In this edition of Inside the Numbers, we present six areas of the Jets' on-field attack that Aaron Glenn will inherit at least for the start of the 2025 offseason as the team's 22nd head coach, its 19th non-interim HC and its first head coach who played, started and starred for the franchise before more than a few of his current players were even born. Some areas are very good and can get better, some didn't fare as well and can use Glenn's leadership, wisdom and tenacity to improve.
Stay Sound on the Ground
The Jets' running game ranked 31st with 91.8 rush yards/game but that seems to have been a function of them preferring the Aaron Rodgers-led short and intermediate passing games. They were better in yards/carry at 4.30, 16th in the league. The Jets had a league-low 21.4 carries/game, with their solid backfield rotation of Breece Hall and rookies Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis providing a decent receiving dimension (85 receptions at 8.3 yards/catch, eighth in the NFL).
The Lions, meanwhile, ran the ball 31.4 times/game, third-most in the league, and averaged 4.66 yards/carry and 146.4 yards/game, yet still threw the ball as much to their backs as the Jets did to theirs and averaged 9.5 yards/catch doing it. We could see a realignment in the Green & White offense to more carries while still seeking to keep the backs intricately involved in the passing game.
Offensive Weapon with a Familiar Feel
Garrett Wilson, the Jets' leading WR entering his fourth NFL season, shares many traits with the Lions' WR-1, Amon-Ra St. Brown, whom Glenn's defense practiced against all four offseasons and preseasons that AG was the DC.
St. Brown is a year older and a season more experienced than Wilson. Garrett is faster than Amon-Ra, but St. Brown is almost 20 pounds heavier. Both were in the NFL's top 10 in '24 in targets, receptions, receiving yards and receiving first downs. Wilson averaged 10.9 yards on his 101 catches, St. Brown 11.0 on his 115.
There are, of course, differences in the two receivers' games. but Glenn and his offensive staff will know what to do to keep Wilson's production high and elevate it more, regardless of how QB and the rest of the receivers' room sort themselves out.
Don't Let Go of That Late Lead
The Jets initially had trouble getting off to fast starts this season. Later in the schedule, they improved early but diminished late. On the season they were 5-6 in games in which they held a fourth-quarter lead, with the last team to lose more than a half-dozen fourth-quarter leads interestingly being Detroit in 2013 with seven such fall-from-ahead losses.
Glenn was a guiding light on the Lions, who lost just four fourth-quarter leads the past three seasons combined and were 15-0 when holding a lead in the final 15 minutes in 2024.
Turn Up the Takeaway Machine
The Jets hit a recent high-water mark in interceptions and takeaways by their defense in 2023, but fell back this past season to 17 TAs, tied for 20th in the NFL, and a 1.34% interception rate, 27th.
Glenn's Lions rose in the league rankings each of his four seasons as DC, from a tie for 21st in takeaways and 22nd in INT rate in '21 to a tie for 10th (24) in TAs and eighth (2.62%) in INT rate. Similarly, the Lions had the best opponents' passer rating this season (82.0) while the Jets slipped from third to 11th (89.0). The Jets will benefit from AG's DB and pass defense expertise.
Fill in Those Roster Sore Spots
The Jets' team health improved somewhat from '23 but they still had injury issues. The offensive line's medical profile was better, yet for the sixth consecutive season they needed 3-plus different starters at left tackle and averaged 10-plus starters along the OL for the full season. They needed five different starting combinations at safety. Five different placekickers, beginning with Greg Zuerlein and ending with Greg Joseph, were also a franchise first.
Glenn may not have a magic elixir to ward off all bad health, but he knows how to coach the next men up when the injury bug bites. He coordinated a Detroit defense that lost 16 players to injured reserve for parts or all of this season, yet finished fifth in the NFL in run defense, seventh in scoring defense, and was instrumental in merging with the Jared Goff-led offense to post a franchise-best 15-2 regular-season mark.
Return the Advantage to the Home Field
The Jets have played exactly 1,000 regular-season games in their 65-year history. The home games total 499. For most of their history, they played above .500 at home, but since going 5-3 at MetLife Stadium in 2019, they've had five consecutive home losing seasons at home and a MetLife record of 14-28.
The Green & White home record in the games Glenn played over his last five seasons in front of the Meadowlands faithful was a not dominant yet respectable 22-16. That's a fine starting point for the Jets as they spring into the 2025 season under their new head coach's leadership.
