New York Jets: Trumaine Johnson and the secondary key to 2018

With the New York Jets first practice occurring tomorrow, we look at a key to the season, the new look defensive secondary.

Phil Collins sang, “One More Night” in one of his biggest hits. For the New York Jets, it’s just one more night before they hit the field. That’s right, the first practice of training camp is on Friday and just like that, the 2018 season begins.

Time to look ahead. We have talked a lot about one particular position. OK we have talked a lot about that position for more than a decade as Jets fans. Believe it or not we do have other positions to talk about besides quarterback.

Previously we looked at three areas to key on when talking about the defensive side of the ball. In that we talked about Jamal Adams taking the next step. Let’s talk more about that defensive secondary a little bit tonight.

This team is going to need short fields on offense. Setting up their young quarterback for success is going to be tantamount to team success. They can’t have Sam Darnold leading 80 and 90 yard drives each time he touches the football.

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Coinciding with that is pressure on the quarterback. When do turnovers happen? When the offense is forced into mistakes. That means pressure.

The Jets haven’t been good at pressuring the quarterback in a long time. Last year they posted 28 sacks, good for 28th in the league.

That translated into a -4 turnover differential. That simply isn’t good enough to be successful. No pressure, no turnovers. No turnovers, five wins.

Now it’s not as if the Jets have added a dominant pass rusher. So it’s on the secondary to give the rushers time to get home.

We have talked about Jamal Adams and getting him to put up interceptions. A big key is going to be Trumaine Johnson and how he makes the others better.

Morris Claiborne was effective last season. He knocked down eight passes and intercepted one. However, he did get beaten, evidenced by his 48.5 grade by Pro Football Focus. Remember, this is with Claiborne as the number one cornerback.

Enter Trumaine Johnson. He brings his 18 interceptions and 67 passes with him, and he is only 27 years old. Slating him against the number one receiver allows Claiborne to be the number two. Just by addition the group is improved. The talent is better distributed and the coverage will give the front seven more time to get home.

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This will also have a positive effect on the young safeties. If the outside is locked down, that will give Marcus Maye and Jamal Adams freedom to go find the football. Like heat-seeking missiles they can follow the quarterback’s eyes and lock in on that football.

Watch it come together during camp. They have the potential to be very exciting.

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