Malachi Moore’s rookie season gave the Jets more than they probably expected, but it also showed exactly where his game fits and where it doesn’t.
The 2025 fourth-round pick was thrown into a heavy workload right away, starting 14 games and playing 84 percent of the defensive snaps. He finished with 101 tackles and also handled 31 percent of the team’s special teams snaps, all while being asked to bounce around the secondary. The Jets lined him up at free safety, in the box, and in the slot, and he generally handled the assignment without blinking.
Still, the film and the numbers point to the same thing: Moore looked far more comfortable closer to the line of scrimmage than he did as a true deep safety. He was solid downhill, but when the Jets needed him to cover more ground, the job got a lot tougher.
That’s the backdrop as he heads into his second training camp, where there’s no guarantee he keeps a starting role. The Jets brought in veteran Dane Belton this offseason on a one-year, $4 million deal, and that move gives Belton the early edge in the battle for the starting strong safety job. He brings more experience, better athletic traits, and a stronger track record of forcing turnovers.
Moore did improve as the season went on, especially as a tackler. From Week 6 through Week 18, his 9.5 percent missed-tackle rate ranked 19th among 63 qualified safeties, and he added 10 run stops over that stretch, which ranked 13th at the position.
But coverage remained a problem. He allowed a 116.1 passer rating when targeted and posted a 54.0 Pro Football Focus coverage grade, 67th out of 93 qualified safeties.
That’s why the Jets may be better off narrowing his lane instead of asking him to do everything again. Moore ran a 4.57-second 40-yard dash and posted a 6.1 Relative Athletic Score before the draft, which makes a full-time free safety role a tough sell. His instincts and physicality are better suited to work near the line, where he can attack the run and play with urgency without being stretched across the field.
That’s also where the Brian Branch comparison comes in, even if it’s a loose one. Aaron Glenn used Branch as a movable defensive back in Detroit, often closer to the line of scrimmage, and there are pieces of that idea the Jets can borrow for Moore.
He’s not Branch as an athlete or as a cover man, so the bar should stay realistic. But the role concept makes sense.
The Jets have enough flexibility around him to make it work. Minkah Fitzpatrick looks like the favorite to handle the deep safety spot, while D’Angelo Ponds and Jarvis Brownlee give the staff options in the slot. That opens the door for Moore and Belton to compete for snaps in the box, and it also points to plenty of three-safety looks.
So what does success look like for Moore in 2026? It doesn’t have to mean beating out Belton outright.
What matters is carving out a dependable role, likely as a box safety who lives near the action. If he can keep the tackling gains he made late last season, continue helping against the run, and clean up the coverage issues that got exposed a year ago, he can still matter.
His special teams work should keep him involved even if he’s not the starter. And if the Jets use him the right way, Moore can still become a useful piece on defense without being asked to be something he’s not.
He doesn’t need to be Aaron Glenn’s next Brian Branch. He just needs to become the best version of Malachi Moore.
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