On paper, the Jets look very good at the cornerback position. They will need to be. Aaron Glenn’s heavy blitzing tendencies will leave plenty of one on ones at the back of the defense. Let’s talk about the players who will be in coverage.
The Bounceback Superstar
Sauce Gardner
2024 was the first of Gardner’s three NFL seasons that did not end in a First Team All Pro selection. It was a bit of a down year for the superstar cornerback. Still, a bad season by Sauce Gardner standards is a very good season for most other cornerbacks.
It is in many ways a sign of the impossibly high standard Gardner has set that a season where he allowed less than 400 yards in coverage is viewed as a big disappointment.
He will have a chance to bounceback in a big way in 2025. He will be the featured player in Aaron Glenn’s blitz heavy scheme. You couldn’t really say Gardner’s talents were wasted in the defense run by Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich, but it did not fully take advantage of his ability to dominate in man to man coverage. With a new contract in hand, Gardner is poised to have a big season. With DJ Reed gone, it would be logical for the Jets to start having him shadow the other team’s best receiver all over the field rather than just taking whomever comes to the left side of the defensive formation. That will truly maximize his value.
What concerns are there that Sauce might not recapture his 2022 and 2023 form? Well, teams did attack him more in space a year ago. He will need to some show some improvement in tackling one on one. Additionally, officials started to throw more flags his way. Gardner’s game in his first two seasons was build on disrupting receivers with his hands and betting that officials wouldn’t dare to throw a flag. In 2024, officials took that dare, calling the game tighter around Sauce and throwing 10 flags on him (1 of which was declined).
These are areas to clean up. Given that his new head coach is one of the greatest players in franchise history at the position he plays, we can expect Gardner to be held to an extremely high standard by the people in charge. They might drive him to become even better than he was those first two years.
The Free Agent Enigma
Brandon Stephens
I don’t think there’s any way to say that Stephens’ play in the NFL to date justifies the 3 year, $36 million contract he got from the Jets. That makes the signing an early referendum on Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey.
Sometimes a coaching staff and front office sees skills in a player that haven’t been tapped. They believe they can get more out of that player than his previous team. They give the player a contract that seems pricey at the time. Then it turns into a bargain as the player improves in a new system.
That’s the hope with Stephens. By most accounts he has been a stronger man to man than zone corner in his career to date. With the Jets likely to play man to man near a league high rate, the new coaching staff’s ability to help Stephens find another gear will go a long way towards making the Jets defense succeed or fail.
The Now Healthy Slot Corner
Michael Carter II
Like Gardner, Carter had a down year in 2024 just after he received a lucrative contract extension. Carter’s struggles weren’t hard to explain, though. He played through injuries most of the season. In his second and third years, he had developed into one of the league’s most reliable defenders from the slot. A healthy Carter should return to form in 2025.
The Future at Cornerback
Azareye’h Thomas
The Jets’ selection of Thomas in the third round of the NFL Draft turned some heads because cornerback was not an immediate need. Third round picks start immediately far less often than people realize, though. In an ideal world, the third round pick goes to a position group that is set with starters. He sits for a year or two and develops on the practice field. Then he steps into the starting lineup. Thomas has the physical tools to be a starter in a press man heavy scheme. The question is whether he can master all of the fundamentals.
The Previous Future at Cornerback
Qwan’tez Stiggers
Jarrick Bernard-Converse
These players were both drafted by Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas. Now they must prove themselves to a new regime. Stiggers in particular seemed like he was being trained for a starting role. The additions of Stephens and Thomas have complicated things. Neither player has a roster spot locked down so it is up to them to impress the new coaching staff with their play at cornerback and on special teams.
Practice Squad Auditions
Mario Goodrich
Bump Cooper
Both players face a lot of obstacles on the path to the 53 man roster. It’s more realistic for them to aim for practice squad slots.
