After Re-Signing With New York Jets Should Ashtyn Davis Be Starter?

The long-time role defender and special teams ace has never gotten the opportunity to start consistently for Gang Green. That should change in 2024.

Jan 7, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New York Jets safety Ashtyn Davis (21) intercepts a / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Ashtyn Davis may still be only 27 years old, but the former third-round pick has carved out a unique role on the New York Jets in past years.

Once thought of as solely a special teams standout, Davis has improved his game on the defensive side of the ball. Last season, he set career-high marks in interceptions and passes defended. His ability to make big plays on a top-five unit last season showed he can perform at a high level in key moments.

Jan 7, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New York Jets safety Ashtyn Davis (21) intercepts a / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

It's why, after testing out the free agent market this offseason, Davis has returned to the Jets on a new contract.

Returning to New York to be the third safety with Tony Adams and Chuck Clark won't be good enough, though, for Davis. After four years of minimal starting experience, the Santa Cruz native is deserving of a chance to compete for a starting role for a number of different reasons.

First, unlike Adams and Clark, Davis comes in after an excellent 2023 season. His elite 74.7 Pro Football Focus grade was one of the highest on the team and showed he can perform at a high level behind the likes of All-Pros in Sauce Gardner and Quincy Williams. His grade was also six points higher than Adams - the true starting safety on the team from August to the end of the year. Adams may have recorded the same amount of interceptions as Davis, but had fewer passes defended and gave up a higher completion percentage in coverage (65.5 percent to 57.1 percent).

Clark, obviously, did not play last season due to tearing his ACL on the final few days of OTAs.

Efficiency is something the Jets rely on in their defensive players. Davis, like Bryce Huff, Jermaine Johnson, and plenty of other defensive stars may not have played the percentage of snaps that he would have liked, but he was impactful in those particular plays. When Adrian Amos, Adams, or Jordan Whitehead were lost for a play or a few games, it was Davis who stepped into the role and (at times) looked even better than New York's starters.

Through four seasons in his NFL journey, Ashtyn Davis has been a highly impactful player for the Jets.

At the very least, after choosing to re-sign with the team this offseason, Davis deserves a shot to start every day for a defense that he excelled in over the last few seasons.