Two years ago the Jets swooped in to hire former Dolphins coach Adam Gase, believing he was the brilliant offensive mind who could properly develop franchise quarterback Sam Darnold. That failed spectacularly, so they're going with a defensive guy this time around.
The Jets have hired former 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh as their new head coach. After being an assistant with the Texans, Seahawks and Lions, he rose to prominence as the 49ers coordinator since 2017. Early reaction to the hire is favorable; looks like a sound defensive mind running things.
Statistically, however, the Jets defense might not be dramatically different, at least in fantasy terms. In the four years Saleh has been overseeing San Francisco's group, here are the defensive numbers (Sacks, Takeaways and FF Rank in a scoring system giving 1 point for sacks, 2 for takeaways and 6 for touchdowns), compared to New York's in those same seasons. Top-1o finishes are in bold.
| SACKS, TAKEAWAYS, FF Rk ('17-20) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Category | NYJ | SF |
| '20 | Sack | 31 | 30 |
| '19 | Sack | 35 | 48 |
| '18 | Sack | 39 | 37 |
| '17 | Sack | 28 | 30 |
| '20 | Take | 19 | 20 |
| '19 | Take | 21 | 27 |
| '18 | Take | 20 | 7 |
| '17 | Take | 20 | 20 |
| '20 | Sack Rk | 20 | 22 |
| '19 | Sack Rk | 23 | 5 |
| '18 | Sack Rk | 16 | 22 |
| '17 | Sack Rk | 28 | 26 |
| '20 | Take Rk | 22 | 21 |
| '19 | Take Rk | 17 | 6 |
| '18 | Take Rk | 16 | 32 |
| '17 | Take Rk | 20 | 20 |
| '20 | FF Rk | 23 | 26 |
| '19 | FF Rk | 9 | 4 |
| '18 | FF Rk | 8 | 31 |
| '17 | FF Rk | 30 | 28 |
In those years the Jets (on the strength of defensive and special teams touchdowns) had a pair of top-10 fantasy finishes; San Francisco one, in their Super Bowl season.
Where San Francisco has been markedly better than New York those years is in NFL terms -- yards and points allowed. Two years in a row the 49ers have had a top-5 defense in terms of yards allowed; in one of those years they were top-10 in points allowed. The Jets? They've finished in the top 10 in yards allowed once, in points allowed not at all.
Again in the tables, Top-10 finishes in bold.
| DEFENSE RANKS, YARDS ('17-'20) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Yards | NYJ | SF |
| '20 | Tot | 24 | 5 |
| '20 | Ru | 12 | 7 |
| '20 | Pa | 29 | 4 |
| '19 | Tot | 7 | 2 |
| '19 | Ru | 2 | 17 |
| '19 | Pa | 14 | 1 |
| '18 | Tot | 25 | 13 |
| '18 | Ru | 26 | 14 |
| '18 | Pa | 24 | 11 |
| '17 | Tot | 25 | 24 |
| '17 | Ru | 24 | 22 |
| '17 | Pa | 20 | 21 |
| DEFENSE RANKS, POINTS ('17-20) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | NYJ | SF |
| '20 | 26 | 17 |
| '19 | 16 | 8 |
| '18 | 29 | 28 |
| '17 | 22 | 25 |
For the offense, Saleh is bringing 49ers passing game coordinator Mike LaFleur with him. That's Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur's brother. He's been running Kyle Shanahan's offense, so it's a big step up for him to calling the offensive shots for the Jets. Remains to be seen if that's a plus for a Jets offense that will have a lot of new faces in 2021, including possibly at quarterback.
--Andy Richardson