Heading into the 2024 season, the Jets have made a series of moves to improve the state of their roster and overall depth, but are they ready to compete for a playoff spot?
In this series, we’ll break down the depth chart for every position group. This time, we’ll go in-depth at the safety positions…
Projected depth chart
Starters: Tony Adams, Chuck Clark
Backups: Ashtyn Davis, Isaiah Oliver, Jarrick Bernard-Converse
Key additions/losses: Signed Oliver in free agency. Jordan Whitehead signed for the Bucs in free agency.
Top Performers in 2023: Adams 82 tackles, three interceptions.
2023 ranking via PFF: Adams 43rd out of 101 qualifying safeties.
What Jets’ safeties have going for them
Adams established himself as a player the Jets can rely on in his first year as a full-time starter. The former undrafted free agent had three interceptions, including the one that set up the game-winning score in the upset win over the Eagles.
Clark was brought in to start last year, but his season was over before it began when he tore his ACL during organized team activities. The 29-year-old re-signed and is eager to prove himself.
Davis saw an increase in playing time last year and established himself as a ball hawk as he intercepted three passes and recovered three fumbles. He was also a key special teams contributor.
Key concern for 2024: Will they miss Whitehead?
Whitehead was a mainstay over the past two seasons, starting every game, and he was a productive player who led the Jets in interceptions and racked up 97 tackles last year. In addition, his now-former teammate DJ Reed mentioned on social media how important he was to the communication in the secondary.
Despite these positive contributions, Whitehead also made a lot of high-profile mistakes in his two seasons with the Jets, including some blown coverages and missed tackles that led to long touchdowns. With so much talent at other positions, the Jets may prefer someone who can be more dependable, rather than an impact player.
Player who must step up in 2024: Adams
With Whitehead gone, it will likely fall upon Adams to take on more responsibility for communication in the secondary, a task rendered easier by the talent the Jets have at the cornerback positions and the steadying presence of CJ Mosley anchoring the defense from the linebacker position.
Adams had a solid year last season but will need to replicate that in the final year of his contract to prove he can be relied upon going forward.
Biggest camp battle: Davis vs. Clark
It doesn’t appear that the starting safeties have been decided upon yet, although Adams is widely expected to reprise his role. Provided he’s fully recovered from his knee injury, Clark may have the inside track on the other starting spot, although Davis was clearly looking to become a starter again somewhere after his productive 2023 season.
Clark started 61 games on a solid Ravens defense between 2019 and 2022 but became expendable when they drafted Kyle Hamilton and signed Marcus Williams. The Jets were hoping he would slide in alongside Whitehead last year before he got hurt, but Adams might actually complement him better.
When Davis started 10 games for the Jets in 2021, he made a lot of mistakes, often due to gambling or taking over-aggressive angles. However, he seemed to have overcome this issue last year so he may be ready to step up into an even larger role having played over 200 snaps in 2023.
Overall 2024 outlook
The safety position is really the only one on the Jets’ defense that lacks star quality, but the Jets have affordable and opportunistic players who don’t make a lot of key mistakes at this position and should fit in well and do a good job for the team.
There has been some discussion about perhaps adding another potential starter to the mix. For example, Justin Simmons is still unsigned after being released by the Broncos in March. However, the Jets may be satisfied with the current group at this time.
