New York Jets: Rookies on both sides of ball critical to 2018 success

For the New York Jets, there is a lot of hope for the future, but success in 2018 may lie on the shoulders of two rookies.

Generally speaking teams don’t want to rely on rookies to succeed. That said, it seems like in two of the three phases of the game, the New York Jets just may be doing that for the 2018 campaign. Not many expect the Jets to be over .500 for the 2018 season. Andy Benoit of The MMQB, however, sees something different for the team in 2018 — making the playoffs.

If the Jets are going to be a playoff team in 2018, they’re going to have to rely on some veterans and some second-year players to up their games. However, two major players for this team’s 53-man roster may just be rookies — one on offense and one on defense.

The one on offense is obvious, and we won’t delve too much into that side. If Sam Darnold can show us what his scouting report said was true, he can be an immediate impact player on the Jets like Andrew Luck was in Indianapolis. In 2012 the addition of Luck turned the 2-14 Colts into a 10-6 team that made the playoffs. If Dranold proves the scouts right, he will do the same for the Jets.

The second rookie who can make a big impact is the second player they chose in the 2018 NFL Draft — Nathan Shepherd. Michael Renner of Pro Football Focus ranked Nathan Shepherd No. 2 among rookie defensive players so far in their preseason rankings — mostly on his ability to stop the run. According to Renner, PFF has credited Shepherd with four run “stops” in just 23 defensive snaps against the run.

Shepherd is still raw in terms of pass rushing, though. He still learning the nuances of the NFL game, especially reading blockers. Once he can learn that, he will be off to the races, and Leonard Williams will have someone alongside him to take the pressure off. It would also mean the Jets won’t have to rely on the edge rushers to succeed. The could have similar to what they had with Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson in 2015.

Many people think the Jets defense success is predicated on finding an elite pass rusher like Khalil Mack. It’s really predicated on getting Shepherd up to speed and having a dangerous duo in the middle. When they do that, they’ll be fine.