The New York Jets had the worst defense in the NFL last season. Will it be better in 2026?
The New York Jets went 3-14 last season in Year 1 of the Aaron Glenn era. They became the first team in NFL history to not record a defensive interception and lose five straight games by 23 or more points within a single season.
Glenn is going to call defensive plays next season. Does that mean the Jets will be better on defense?
"You do hear that a lot, and I will say this, we are, we will be a multiple defense," Glenn said when he met with reporters on Tuesday at the Annual League Meeting in Phoenix, AZ. "So there will be elements of 4-3, there will be elements of 3-4. And I think sometimes it's overwhelming.
"When you look at it, you're in nickel like 70 percent of the time. So you're in a four-down [lineman] space for the most part. So once you go to base defense, man, there's a number of things that you can do. I love front variations. So you will see some four-down fronts, you will see some five-down fronts and you will see a lot of movement within that. So, I don't want to sit here and say exactly who we're going to be, because we're going to be a little bit of everything But it'd be easy for all players to be able to compete."
New York fired Steve Wilks as DC during the 2025 season. Brian Duker is the new DC, but Glenn wants to call defensive plays next season.
"First and foremost is how I'm going to be with the defense and I will be the playcaller. To me, play-calling is my superpower," Glenn said. "I did it four years in Detroit and, man, just look at the maturation of how we improved every year and how I improved as a playcaller. I really missed doing that, and I think it's a huge part of helping us become the team that I and Mouge [GM Darren Mougey] see and that [owner] Woody [Johnson] sees us becoming."
Joseph Ossai joined the Jets this offseason on a three-year, $34.5 million contract. The 25-year-old Ossai enters next season with 14.5 sacks, 59 solo tackles, 16 tackles for loss and 44 QB hits in his career.
The Jets are counting on him to help their defense be much, much better next season.
"Ossai, he can do a lot of different things," Glenn said. "He can play the rush, he can play the SAM, he can drop into coverage, he's played special teams quite a bit, he's disruptive. I mean, he had like 5 or 6 years the last two years, so we can utilize him in a number of different spots, and I think that's the best thing about where we're at right now because we have a number of guys that we can maneuver and move around to do some things."The newcomers will allow Glenn to get creative with his best pass rusher – McDonald IV. Over his past 32 games, the explosive, bendy McDonald IV has racked up 21.5 sacks.
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