Grading the New York Jets at the Bye Week: Cornerbacks

By Greg Sulik @GregSulik on November 14, 2014

As we continue to grade the New York Jets‘ performance this season by position group, we reach one of the two biggest problems on the team. The cornerback position has been a revolving door for the Jets this season due to injuries, ineffectiveness, and weird off the field incidents (looking at you, Dimitri Patterson).The Jets rank a middling 17th in pass yards allowed per game, but the NFL high 25 passing touchdowns allowed tells the real story.

We’ll start with the player who was supposed to be the Jets’ No. 1 corner this season, Dee Milliner. The Jets were expecting big things from the second year man, but injuries limited him to just parts of three games before he was lost for the season with a torn Achilles. It’s not really fair to evaluate Milliner on what little playing time he had this year, but suffice to say that he needs a healthy and quality season next year to avoid entering bust territory.

The one consistent thing the Jets have at corner is slot corner Kyle Wilson, who, as he’s always been, has been consistently below average. He has 24 tackles, 1 pass deflection and 1 sack this year, and he has been decent in coverage. The Jets refuse to move Wilson outside in spite of the fact that he struggles with quick receivers, telling you what they think of him. He’s not as bad as Jets fans make him out to be, but he’s still a first round bust who hasn’t developed and is most likely in his last season with the team.

On the outside, Darrin Walls has been the de-facto No. 1 corner for the Jets this season in spite of the fact he was supposed to be their No. 4 corner in the preseason. Walls, like the rest of the players we’re about to discuss, has done a respectable job and given great effort while being pushed way past his depth. However, despite showing some promise, he has had some major struggles containing physical receivers down the field.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t really know whether Antonio Allen is a safety or a corner anymore, and I don’t think he or the coaching staff does either. We’ll stick to evaluating his cornerback play here, which has been poor. That’s not surprising, considering only Rex Ryan would force a strong safety into a starting cornerback role with about a week of practice under his belt. Allen, like most safeties, struggles with man coverage and is very susceptible to double moves. If the Jets want to salvage the poor guy’s once promising career, they need to put him at safety and leave him there.

With Walls’ injuries and the Jets leaning towards putting Allen at safety in recent weeks, Phillip Adams and Marcus Williams have gotten some chances. Adams has been with the team most of the season, and until last week he was the only player on the roster who had managed to intercept a pass. Adams has shown flashes, but he’s given up a lot of big plays and simply can’t stick with high level receivers.

One guy who has impressed in his brief stint is Williams. He won’t make anyone forget about Darrelle Revis, but you have to like what the undrafted free agent has shown in his two games. Williams has been heavily targeted, but he’s a fearless player who is physical and a very good tackler. He needs some polishing, but he has a very real shot to stick with the Jets for next season.

The Jets have cycled through some other corners, but none have played a big enough role to be involved in grading. The Jets’ corners have been criticized for their poor performance, but it has to be mentioned that these are career backups, rookies, and converted safeties. They’ve done the best they can, but the truth is they’ve been set up to fail. The grades reflect their performance, but take it with a grain of salt because the Jets have asked way too much of these players.

Final Grades:

Dee Milliner: Incomplete

Darrin Walls: C+

Antonio Allen: D

Kyle Wilson: C-

Phillip Adams: C

Marcus Williams: B-

Greg Sulik is a New York Jets writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @GregSulik or add him to your network on Google