New York Jets: C.J. Mosley Could Boost Defense

The New York Jets enter the 2020 NFL Season with the addition of a linebacker in C.J. Mosley who could make a world of difference alongside Gregg Williams.

Not too long ago, there was nothing negative to say about C.J. Mosley, he was coming off of three straight Pro Bowl seasons, and back-to-back triple-digit tackle years, and he was undoubtedly one of the league’s best linebackers.

He still is, but couldn’t show it in 2019 due to injuries sidelining him for all but two games. He played in the season opener where he played well with a pick-six that still shows up on 2019 highlight reels. That was about all the Jets were able to get out of CJ Mosley last year; a common theme as a lot of New York Jets players were bitten by the injury bug.

However, Mosley should still be Mosley. Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network picked him as his Comeback Player of the Year pick a couple of months ago.

Now pair a healthy Mosley with a proven to be great Defensive Coordinator in Gregg Williams, and it’s a scary sight. Williams got the best out of guys far less talented than Mosley last year, which makes it that much more exciting to imagine what the two could do together. Williams found his rhythm as a coach in the second half of the season and the defense shined because of it.

The Jets have been criticized this offseason due to several reasons, including their inability in the past to support Sam Darnold, their head coach who is potentially the worst in the NFL, and their poor statistical rankings on offense in 2019. All of those are valid, but one thing that will surely benefit the Jets next year is having Mosley back to anchor the defense again.

Part of the reason they were thought to have ‘won the 2019 offseason’ was because of the Mosley signing.

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Predicting Mosley’s stats for the 2020 season is tough, as it’s always tough to predict production with a player who’s coming off of a season-ending injury. However, it helps to know that the lowest tackle output he ever put up was a solid 92 total tackles.

That’s Mosley’s floor, and he actually represented the AFC in the Pro Bowl when he had 92 tackles as well. And his ceiling is–well–C.J. Mosley. He showed how good he could be in Baltimore, he’s an elite defensive piece that can be all over the field as he holds down the defense.

It’s easy to be wary of Mosley’s prospects coming into next year due to his health. Even when he came back after missing four games last year, he got hurt again and then missed the last 10. But there’s no doubt that Mosley is about as reliable as they come when he’s on the field.

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Jets fans are scarred from the awful head coaching they’ve endured for nearly a decade now, but it’s okay to be optimistic about getting C.J. Mosley back, and about what he brings to the rapidly developing defense.

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