Corner remains spot of concern for Gang Green

When identifying weaknesses on the Jets, cornerback is near the top of the list.

There a lot of unknowns with this group. It is even tough to figure out who might start at one of the outside spots. Gone are last year’s Week 1 starters — Trumaine Johnson and Darryl Roberts. The Jets cut both this offseason and moved on. Johnson — who lasted two seasons after signing a five-year, $72.5 million deal with $34 million guaranteed — was one of the worst signings, if not the worst, in team history.

Last season, the Jets made due with backups for most of the year who outperformed Johnson. It looks as of that convinced them they did not need to go out and spend big money again at the position.

The biggest addition at the position was Pierre Desir and all he got was a one-year, $3.75 million deal. Desir played well for the Colts two years ago, but his play slipped last season. Desir slots in as the Jets’ No. 1 cornerback. He had a career-high three interceptions last season. Assistant general manager Rex Hogan came to the Jets from the Colts, so he was probably a driving force behind signing him.

Another move the Jets made in free agency was bringing Brian Poole back. Poole had a strong season last year for the Jets, playing mainly slot corner. He had a Pick-6 and a forced fumble and was one of the Jets’ surest tacklers. Jets general manager Joe Douglas brought him back with a one-year, $5 million deal.

With Desir figuring to start outside and Poole starting in the nickel, it is the second outside cornerback that is hard to handicap. Bless Austin played well in the second half of his rookie season after missing the first half while recovering from an injury he suffered in college. Austin looked like he belonged in his first few games, but then got burned just before halftime against the Steelers in Week 16. He was benched at halftime and the Jets felt he sulked during that week of practice, so he did not play in Week 17. If Austin has a strong training camp and wins back the coaches’ trust, he may be the starter.

The Jets acquired two cornerbacks during the draft. They selected Bryce Hall in the fifth round out of Virginia. Hall is a potential steal that late in the draft if he can bounce back from a serious ankle injury that ended his 2019 season with the Cavaliers. The injury pushed him down in the draft, but he has the talent to have gone much higher.

Douglas made a trade on Day 3 of the draft, sending a sixth-round pick to the Colts for Quincy Wilson. Indianapolis took Wilson in the second round in 2017. He started 10 games for the Colts, but none last season. Wilson will be 24 when the season starts, still a very young football player who the Jets hope can realize his potential.

Arthur Maulet and Nate Hairston both saw significant time last year and return again this season.

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was able to mask many of the deficiencies at cornerback last year. The Jets played a lot of Cover 2 defense to give the corners help. That should be expected again this season as the Jets have not upgraded the position much from last year.