DC Jeff Ulbrich marvels at Jets' deep, dangerous offense
Jets defenisive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Jeff Ulbrich is glad his defense gets to sharpen its skills working against the Jets’ offense in practice, and he’s relieved he doesn’t have to face the Aaron Rodgers-led group during the season.
The Jets’ defensive coordinator knows this offense will cause people in his position around the league some sleepless nights.
“It’s a problem,” Ulbrich said. “Typically, when you study an offense, they have some strength, whether it be the passing game, the running game. Not very often do teams in the NFL have both, and I really believe offensively, we’re developing that.
“The ability to be explosive in the passing game, the ability to be explosive in the running game, a lot of different weapons, a lot of guys you need to pay attention to. From a defensive perspective, it’s an absolute nightmare, a pain in the [expletive] in a lot of ways.”
The Jets have undergone an absolute overhaul on offense and now have an impressively talented and deep group. Four-time Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook is the latest addition.
The season before Robert Saleh became the Jets’ head coach in 2021, Sam Darnold was the quarterback, Frank Gore the leading rusher and Jamison Crowder and Breshad Perriman the top receivers.
The Jets are rolling this season with Rodgers, Breece Hall and Cook in the backfield, a receiving group featuring 2022 Rookie of the Year Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard, Mecole Hardman, Corey Davis and Randall Cobb, and tight ends Tyler Conklin, C.J. Uzomah and Jeremy Ruckert.
The offensive line concerns are real, but the Jets shouldn’t be a bottom-five scoring team as they were the first two years under Saleh.
“It’s not necessarily pick your poison,” Saleh said, “but it’s exciting because we can be a little bit more creative when you have a little bit more variety.”
Trigger man
It all starts with Rodgers and his ability to make the right read and deliver the ball where it needs to go.
“He’s done it for so long,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. “It’s always great to have a trigger man that understands what we’re trying to accomplish, what the intentions of the plays are, and to give him a lot of different targets.”
There’s only one football. Keeping everyone happy won’t be easy. Rodgers’ resume gives him the cache not every quarterback has. The players trust that he’s making the right throw.
Rodgers tells his skill players that he will throw the football to the open guy. The guys who get open more will get more targets.
Rodgers ranks fifth all-time in touchdown passes (475) and ninth in passing yards (59,055) and has the lowest interception rate (1.4%) in NFL history.
His decision-making has been sublime.
“I like matchups and percentages,” Rodgers said. “In the end, I’m going to work to the matchup I think is best, to the spot I think is best, then go through my progressions. Every now and then, there is a really special somebody running a certain route that you might give an extra look to, but that’s why this offense has worked over the years because it’s a progression offense about timing, rhythm, balance and space.
“When it’s going good, everybody is going to be getting opportunities.”
Wilson is the Jets’ really special somebody: a dynamic playmaker who has drawn comparisons with Rodgers’ former really special somebody, Davante Adams. The Rodgers-Wilson connection could yield similar results.
Many players are still learning Rodgers’ hand gestures and looks, but ex-Packers Lazard and Cobb are helping to translate.
The system
Lazard called it “the Aaron Rodgers offense.” It’s a branch of the West Coast offense, but it’s been altered with Rodgers and Hackett, his old offensive coordinator in Green Bay.
The two worked hours and hours on plays that the quarterback likes and are most effective. Together they created the offense that is friendly to every skill position and tough to defend.
The tight ends love it. The backs will get their touches. The Hall-Cook pairing may be the NFL’s best backfield. Jets cornerback D.J. Reed referred to them as “two splash players at running back that can hit home runs.”
The receivers know if they run the right route, the ball might be there for them the second they spring open.
Hackett said, “Whenever a defense has to cover the whole field — it’s not just one guy — I think that makes you a better all-around offense.”
It leads to more plays and opportunities. That way, everyone eats.
In Cook’s kitchen
Cook came from Minnesota, where he played in a similar system. He never played with a quarterback like Rodgers, though. Cook wanted that.
He called the Jets’ offense “an oiled machine” that they’re going to “keep oiling up.” Cook expects big things from this unit in the Rodgers-Hackett system.
“We got great receivers on the outside,” Cook said. “We got a quarterback that’s ready to put the ball in places for guys to go get it and we got the runners in the backfield to go do it.
You’re going to see a lot of explosive plays this year.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
