By admin 
David Bailey led the FBS with 14.5 sacks at Texas Tech last year, and he has been around the quarterback more than any rookie in the NFL this fall. The New York Jets are still waiting for that to show up on the scoreboard, and with questions building around Aaron Glenn after a 1-3 start, the wait is getting uncomfortable in Florham Park.
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The No. 2 overall pick has 17 pressures, most among rookies, and an 18.9 percent pressure rate, according to Next Gen Stats figures published by the team. He also leads the class with two sacks. It still wasn’t enough to crack NFL.com’s top 10 defensive rookies at the quarter mark, where Gennaro Filice wrote that Bailey’s overall performance “hasn’t exactly knocked my socks off.”
Why the pressure isn’t producing sacks
Both sacks came in the first two weeks, one at Tennessee and one against Green Bay. Bailey has gone without one against Detroit and Chicago since, and the Bears ran for 232 yards in a 23-12 win that left New York’s defensive front searching for answers.
PFF’s charting is tougher on him than Next Gen Stats. It credits Bailey with 11 pressures on 102 pass-rush snaps and a 56.8 pass-rush grade, and his 62.1 overall mark ranks 10th on the Jets’ defense. Even by that stricter count he leads the team, ahead of Will McDonald IV’s nine. His best work has come against the run, where he carries a 75.1 grade.
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Glenn has stayed patient. “He’s going to be a damn good player in this league, we know that,” the head coach said this week. “And we want to turn those ‘Man, we were just close’ into ‘Man, we made it.’” Coordinator Brian Duker added that Bailey’s willingness to drop into coverage helps the Jets “generate pressures in other areas.”
The comparison that will follow Bailey all season plays in the same building. Arvell Reese, taken three picks later by the Giants, sits No. 2 on Filice’s list and leads the NFL in solo tackles. Bailey’s next chance comes Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on CBS, when the 3-1 Cleveland Browns visit MetLife Stadium.
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More on the New York Jets
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- New York Jets Face a Cleveland Browns Team Flying High After Big Win
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This story was originally published October 9, 2026 at 10:50 AM.