The New York Jets are getting ready for the start of the regular season when they open the season in Tennessee to face their former head coach Robert Saleh and the Titans. The expectations are high for this Jets team and plenty is at stake in head coach Aaron Glenn's second season.
GM Darren Mougey focused on veteran leadership for a defense that did not intercept a pass last year. He added plenty of players that can get after the quarterback and are strong against the run, an area where the Jets allowed close to 140 yards per game.
The pieces are definitely in place and on paper, the defense has potential to be much better this year. But, we won't know for certain until the games are played.
Here are three bold predictions for the 2026 New York
Jets defense:
David Bailey will have 12 sacks in his rookie season
The excitement surrounding Bailey is legit. He was exactly as advertised in the preseason, using his speed and strength to embarrass offensive linemen and get after the quarterback. The Jets defense was awful at sacking the quarterback, ranking 31st in the league last year. Will McDonald finished with eight of their sacks, but four of them were in one game and he had far too many moments where he disappeared off the stat sheet.
The Jets added former Cincinnati Bengal Joseph Ossai and McDonald should see plenty of more opportunities this year thanks to all of the defensive upgrades Mougey made in free agency. But, Bailey is flat out dangerous and has the potential to be a star in this league. He'll frustrate opposing offensive lines all year and have his first season with double digits in sacks.
The Jets will have a positive turnover differential
The Jets defenses of the past have been abysmal at forcing turnovers. They hit a new low last year becoming the first team ever to not force an interception in an entire season since the league started tracking in 1933. The good news is they can only go up from here and they've added players who have a knack for forcing turnovers, including Nahshon Wright, who was tops in the league among all cornerbacks with five interceptions for the Chicago Bears.
You would have to go back to 2015, when Todd Bowles was the head coach, for the last time the Jets finished a season with a positive turnover differential (+6). Last year, they were an abysmal -19. They're due for better days ahead.
The Jets Will Have A Top Five Run Defense
While the Jets were brutal against the run last season, part of that was due to their best run defender, Quinnen Williams, being traded to the Dallas Cowboys at last year's deadline. Darren Mougey addressed the defensive line immediately starting with the acquisition of T'Vondre Sweat from the Tennessee Titans. Sweat was one of the top run defenders in the league last year, posting a PFF grade of 83.4, fifth best overall among all defensive linemen.
Mougey also brought in David Onyemata, who finished in the Top 10 against the run with a PFF grade of 74.1, seventh best among all defensive linemen. The Jets now have one of the deepest defensive lines in the league and in a division where they will have to face James Cook, Devon Achane and Rhamondre Stevenson twice a season, adding strong run defenders was a priority. This will be a much difficult team to run against in 2026.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: 3 bold predictions for the New York Jets 2026 defense
