Pro Football Focus ranked the top five most-improved teams in the NFL -- the Jets were No. 4.
"New York did plenty of work in free agency to fill the voids their roster had, most notably signing guard Laken Tomlinson, safety Jordan Whitehead and cornerback D.J. Reed," PFF said. "Reed may be the most important of the bunch after the Jets ranked 29thin the NFL last year in outside coverage grade. The former Seattle corner ranked top-10 in PFF grades for the 2021 system and fits like a glove in New York's scheme."
Even though PFF mentioned Tomlinson, a Pro Bowl LG, Whitehead and Reed, the Jets made a handful of other moves on both sides of the ball. General manager Joe Douglas added a pair of starting-caliber tight ends coming off career years in C.J. Uzomah and Tyler Conklin; a pair of veteran defensive linemen in Jacob Martin and Solomon Thomas, the No. 3 overall pick in 2017. Martin (4) and Thomas (3.5) both totaled a career-high in sacks in 2021.
Douglas also kept a handful of prominent players from last season, most notably All-Pro KR Braxton Berrios. Douglas also re-signed RB Tevin Coleman, OL Dan Feeney, DL Nathan Shepherd and QB Joe Flacco.
After a busy free agency, Douglas added seven players in the draft including three first-round picks.
"The Jets then bolstered their secondary even more in the 2022 NFL Draft by spending their fourth overall pick on Cincinnati's Sauce Gardner, who was the only cornerback of the PFF college era to play over 1,000 coverage snaps without a single touchdown allowed," PFF said. "But wait, there's more. New York added two more players in Round 1 that could make an immediate impact with Ohio State wide receiver Garrett Wilson and Florida State edge defender Jermaine Johnson."
The Green & White's draft class was rounded out by Iowa State RB Breece Hall, Ohio State TE Jeremy Ruckert, Louisiana OL Max Mitchell and Texas A&M DL Micheal Clemons.
