

7. Should Jets consider a returner change?

Moving to the negative side on special teams, the Jets might have a returner conundrum on their hands.

Xavier Gipson stole the hearts of Jets fans with his game-winning punt return in Week 1, but he’s struggled mightily outside of that one play. Since Week 2, Gipson is averaging 6.9 yards per punt return and 20.9 yards per kickoff return while fumbling the ball four times. Gipson pushed the Jets down to 31st in kickoff return DVOA thanks to his lost fumble in Buffalo.

Perhaps the Jets can give Israel Abanikanda a shot as a returner. In college, Abanikanda returned 19 kickoffs for 22.8 yards per return with one touchdown, although he did not return any punts. The Jets gave Abanikanda one kickoff return near the end of the Buffalo game (only gaining 19 yards).

8. Losing Justin Hardee has laid a massive blow to the special teams

Justin Hardee has missed the Jets’ past five games and his absence has been felt in just about every area on special teams.

Take a look at the Jets’ special teams performance with Hardee (Games 1-5) and without him (Games 6-10):

• Yards per punt return allowed: 7.6 with Hardee, 13.3 without Hardee
• Yards per punt return: 13.7 with Hardee, 4.7 without Hardee
• Yards per kickoff return: 23.8 with Hardee, 18.7 without Hardee

Most fans are aware of Hardee’s impact as a gunner in punt coverage, but it often goes overlooked how vital he is to the Jets’ return units, too. Hardee is a great blocker on the return teams and frequently throws key blocks to spring positive returns, as we saw in Week 1 when he made one of the blocks that helped Gipson get loose. Without Hardee, the Jets aren’t creating lanes in the return game.

In punt coverage, the Jets have been far more vulnerable without Hardee, most notably on Derius Davis’ 87-yard return touchdown for the Chargers in Week 9. Even if you take that return out, the Jets are allowing 9.2 yards per punt return on all other returns without Hardee, which is still higher than the 7.6 they were allowing with him in the lineup.

Not only are the Jets allowing bigger returns without Hardee, but they are allowing more returns. With Hardee, only seven of Thomas Morstead‘s 25 punts were returned (28%). Without Hardee, opponents have returned 19 of Morstead’s 33 punts (58%).

This is because Hardee does a great job of winning his matchups to get downfield and force fair catches. Without him, the Jets are not getting downfield quickly enough, giving opponents more chances to make big plays. Morstead forced a fair catch on 11 of his 25 punts with Hardee (44%), but since Hardee went out, Morstead has forced a fair catch on eight of his 33 punts (24%).

Hardee was initially expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks. He’s about to miss his seventh week and there is no indication as to when he will be back. Clearly, he cannot come back soon enough. The Jets’ special teams unit was elite when he was on the field, but without him, the unit looks completely different.

Hardee often does not get appreciated enough when he is on the field. It’s taken a five-game absence for his impact on the Jets to be truly demonstrated.

9. Alijah Vera-Tucker’s gargantuan impact on the run game continues to be demonstrated

Similar to how Hardee’s absence has demonstrated his immense impact on the Jets’ special teams, Alijah Vera-Tucker‘s absence has demonstrated his impact on the run game.

Through five games, Breece Hall was averaging a spectacular 7.2 yards per carry, including a solid mark of 2.4 yards before contact per carry.

Since Vera-Tucker went out, Hall has gone silent on the ground. Over five games without Vera-Tucker, Hall is averaging 2.5 yards per carry. This is largely because he is no longer getting any space to work with. Hall is averaging 0.6 yards before contact per carry in his five AVT-less games, which is a quarter of the mark he had with Vera-Tucker in the lineup.

10. Michael Carter II’s slot coverage is vital

Joining Hardee and Vera-Tucker, Michael Carter II is yet another Jet whose impact is most noticeable when he is off the field.

Carter II has arguably been the best slot-coverage defender in the NFL this season. Among the 31 cornerbacks to play at least 100 snaps in slot coverage, Carter II has allowed the fewest yards per slot cover snap at 0.43. Carter II has allowed 14-of-22 passing for 98 yards and one touchdown across 227 cover snaps in the slot.

Carter II missed his first game of the season against Buffalo and the Jets quickly realized how vital he is to their defensive success. New York yielded an 81-yard touchdown to Khalil Shakir on a play where Shakir lined up in the slot – nearly matching Carter II’s yardage total on the entire season in one play. Overall, the Jets allowed six receptions for 126 yards to players who lined up in the slot.

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Bonus #1: Jets’ tide-shifting personnel changes in Buffalo

The Jets made some big changes to their offensive personnel in Week 11 – some long-awaited, some puzzling. Even though they did not lead to any immediate difference in the unit’s performance, these changes will play an integral role in determining how the rest of the season plays out.

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