NFL Network analytics expert Cynthia Frelund chose one underappreciated player on each team and selected DL John Franklin-Myers for the Jets.
"Guess who had the most pressures on the Jets' defense last season?" Frelund wrote. "John. Franklin. Myers. The former Rams' fourth-round pick, who was scooped off waivers by New York in 2019 and landed a four-year extension last October, tallied 43 pressures, according to Next Gen Stats, and earned a defensive grade of 80.3 from PFF, the highest on the team and 16th best among all edge rushers.
"Computer vision shows that Franklin-Myers' burst (speed of first 3 yards traveled) ranks in the top 16 in the NFL at his position" she wrote. "Head coach Robert Saleh's ability to craft fronts that maximize efficiency is well documented from his success in San Francisco, and Franklin-Myers is the type of player we've seen excel and then continue to grow in his system."
Franklin-Myers tied for the team lead with a career-high 6 sacks in 2021. He started 16 games and had 35 tackles, 1 FF and 1 INT on 716 snaps, the most among defensive linemen.
"I just owe the Jets so much and I'm looking forward to my future here and helping this team win a championship," he said at the end of the 2021 season. "[The Jets] deserve it, they gave me an opportunity to feed my family and I am forever indebted to these guys."
He added: "Next year we will all understand the system a lot better, we will all understand how each other plays, so I'm just looking forward to the future of this D-line. I'm looking forward to the future of this team. A bunch of young guys played, a bunch of young guys got meaningful snaps, and it's only going to serve us well in the long run."
The defensive line has added some beef throughout the offseason. General manager Joe Douglas added DE Jacob Martin, DL Solomon Thomas and re-signed DE Vinny Curry before drafting Jermaine Johnson in the first round and Micheal Clemons in the fourth. With all the new bodies up front, Saleh said that JFM wouldl most likely take more snaps inside than he did in 2021.
"I think we all would agree on this one that his ability to win one-on-ones in pass rush, his best spot is inside," Saleh said. "So, ideally we can get him inside on third down and even get him in more passing situations on first and second down to get him some run on the inside. Having that flexibility by drafting Jermaine, getting Micheal, it gives us that flexibility to allow him to not have to grind outside so much and keep himself fresh because he wins at a very high rate when he's inside.
"It does give us a little bit more flexibility with JFM to put him where he can win, but he still has a dominate figure outside in the run game. He's a cool tool."
