New York Jets’ Defensive Problems Are Partly A Product Of A Flaw In Their Organizational Structure

Gregg Williams was an assistant coach in the NFL when Mark Rypien was a Super Bowl-winning quarterback. On this short week of preparation, he is drawing up schemes to thwart Mark’s nephew, Brett Rypien, the newly-anointed starter for the Denver Broncos. Denver is without injured starter Drew Lock.

What that means is that Williams has seen a lot of QBs come and go in his career, which has spanned 31 years with eight different franchises. He has been a defensive coordinator for 20 seasons with seven different NFL teams. He did a fine job in his first year in that role with the New York Jets last season, when his defense finished 16th in the NFL, and was ranked 11th in DVOA, Defense-adjusted Value Over Average, a metric used by the analytics website FootballOutsiders.com. It measures how well a defense did based on the quality of the opposing offenses it played. 

But the Jets’ defense is having some problems this year, although you might not know it because of all the scrutiny being heaped upon embattled head coach Adam Gase and struggling quarterback Sam Darnold. Rumors are flying about second-year coach Gase’s job status heading into Thursday’s matchup between 0-3 teams, even though acting owner Christopher Johnson pledged his support for Gase two weeks ago. 

As for Williams, his defense is ranked 28th in the NFL in this young season. According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, the Jets have had 47 missed tackles, the most in the league. Worse yet, he has made some puzzling personnel decisions in all three games. Although the offensive-minded Gase has said he discusses the defense with Williams during the week, it is clear that on game day, the veteran defensive mind is calling all the shots. 

There is nobody to in the organization to ride herd on the 62-year-old Williams, or to point out potential mistakes he might make. This is yet another flaw in the organizational system created and maintained by Johnson and his brother Woody. 

In this hierarchy, Gase, general manager Joe Douglas and team president Hymie Elhai (who has almost no input on the football side), all are equals on the management flow chart. They all report to Christopher Johnson. 

Thus, Douglas apparently doesn’t have oversight over the coaching staff, and is limited to being the final voice on personnel. And with Gase basically having outsourced the defense to Williams, it leads to some strange lineup moves on that side of the ball. 

Consider that against Indianapolis, on a second-and-10 play in the second quarter, Williams chose to have linemen Quinnen Williams and Henry Anderson drop into coverage in an apparent zone blitz alignment. The the 6-3, 303-pound Williams and the 6-6, 301-pound Anderson couldn’t get deep quickly enough, which allowed tight end Mo Alie-Cox to get open in the seam down the middle for a 45-yard gain that led to a Colts’ field goal. 

This unusual tactic might not be a bad gambit against a young quarterback, but veteran Philip Rivers recognized it immediately and burned Gregg Williams and the Jets badly. 

However, it wasn’t the only curious personnel or scheme choice Williams has made in this young season. 

On opening day, he benched starting cornerback Pierre Desir, and rightfully so, because he was giving speedster John Brown too much cushion. That decision by Desir cost the Jets a touchdown by Brown, and Desir soon was yanked. 

Fine. But he was replaced by Nate Hairston, a journeyman who wasn’t an upgrade. 

In Week 2 against San Francisco, veteran linebacker Alec Ogletree, who had played on Williams’ defense with the Los Angeles Rams, started despite having been signed only 10 days earlier. Ogletree was out of position on two long running plays by the 49ers, a 55-yarder and an 80-yard touchdown. He suited up in Indianapolis, but did not play. 

A head coach should be able to overrule some of these decisions, and a general manager should be able to make suggestions after the fact. But in the Jets’ current hierarchy, that doesn’t seem to be the case. 

If and when a there is a shakeup, this has to change. There has to be oversight, both for the head coach and for the defensive coordinator. Or else the results will continue to be the same.