Three Options to Fill Starting Void in Jets' Defensive Secondary

The New York Jets must idenifty a new starting strong safety during training camp and here are the top three internal candidates.

Oct 29, 2023; East Rutherford, NJ; New York Jets safety Ashtyn Davis (21) forces a fumble by New York Giants punt returner Gunner Olszewski (80) during the second half at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Jets must replace a strong safety who started all 34 games for a Top 4 NFL defense over the past two years.

Veteran Jordan Whitehead left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency, opening up a spot in New York's defensive backfield. Assuming Tony Adams will retain his starting status at free safety, the Jets will feature one new starter in their secondary this upcoming season.

There's still a possibility that New York can surprise by signing one of the veteran safeties who remain available on the free-agent market, but it should be a bit concerning that Justin Simmons and Quandre Diggs have yet to find a new home.

As it stands, less than twice weeks away from Jets' Training Camp in Florham Park, there are three apparent candidates for the starting strong safety role and only one of them logged defensive snaps for New York in 2023.

Here's a look the three top choices to replace Whitehead at strong safety.

Chuck Clark

The 29-year-old Clark is the presumptive favorite to win the job after missing the entire 2023 season due to an ACL tear suffered in OTAs. After acquiring Clark in a trade with the Baltimore Ravens, New York apparently had high hopes for the four-year starter.

"I'm extremely excited about the group, the addition of Chuck Clark back now that he's healthy, we were excited about him going into last year," said defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich when asked about the safety situation at the start of OTAs Phase 3 in May.

Clark started all 17 games during his final season with the Ravens, making a career-high 101 combined tackles. Although he may prove to be an adequate replacement, it's unfair to expect Clark to be an upgrade over Whitehead. There's uncertainty stemming from Clark's injury and it's also strange why Baltimore was willing to unload him for a late-round draft pick.

Ashtyn Davis

The 2020 third-round draft choice shedded the "bust" label last year and earned a second contract from the team that selected him at No. 68 overall.

"Obviously, the addition of Ashtyn [Davis] another year in the system, just getting better and better and better," said Ulbrich.

Davis has been a core special teams player each of the past two seasons and performed admirably as an injury fill-in on defense in 2023. He made three interceptions and 3.0 tackles-for-loss over 217 defensive snaps during his contract year.

Isaiah Oliver

The former second-round draft pick is a darkhorse candidate as he transitions to safety after signing with the Jets this offseason. Oliver played more than 500 regular season defensive snaps for the Super Bowl LVIII runner-up San Francisco 49ers in 2023.

"Then getting Isaiah Oliver, and we're converting him now, as of today to safety to see what that looks like," said Ulbrich. "Here's a guy with really a corner skill set from the standpoint of movement, cover skills, all these things, but now taking advantage of his intelligence and his ability to communicate and putting him back at the safety position."

Oliver, who will turn 28 years old on September 30, spent his first five NFL seasons as a cornerback with the Atlanta Falcons.