Some fans in Jets Nation are impatient with the progress that first-round rookie edge rusher David Bailey may be making.
Bailey's coaches are not among them. To a man, they are excited about the young man wearing No. 31 and usually working off the defense's left edge and what he will bring to the Green & White cause.
"We have a ton of games left and David will make impact plays," head coach Aaron Glenn said following the Jets' walkthrough practice Wednesday. "Sometimes those impact plays are not being seen by everyone who doesn't understand what we're asking him to do. But they are impact plays for us because they actually help other people make plays."
Defensive coordinator Brian Duker took a deeper dive into AG's analysis when asked about Bailey playing the pass instead of the run on multiple plays at Detroit.
"The sack that [Andre] Cisco had, on that play, part of the reason that sack happened is because one of the defensive ends dropped into coverage and it gave us the ability to overload a side with that," Duker said. "His flexibility and ability to do those things allow us to generate pressures in other areas."
This is all a part of Bailey becoming a three-down D-lineman in the NFL. But of course fans know he demonstrated his 4.5-second speed in amassing an FBS-leading 14.5 sacks for Texas Tech last season and want to see more of he second overall pick of the draft come screaming off that edge for a big sack. Defensive line coach Karl Dunbar sees Bailey making progress toward racking up more than just the 2 sacks he scored in the first two games.
"Putting him in there from day one, letting him understand, 'This is going to be your job, and that's why we drafted you,' I think he's taken that and run with it," Dunbar said. "That's the thing that you love about a young man who wants to be in there, and I think he's doing everything he can to get there. I think that's the thing you really like."
As Glenn said, a bit of Bailey's play in the first four games was of the "hidden" variety. But he still is showing up well in pressuring the pocket. NextGenStats has charted him with 17 QB pressures and an 18.9% pressure rate. NGS ranks those 17 pressures as the most among 15 rookies with 4-plus pressures this season and in the top-five among all 22 of the defensive draft picks selected in the first five picks since 2020. That list"
| Player | Drafted By | Year, Overall Pick | Sacks, Gms 1-4 | QBPs, Gms 1-4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE Nick Bosa | SF | 2018, 2nd | 3.0 | 20 |
| LB Myles Garrett | CLE | 2017, 1st | 4,0 | 18 |
| LB Abdul Carter | NYG | 2025, 3rd | 0.5 | 19 |
| DE Will Anderson | HOU | 2023, 3rd | 1.0 | 17 |
| EDGE David Bailey | NYJ | 2026, 2nd | 2.0 | 17 |
Bailey is known to be not only an athletic freak on the field but a game-video freak off of it. Some ight think that could cause him to overthink his role for some games, perhaps leading to underperforming in the sexy sack numbers. Dunbar explaned why his star pupil doesn't need a study break.
"No, no, no! You take a break when you retire," he said. "I think the more film you watch, the more knowledgeable of your opponent you become. And I think a lot of times, guys don't watch film, and when you find a guy who likes to watch film, you don't break that habit."
But can Bailey translate that into a breakout game against Cleveland at MetLife Stadium? On the one hand, the Browns' Deshaun Watson has been sacked 11 times this season, and over the last 10 seasons, he has been the most sackable signal-caller in the league with a 9.5% sack rate (255 sacks on 2,675 dropbacks).
On the other hand, Watson and the Brownies have been reborn as they're off to a 3-1 start and the QB has looked sharp with 6 touchdown passes to 2 INTs and a 101.2 rating, which would easily be the best of his past 4 seasons if he can maintain that for the entire year.
No predictions, no timeline, but Glenn sees Bailey making more fan-tastic impact plays soon.
"He's still learning, he's still growing," the Jets coach said. "He's going to be a damn good player in this league, we know that. And we want to turn those 'Man, we were just close' into 'Man, we made it.' That's what we're working on with him.
"Maybe it's a step faster, maybe it's a different move that he has with his rush plan. But I have total confidence that this player will make that transition and make those plays."
