Each year a handful of NFL teams outperform their expectations in the eyes of the media. This year, Pro Football Focus believes ones of those teams may be the Jets and the team could snap an eight-year playoff drought.
"Now armed with a new, offensive-minded head coach in Adam Gase, the Jets can now start to build around the talent they have in the building," Mark Chichester wrote. "Franchise quarterback Sam Darnold was the highest-graded quarterback over the last month of the 2018 regular season and really looked to have found his feet by the close of the campaign.
"Wideout Robby Anderson has posted the 11th-most deep yards among receivers over the last two years, tight end Chris Herndon generated a near perfect 152.7 passer rating on his red-zone targets and, of course, running back Le'Veon Bell gives them the ultimate mismatch weapon as a pass-catcher, something that's evidenced by the fact that, even though he spent the 2018 season on the couch, Bell's 2,276 yards after the catch still rank first among running backs since 2014."
On the defensive side of the ball, PFF likes where the Jets stand with their homegrown talent combined with their offseason additions of the last two offseasons.
"The Jets possess a treasure trove of talent on the other side of the ball," Chichester wrote. "Third overall pick Quinnen Williams just earned the highest pass-rushing grade we've ever given to a college defensive interior player (92.5) in his lone season as a starter at Alabama, and he'll be an immediate upgrade to a line that also includes Leonard Williams, who has developed into one of the league's best run-stoppers.
"Pair that with the solid linebacker duo of Avery Williamson (74.3 overall grade in 2018) and new signing C.J. Mosley (73.6) and arguably the league's best safety tandem of Jamal Adams (89.7) and Marcus Maye (81.7), and you get a promising roster that's just bursting to make it into January."
