CJ Mosley Legitimizes The Jets Defense

The Jets had a truckload of money to spend this offseason and they are putting it to use. The surprising part is that they are actually using the money wisely. First, they signed receiver Jamison Crowder to a deal. That gives them a nice slot weapon next to deep ball specialist, Robby Anderson. They then signed Anthony Barr to a deal. This is an underrated picked up. Barr was playing 4-3 standup linebacker with the Vikings and was a horrendous fit for their defense. Barr will get a chance to go hunt as a 3-4 edge rusher with the Jets. The same position he played in college. They even upgraded the offensive line trading for Kelechi Osemele! Now the Jets really backed up the Brinks truck. The Jets have signed CJ Mosley to a 5-year, $85 million deal. Forget the price tag, Mosley legitimizes this defense.

I just want to again point out that Pro Football Focus is really hit or miss. Some players I feel like they do a good job on. Others they whiff. CJ Mosley is better than the 22nd ranked linebacker. Just is. The thing that probably brings his grade down is his coverage ability. He’s not an all-world cover guy by any means. But he is more than serviceable.

Bad coverage linebackers don’t make plays like this. They just don’t. In 5 years with the Ravens, Mosley has 9 interceptions. Bobby Wagner has that same number of interceptions in 7 years and there’s no denying that Wagner is one of the best at the position. That’s more than a lot of safeties and corners ever get. He’s not the fastest guy. He’s not the rangiest guy. What I do know is Mosley has great instincts and always finds a way to be around the ball. Mosley is a smart player. So when you read your PFF article about how Mosley isn’t worth the money, just know that they are wrong.

Mosley was the lifeblood of the Ravens defense. I’ve said this for a long time. Some players on defense are the glue. They hold everything together. Take that glue guy out and the season is over. Just ask Falcon fans what happens when Deion Jones got hurt last year. Season over. End of story. That’s an example of a glue guy. Mosley is that guy. I watch the Ravens every Sunday. They did experience one game without their glue guy. Mosley went down really early in Week 2 against the pathetic Bengals. They proceeded to drop 34 points on Baltimore without Mosley on the field. With Mosley, the Ravens gave up more than 28 points just once. Baltimore averaged 17.8 points against in 2018 and C.J. was the leader of that charge. Mosley is a glue guy and he’s shifted the balance of power to the Jets.

The Ravens couldn’t have F*cked this up any worse. This is Eric DeCosta’s first year as the Ravens GM after Ozzie Newsome stepped down into a new role. All this guy had to do is not let C.J. Mosley walk out the door. THAT’S ALL HE HAD TO DO. Baltimore could have easily franchised Mosley for the $15 million tag and worked out a long term deal. NOPE. That ASSHOLE let Mosley walk and he got more money annually than the franchise tag anyway. Mosley was the long term answer for Ray Lewis. He’s an Alabama guy. He is the leader of the defense. He is the signal caller that communicates the plays. He is everywhere. He’s a good person. Never any off the field problems. Oh, and he was the middle linebacker for the number one defense in football. Trust me, that defense sucks. They have maybe 4 guys who can play. Now they have maybe one with Marlon Humphrey. DeCosta haggled over a couple of dollars and now he’s going to get 4 wins this year because of it.

The Jets are getting a good one to lead their defense. According to Next Gen stats, Mosley made 47 tackles that resulted in a good play. That was 17 more than any other Raven defender. Mosley will now replace Darron Lee who sucks. It’s a massive upgrade. The Jets ranked 29th in points allowed in 2018 (27.4). Add in Mosley along with an improved offense and the Jets are moving in the right direction. I don’t love Gregg Williams. He’s kind of a moron. But the Jets are a hell of a lot better on paper today.

UPDATE: Anthony Barr spurned the Jets and decided to re-sign with the Vikings. The scheme in Minnesota doesn’t fit him one bit but I guess he wanted to return to the Vikes. Jets need a pass rusher now.