New York Jets: Ziggy Ansah would make a great fit
The New York Jets would be a great fit for Ziggy Ansah in free agency.
In the NFL we talk about premium positions. These are the positions that are most important to fill to improve your team quickly. There are two that the New York Jets have not been able to fill for quite some time. One is the quarterback position and the other is edge pass rusher. The Jets need a quarterback and they need to get to the quarterback.
The path to a quarterback has been laid out. At least, my path has been laid out. There is one way to get it done, and his name is Kirk Cousins. But what about the edge pass rusher? The Jets haven’t gotten to the quarterback consistently since John Abraham left town. Time and time again, games get to a point where a sack might close out a win and the Jets just can’t pick that sack up. What are they to do?
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They need to sign Ziggy Ansah. He would make a perfect fit. First of all, look at the measurables. He stands at 6-5 and weighs 271 pounds. To get around the edge, he also runs a 4.63 forty yard dash and a 4.26 20 yard shuttle.
To beat today’s offensive tackles, a rusher must be big and athletic. The tackles are. Above describes a player in Ansah that is big enough to go through opponents and fast enough to go around them.
You know what they say about the numbers. They don’t lie. Let’s see how Ansah has done thus far in his NFL career:
Defensive | |||||||||||||
| Tackles | Interceptions | ||||||||||||
| Year | Team | G | Comb | Total | Ast | Sck | SFTY | PDef | Int | TDs | Yds | Avg | Lng |
| 2017 | Detroit Lions | 14 | 44 | 39 | 5 | 12.0 | — | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | — |
| 2016 | Detroit Lions | 13 | 35 | 21 | 14 | 2.0 | — | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | — |
| 2015 | Detroit Lions | 16 | 47 | 39 | 8 | 14.5 | — | 1 | — | — | — | 0.0 | — |
| 2014 | Detroit Lions | 16 | 49 | 37 | 12 | 7.5 | — | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | — |
| 2013 | Detroit Lions | 14 | 32 | 19 | 13 | 8.0 | — | 1 | — | — | — | 0.0 | — |
| TOTAL | 73 | 207 | 155 | 52 | 44.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
That is an average of nearly nine sacks per year. How did John Abraham look? He did the same exactly thing in his six years with the Jets. That was the last time the Jets had that consistent of a pass rush. Here is a guy that would fit a need the team has, and fit it perfectly.
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Now, his experience comes from the 4-3 defensive alignment. This could be a knock considering the fact that the Jets run the 3-4 primarily. However, due to his size and speed, Ansah should be versatile enough to make the transition. He certainly has the ability.
Spotrac sets his market value at $9.5 million. After the Jets inevitably release Muhammad Wilkerson, they will have $100 million in cap space. They can afford him. Go do it.