New York Jets: Lorenzo Mauldin due for a breakout 2018 season
New York Jets edge rusher Lorenzo Mauldin will be a key contributor to the defense in 2018 despite not playing in 2017 and appearing to take a downturn in 2016.
The New York Jets didn’t address two key areas in the 2018 NFL Draft: offensive line and edge rusher. They could’ve landed a good edge rusher in the third round, and some people were disappointed that they didn’t. Maybe the Jets didn’t see a good one. Maybe their philosophy on defense is different than we thought, or maybe they saw something that we didn’t in the ability to set the edge last season.
Last season the Jets were missing a player in their pass rush that could’ve made a difference. Lorenzo Mauldin injured his back, and it cost him the entire season.
2016 was an underwhelming season for the budding linebacker. The Jets only used him on 176 pass rush snaps, which was fewer than the season before, and his numbers declined.
If Mauldin can get back to the form he showed in 2015, though, he could be a force. He only had four sacks, but according to Pro Football Focus Elite, he played 203 pass rush snaps and had 27 total pressures (quarterback hits, sacks, and hurries).
Even though his total pressure were only 36th in the NFL among those with 200 or more snaps in pass rush, his Pass Rush Productivity (percentage of snaps recording pressure weighted towards sacks) of 10.6 was 19th among those players.
As fans, we’re enamored by sacks. While they are great for the field position game, they’re not everything when it comes to getting pressure on the quarterback.
In addition to the improvements on the secondary, ESPN’s Rich Cimini believes that Leonard Williams will see a few double-teams in 2018. If that’s the case, expect a lot of one-on-one opportunities for Mauldin. Just one guy standing in his way of the quarterback could be a good thing to improve his game.
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In the end, it’ll be about the coverage and the one-on-one battles. If Mauldin can handle his battles, the Jets defense will be in good shape. We saw Mauldin do it in 2015. So, there’s no reason he can’t repeat it.