Coming off of a shocking 34-16 victory over the Denver Broncos, the Jets will look to string together a couple of wins for the first time this season. After turning in their best performance of the season, the Jets O-line will be key once again if Sam Darnold is going to have the necessary time to make his reads and pull the trigger to his receivers.
Jets OT’s vs Darius Leonard and Kemoko Turay:
Leonard is on pace to win the NFL defensive rookie of the year award as he has been largely unstoppable through the season’s first five games. Leonard currently has 54 tackles, including a nineteen tackle performance (15 solo) against the Redskins in week two. Leonard is also tied for the team lead with four sacks. Turay was a player we’d hoped would fall to the Jets in the draft and had him projected to Gang Green in our mock draft 2.0 this offseason. In limited action, Turay has a couple of sacks and will likely get the call in obvious passing situations.
QB Sam Darnold vs FS Malik Hooker:
Hooker has as much range as any safety in the NFL, so when a quarterback thinks they’ve got him beat, he can got get it with the best of them. If Darnold isn’t aware of Hooker’s location on any potential deep routes, it could end up burning him.
ILB Darron Lee vs RB Nyheim Hines:
As was the case with Turay, Hines was another player we projected to the Jets while putting together our mock drafts this offseason. Hines is an extremely versatile and explosive player who could be a check down target for Andrew Luck if the Jets continue to have success in pressuring the quarterback. Lee has been a much improved player this season and when asked to cover Hines, could have his hands full.
WR Robby Anderson vs CB Pierre Desir:
Desir is off to a nice start with the Colts this season and Robby Anderson is coming off of his best game of the season in which he hauled in a pair of deep touchdowns from Sam Darnold. When Anderson is a part of the game plan, he takes the offense to a whole new level. If he can do some damage against Desir, it will go a long way in helping the Jets get to .500.