If the Jets are going to break the longest playoff drought in North American sports they’re going to have to do it the hard way. 

With the loss on Sunday Night Football to the Pittsburgh Steelers the Jets dropped to 2-5, three games out of first place in the AFC East. 

Aaron Rodgers believes the team is playing “too angry” and Davante Adams wants to see players celebrate each other’s success more. 

There’s still a lot of football to be played, and with one of the most talented rosters we’ve seen in decades, if any Jets team is capable of making a run then it’s this one right here. 

After getting a boost last week with the addition of three-time All Pro and six-time Pro Bowler Davante Adams, the Jets will get another one this week in the arrival of Haason Reddick. 

The two-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro reported to 1JD this week after the Jets and his agents were able to come to an agreement on a revised contract, ending his holdout and getting one of the best pass-rushers in football into the building. 

You can never have too many pass-rushers in any defense, but particularly in the one that Jeff Ulbrich likes to run. With the early injury to Jermaine Johnson, the Jets have had to adapt and shift their approach this season.

The Jets have blitzed on 27.2% of snaps this season which is the 14th-highest mark in the NFL going into week 8. Last year that number was 16.3% which was the 2nd-lowest in football; the year before it was 14.9%, which was actually the lowest percentage in the league. 

The Jets were consistently able to send four rushers and generate pressure. In 2022, with the lowest blitz rate in the league, their pressure rate of 25.4% was the third-highest in football. In 2023 with the second lowest blitz rate, their pressure rate of 26.5% was the fourth-highest. Their pressure rate of 26.3% this year is still a top-10 number (9th) but they’ve had to send 5 or more defenders to get there, which naturally leaves gaps and holes to exploit. 

Enter Haason Reddick, who’s coming off four straight seasons of double-digit sacks. The hope is that with Reddick and Will McDonald in the building, the Jets can get back to their core principle of rushing four and playing tight coverage.

His speed off the edge is extremely difficult to defend; he’s too fast for offensive lineman and he’s too strong for tight ends and receivers. Last season, he generated a pressure on the QB every 8.6 snaps and the year before that it was even better, generating a pressure on the QB every 5.8 snaps. 

People are well aware of his speed – it’s hard to hide it when you test in the 97th percentile for EDGEs in the 40-yard dash and 98th percentile in the broad jump – but his power is underrated. He has an elite spin move, he has that chop/swim move and you can line him up all over the formation, similar to how the Jets lined McDonald up inside on some third downs against Pittsburgh on Sunday Night. 

Outside of the sacks he also creates turnovers, something that has been lacking for the Jets this season. The Jets have just six takeaways all year which puts them 24th in the league, and combined with their giveaways means the Jets are currently at a -3 turnover differential.

Reddick has 16 forced fumbles over his career and he led the league with 5 forced fumbles in 2022 – recovering three of them. And while it’s unlikely that he will bring down any interceptions, pressured QBs throw bad balls, bad balls often lead to turnovers in the secondary.

Finally, Reddick will help the Jets run game. He’s renowned for the pass-rush, but people ignore the fact that he’s no slouch in the run game either. 

Sometimes it’s just about setting the edge and being disciplined. Don’t try to do too much, just do the job the coaches have set you, stay in your lane, finish your tackles and don’t give up the edge. If you do that, a lot of good things happen.

Haason Reddick won’t fix absolutely everything. But he’s going to do a lot of damage in this defense and he’s going to have a lot of fun doing it. Welcome back Haason.