Throughout the regular season, NewYorkJets.com reporters Eric Allen, Ethan Greenberg, Randy Lange, Caroline Hendershot and John Pullano will give their responses to a series of questions regarding this year's Jets.
Today's question: What kind of impact will Haason Reddick have on the Jets defense?
EA: Haason Reddick is an elite pass rusher. Over the past four seasons with three different clubs, Reddick amassed 50.5 sacks and 13 forced fumbles. The Jets have a good defense, but they are tied at No. 22 in takeaways with 6. Reddick not only can go get the rock, but he's going to make quarterbacks force the issue when he's exploding off the edge. The Jets have missed Jermaine Johnson's presence on several fronts. Will McDonald, who is second in the NFL with 8 sacks, has had a sophomore surge and Quinnen Williams remains a formidable presence inside. But now things will change for opponents because they must account for Reddick as well and the power of three will take full effect. The Jets are sixth in the NFL in sacks (21) and pressure percentage (39.5). We'll see how much Reddick plays Sunday, but the Jets have a clear advantage up front against a Patriots offense that has allowed 25 sacks, second-most in the league, and a 46.5 pressure percentage, highest in the league according to Next Gen Stats. If the Jets offense can start early in these games, this defense can feast rushing the passer and Reddick is a game-changer who is a marquee closer.
EG: The addition will help with forcing turnovers and creating more pressure with the defensive line. Interim HC Jeff Ulbrich said the defense is at its best when it can be effective rushing the passer with four down linemen and Haason Reddick certainly helps with that. In Ulbrich's two games as head coach, he has the ninth-highest blitz rate at 37.7%. Reddick is a gamechanger, whose 13 forced fumbles since 2020 are tied for the second most in the league. It will also free up All-Pro DT Quinnen Williams, who receives a lot of attention in the middle, and Will McDonald, whose 8 sacks this season rank No. 2 in the NFL. There's no way to predict how quickly Reddick will integrate with this defense, but he's played in a similar system and has a good matchup on paper this weekend at New England. The Pats allow the most pressure in the NFL. If Reddick can quickly regain his Pro Bowl form, quarterbacks will likely be under more duress, which could lead to errant throws and, perhaps, more turnovers.
RL: At New England, Haason Reddick's impact will likely be muted. Yes, he came to 1 Jets Drive looking great and told IHC Jeff Ulbrich he's been doing football work and conditioning. "He's an experienced player, he's played in a similar defense to ours, so as far as the schematic stuff," Brick said. "I don't think that's going to be a huge struggle." But keep in mind that WR Davante Adams has been playing this season and said this week about his Jets debut at Pittsburgh: "If I had caught 200 yards of passes and scored touchdowns it would've been great, but that didn't happen." So I'd love to see a 2-stripsack game from HR on Sunday, but the longer view is more important. Even after Bryce Huff departed in free agency, even after Jermaine Johnson's season-ending injury, even without Reddick in green and white until this week, the Jets had done well on the pass rush. Their 21 sacks are sixth in the NFL, their 10.8% sacks/pass attempt is third. But Will McDonald (8 sacks) is eager to pick up some pointers from Reddick, and there's room to move the pass rush into the top 3 and thus help the pass coverage score more PDs and INTs. Whatever Reddick's numbers are, if his contributions help the D mesh with the O and the ST to get the Jets out of their 2-5 hole, that's a win-win.
CH: By adding Haason Reddick, the Jets' other defensive linemen will be able to put more pressure on the QB. I think the most notable difference might be with Quinnen Williams. He has been getting double-teamed by the opposing offensive linemen almost every game to make sure he is contained. By adding Reddick to the outside, it will force more attention to Reddick and take some off Williams, Javon Kinlaw and even Will McDonald. Reddick has had 50.5 sacks total and a minimum of 11 each season since 2020. He has 13 forced fumbles, 51 tackles for loss and 83 quarterback hits in that time frame. Even when he is not sacking the QB, he is still being disruptive. Adding his skillset to the defense is going to help the Jets set the edge, pressure the QB and in turn get the offense back on the field as quickly as possible.
JP: I think Haason Reddick will allow the Jets' defense to get back to playing the dominant style it got accustomed to over the past two seasons. Reddick is a versatile edge defender with elite pass-rush skills and an aptitude for stopping the run. During his tenure with the Eagles (2022-23) he totaled 27 sacks, tied for the fourth most in the NFL, led team in tackles for loss (24) and played a critical role on the No. 10-ranked run defense in 2023 (103.4 yds/g). In 2024, the Jets have been blitzing at a 27.2% rate, 14th highest in the NFL, and getting pressure on 26.3% of dropbacks, tied for 10th highest in the NFL. In 2022 and 2023, they blitzed at a 15.6% rate and got pressure on 26% of dropbacks. With Reddick in the starting lineup, the Jets should be able to return to getting pressure with four, and that will allow them to drop multiple into coverage, limit explosives in the pass game and potentially create more turnovers.
