The Jets left Sunday’s 28-25 loss to the Dolphins with plenty to stew on, but the game also handed them a clearer path forward on the defensive interior. T’Vondre Sweat went down with a knee injury in the second quarter, and that opens the door for rookie Darrell Jackson Jr. to step into a much bigger role.
It was Dane Belton’s tackle attempt on Malik Willis that led to Sweat taking friendly fire, and now the Jets have to move on without their true nose tackle, at least for a while. Jackson is the obvious next man up, and the timing could be right for him to show how much he has grown over the last month.
The rookie fourth-round pick has already carved out a real niche as a run defender. Among interior defensive linemen with at least 100 snaps this season, Jackson ranks fourth in the NFL with an 11.4 percent run-stop rate. He has done that while playing only 40% of the Jets’ defensive snaps.
Sweat had been handling a heavier workload, logging 49% of snaps through the Jets’ first seven games. With his injury against Miami, that usage is likely to shift, and Jackson should be the beneficiary.
At 6-foot-5 and 337 pounds, the Florida State product has the size to handle the nose tackle job. More importantly, the production has started to catch up. Over the last four games, Jackson has flashed a higher level of play, piling up seven combined run stops against Chicago and Cleveland before adding three more against the Dolphins.
His snap count should rise after he played 58 percent of the defense’s snaps in Week 7. And while he is not likely to become a major pass-rush threat, he has chipped in there too. In his last three games, Jackson has recorded a sack, four pressures and two batted passes.
For Darren Mougey, Jackson’s emergence is a useful development on another front as well. One of the criticisms of Mougey’s draft classes has been the lack of production from day-three selections, but of the eight players he has taken in rounds four through seven, Jackson has clearly made the biggest impact.
If Jackson can keep growing into a dependable run-stopping interior lineman, that would be a meaningful win for the Jets’ general manager. It would also suggest the team is getting better results from its late-round scouting.
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