If necessity is the mother of invention, or so the saying goes, then Jets rookies S Malachi Moore and CB Azareye'h Thomas have transformed the team's needs in the defensive backfield into opportunity, potentially over the long term.
Thomas, selected out of Florida State in Round 3 (No. 73 overall), and Moore, the second of the team's two selections in the Round 4 (No. 130), out of Alabama, have become secondary fixtures in their first pro campaigns. The early returns on the scope of the Jets' 2025 draft bodes well as the team stockpiles a basketful of selections in the early rounds over the next couple of seasons.
Moore, who led the team with 10 tackles plus a TFL in the win over Atlanta on Sunday, cracked the starting lineup first when S Tony Adams was limited by injuries. The hard-hitting Moore has played more than 97% of the snaps on defense in 7 straight games, which includes 100% in 5 of those games. Moore is second to LB Jamien Sherwood with 60 tackles.
Thomas began the season primarily playing on special teams and had limited defensive reps until the Jets traded @sauce to Indianapolis ahead of the NFL's trade deadline. Since then, he's flipped that script. And on Atlanta's first series of Sunday's game, Thomas deftly read the third-and-1 play as he took down RB Tyler Allgeier for a 1-yard loss, forcing a punt. Through 11 games, Thomas is tied with four teammates with 6 passes defensed.
Glenn on Monday said he could not be more pleased with the pair of rookies.
"Listen, this is critical for those two guys to get as many reps as they can," Glenn said. "And I'm talking about true live-game action as being young players we drafted this past year. Every rep they get is valuable as far as their understanding of how this league works, their understanding of how to play collective football within each other and make sure structure and all that is on a high, high level.
"They're doing a really, really good job. I would tell you that now there's some things they got to clean up. They make their rookie mistakes, just like most rookies do, but they're getting a crash course of how this league is and how you have to be on top of your game every week. And listen, the margin for error is very minimal in this league. So the more those guys continue to play, the more they can continue to grow – the better we are going to be as a team in general."
See Jets players in the Gotham City Football Rivalries uniform that will be worn Sunday against the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium in Week 14.
RG John Simpson on O-Line: 'Some Scrappy Guys in There'
The Jets are the only team in the NFL this season that has started the same five players on the offensive line in every game. Left to right, that's Olu Fashanu, John Simpson, Josh Myers, Joe Tippmann and rookie Armand Membou.
"It's been huge, man, we got a lot of guys that got nicks and bruises and stuff like that," said Simpson, the senior member of the group in age and time of service in the league. "They just go out there every day. They'll wrap it up and just continue to compete. And that whole line group is some scrappy guys in there.
"And I like to compete with those guys. They're like my brothers, and I'm just proud to be a part of something like that. Guys that would just, wrap up whatever, whatever nicks or bruises they might have, and just go out there and compete because they know that they're doing it for something bigger than themselves."
'Workhorse' Breece Hall Living Up to the Name
A few weeks ago, HC Aaron Glenn called RB Breece Hall his "workhorse." And the way the past four games have gone, Hall has lived up to Glenn's tag.
In those four games, Hall has taken more than 70% of the snaps on offense, a figure that topped out at 87.9% of the team's 63 plays on offense in Sunday's win over Atlanta. With his 69 rush yards (which included a 2-yard TD) and 8 yards from 2 receptions, Hall is now No. 9 in the NFL in total scrimmage yards, with 1,143 (834 rush/187 pass).
"There are a number of things," Glenn said of Hall's increased usage. "Here's what we know within this offense is when it comes to the two receivers, when it comes to [rookie TD] Mason [Taylor] and when it comes to Breece, we have to do everything we can to try to get those guys the ball. And this game plan was really based around the matchups when it comes to that. So we felt like the matchup with Breece in certain situations for certain downs and distances were going to give us an opportunity to create some explosive plays. So, he was a huge part of what we were doing when it came to that."
