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The New York Jets enter the 2021-2022 season with a completely different look than last year. The Jets have added talent to the roster and coaching staff, hiring former 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh as their head coach. The Jets also hired Mike Lafleur as their offensive coordinator who previously was the 49er’s passing game coordinator, where he worked closely with offensive wizard Kyle Shanahan. Lafleur’s name might sound familiar, as his brother Matt has had success as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers since 2019.
The Jets roster has improved greatly from last year, which should be no surprise to anyone who watched them play under coach Adam Gase. They added key free agents on the defensive side of the ball including DE Carl Lawson, S LaMarcus Joyner, and DT Sheldon Rankins. They also franchise-tagged S Marcus Maye who has been a bright spot in the Jet’s secondary for a few seasons. On the offensive side of the ball, the Jets added WR Corey Davis who had a breakout year in 2020 with the Tennessee Titans.
The Jets also added young talent through the NFL draft as they had 2 first-round selections and a number of mid to late-round picks to build their team. They drafted who they hope will be their future franchise QB in Zach Wilson from BYU. Wilson dominated last season at BYU, throwing for 32 touchdowns with only 3 interceptions with an impressive 72.7% completion percentage. The knock on Wilson is his relatively slender frame and his poor level of competition but anyone that watched the tape on him knows he can make all the throws needed at the next level.
The Jets also added Alijah Vera-Tucker(G-USC), Elijah Moore(WR-Ole Miss), and Michael Carter Jr.(RB-UNC).
These players are all great scheme fits in New York’s new system, which I will explain below.
New York Jets Offensive/Defensive Schemes
Offense
Mike Lafleur is coming from the San Francisco 49ers where he collaborated with Kyle Shanahan for the past four years. The 49er’s offense has been fun to watch to say the least, ranking in the top half of the league last year even with a bevy of injuries.
The 49er’s offense is complex yet simple, they heavily utilize the zone run game to set up and complement their play-action passes. They use pre-snap motion more than most teams, usually to identify man or zone coverages from the defense or to set up favorable blocking looks. They can also run the same play out of almost unlimited formations to keep defenses on edge.
The Niners will use the same motions multiple times in a game or season and will be able to both run and pass out of those looks, causing most defenses to guess instead of staying disciplined. They also utilize the power/gap run scheme with lead blockers from time to time but zone blocking is how they attack most defenses.
This is likely the offense Lafleur will bring to New York and while the talent is not the same as San Francisco, the additions the Jets have made are perfect scheme fits for Lafleur’s new system.
I explain the system a bit more with practical examples in my film breakdown above.
Defense
We will once again be turning to the 49ers to analyze new Jets’ coach Robert Saleh’s evolving defense. Saleh will be joined by Jeff Ulbrich who is coming from the Falcons where he was promoted mid-season to defensive coordinator.
Under Saleh and Ulbrich, the Jets will be running a 4-3 base scheme. He likes to line up his defensive line in a “wide 9” look, meaning the defensive ends are lined up further outside the tackles and tight ends than they would normally be. Saleh also has relied on talented edge rushers getting to the quarterback while only rushing four.
He runs a lot of zone coverage in the back end, evolving from mainly a single high safety cover 3 scheme to a traditional cover 2 with cover 3 mixed in. Saleh has also become better at lining up in a cover 3 look to disguise blitzes and unique rushes.
Saleh and Ulbrich like to play safeties in the box and are known to utilize safety/linebacker hybrids to play the “WILL” linebacker to more effectively cover the middle of the field and play the run.
I explore Saleh’s defense a bit more in the video above.