Two Jets could see a big rise in production in a key area thanks to a new philosophy on defense

A lot of talk surrounding the 2025 iteration of the New York Jets is focused on their offense, and rightfully so. The Jets are completely hitting the reset button on the offensive side of the ball with a new philosophy, a new coordinator, a new quarterback and a bunch of new pieces.

But the defense is quietly going through some changes as well. It is assumed the Jets will have a good defense. They have for years, they brought in a defensive minded head coach and two of the team’s biggest stars reside on that side of the ball.

The Jets brought in a veteran defensive coach in Steve Wilks, one of the few hires I liked from Aaron Glenn. Wilkes has a different scheme than Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich. While those guys were content with playing back and staying in cover 3, Wilks is much more aggressive. Wilks likes to blitz and leave corners on an island. That could be a scary thing to think about when you see who they have playing opposite Sauce Gardner, but that’s a GM problem.

With Wilkes aggressive style, the Jets could see a lot more pressure from two of their linebackers Jamien Sherwood and Quincy Williams. The Jets' linebackers will be asked to carry a heavier pass-rush workload than they have seen before. While that isn’t something the pair have done much of in the past, that doesn’t mean that they can’t rush the quarterback.

In fact, both Sherwood and Williams have displayed the potential to be high-level blitzers. The boost in pass-rush chances could unlock a new level of impact in their games. Sherwood and Williams are known for their speed and athleticism as opposed to their size and strength. This has translated to exceptional efficiency in the pass-rush game.

On just 53 career pass-rush snaps, Sherwood has collected 12 pressures, giving him a pressure rate of 22.6%. For perspective, the 2024 league average for linebackers was 17.5%. Sherwood also has 2.5 total sacks, which gives him a 5.7% sack rate. The league average for linebackers was 3.1% in 2024.

Williams has maintained similarly impressive production over a much larger sample. On 237 career pass-rush snaps, Williams has posted 48 pressures (20.3% pressure rate) and 10 sacks (4.2% sack rate).

If Sherwood and Williams can maintain their efficiency on a larger workload of pass-rush snaps, their numbers could be through the roof. Keeping that same efficiency, Sherwood would be looking at 27 pressures and seven sacks on 120 pass rush snaps and Williams would be around 24 pressures and five sacks. Those numbers would be near the top of the league for linebackers.

I expect the Jets are going to rely on pressure to cause more turnovers in 2025 and use their running game to control the clock when they do. It’s a fantastic plan if they can pull it off.