New York Jets: 3 Players to watch vs. Browns in Week 3
1. The defensive backfield
The Jets will have to incorporate bracket coverage against Cleveland, likely on Jarvis Landry. However, they also have to keep forcing Taylor to hold on to the ball to aid the pass rush in getting home.
According to NFL.com’s Next Gen Stats, Taylor has an average Time to Throw (from snap to release) of 2.79 seconds behind the Browns offensive line, 10th highest in the league. On top of that, the receivers aren’t creating separation either.
Antonio Callaway and David Njoku — two of the top receiving options on the team — are averaging 1.7 and 2.3 yards of separation, respectively. Njoku’s separation is tied for eighth lowest among players with at least 5.5 yards of cushion at the line of scrimmage.
The defensive backs will play a huge role in this game in the pass rush, as they always do in this defensive scheme. If they can cover long enough, they can give the outside linebackers enough time to get to Taylor, which will force him into the arms of the interior linemen.
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This was going to be a tough matchup, but with the Browns releasing Josh Gordon, they can shift their focus to Landry. They can employ a similar strategy to the one they had in Detroit from a coverage aspect.