For a fanbase able to turning a backup quarterback’s completion in June right into a three-day argument, Jets followers have been surprisingly quiet about David Bailey.
The Jets didn’t take him within the second spherical. They didn’t seize him in the course of the primary and start promoting us on his “upside.”
They chose Bailey second total.
He was the primary defensive participant chosen within the 2026 NFL Draft and the highest-drafted defender in franchise historical past. The Jets have spent many years trying to find a respectable successor to John Abraham. This time, they’d the whole defensive draft board accessible and selected Bailey.
Then everybody kind of moved on.
Possibly it’s as a result of Bailey was one among three Jets first-round picks. Possibly Geno Smith’s return, one other coaching-staff overhaul and the wreckage of a 3–14 season consumed all of the oxygen. Possibly a fanbase that has been bought fourteen consecutive variations of a brand new starting has lastly stopped preordering the commemorative T-shirt.
Regardless of the purpose, this isn’t the conventional reception for the No. 2 decide within the draft.
It’s particularly unusual when you study the participant.
Bailey was not a late bloomer who all of a sudden discovered how one can rush the passer throughout one handy contract 12 months. He was dominant in highschool, instantly productive at Stanford, more and more disruptive regardless of taking part in a rotational position, after which devastating as soon as Texas Tech lastly turned him free.
The resume has been constructing for years. The thrill has not caught as much as it.
Bailey comes from Mater Dei, the Southern California soccer manufacturing unit that has produced Matt Leinart, Bryce Younger, Amon-Ra St. Brown and sufficient major-college recruits to make some NCAA applications look underfunded.
As a sophomore in 2019, Bailey shared a roster with Younger, who would ultimately turn out to be the No. 1 total decide within the 2023 draft. Bailey handled accidents early in his high-school profession, however by his senior season there was little or no thriller about what he had turn out to be.
In 2021, Bailey recorded 54 tackles, 20.5 tackles for loss, 15.5 sacks and three compelled fumbles. Mater Dei completed 12–0, gained California’s Open Division state championship and was acknowledged because the nation’s No. 1 high-school workforce. This was not empty manufacturing accrued towards overmatched colleges. Mater Dei performed among the finest schedules within the nation. In two victories over Trinity League rival Servite, Bailey produced 3.5 tackles for loss within the first recreation and 1.5 sacks within the second.
He was named California Defensive Participant of the Yr, Trinity League Defensive Participant of the Yr and Orange County Defensive Participant of the Yr. He was chosen for the All-American Bowl and completed as 247Sports’ No. 3 edge prospect and No. 33 total player-the first prospect left exterior its five-star rankings. Stanford’s official biography credit him with 20.5 profession high-school sacks, that means three-quarters of his complete got here throughout that last season.
The off-field resume was practically as spectacular. Bailey was on Mater Dei’s principal’s honor roll. His dad and mom, Anthony and Monica, immigrated from Jamaica and Ghana, respectively. His older brother, DJ, performed defensive finish at Harvard. When Bailey selected Stanford over USC and different main applications, it was not a extremely ranked athlete pretending teachers mattered throughout his dedication announcement. It was a respectable match.
Bailey enrolled early and made an instantaneous affect. As a real freshman in 2022, he appeared in 11 video games and began 9. He recorded 46 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 13 quarterback hurries and two compelled fumbles. That earned him a spot on 247Sports’ True Freshman All-America workforce. The sack complete was modest. All the pieces beneath it recommended extra was coming.
As a sophomore, Bailey performed 10 video games with 5 begins and led Stanford with six tackles for loss and 5 sacks. Three of these sacks got here within the season opener towards Hawaii, probably the most by a Stanford defender in a single recreation since 2014. Then got here the bizarre a part of his school profession. Bailey turned extra productive in 2024 however much less outstanding in Stanford’s beginning lineup. He began solely two of 12 video games whereas functioning as a rotational exterior linebacker. Nonetheless, he led the Cardinal in tackles for loss, sacks, quarterback hurries and compelled fumbles.
His last line: 31 tackles, eight tackles for loss, seven sacks and 5 compelled fumbles.
Seven sacks have been probably the most by a Stanford participant since Casey Toohill recorded eight in 2019.
That’s the necessary a part of Bailey’s Stanford story. He was not an unproductive participant who wanted to switch someplace simpler. Over three seasons, he accrued 14.5 sacks regardless of spending a lot of his profession in a rotational position.
The expertise was seen. The chance was restricted.
Bailey additionally accomplished his Stanford diploma in science, expertise and society in three years. Having graduated, he entered the switch portal in quest of a program prepared to make him a full-time edge defender.
Texas Tech supplied it.
The switch didn’t rework Bailey into a unique participant. It gave him sufficient snaps to disclose the participant he had already turn out to be.
Texas Tech moved him from Stanford’s rotational outside-linebacker position right into a full-time defensive-end place. His position expanded from a two-start rotation at Stanford to 13 begins in 14 video games at Texas Tech.
His manufacturing practically doubled with it.
Bailey began 13 of 14 video games and completed with:
52 tackles
19.5 tackles for loss
14.5 sacks
13 quarterback hurries
Three compelled fumbles
Three passes defensed
He recorded no less than a share of a sack in 11 of 14 video games and a deal with for loss in all however one. Towards 5 opponents that completed the season ranked, Bailey produced 8.5 tackles for loss and 5 sacks. All three of his compelled fumbles got here on strip-sacks.
His 14.5 sacks tied for the FBS lead. His 19.5 tackles for loss ranked second.
Based on Texas Tech’s information, Bailey turned the primary Large 12 participant since 2009 to document no less than 14 sacks and 18 tackles for loss in the identical season. He was named the Large 12 Defensive Lineman of the Yr, Large 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Yr and a unanimous first-team All-American.
Texas Tech gained its first Large 12 championship and reached the School Soccer Playoff.
In a single season, Bailey matched the 14.5 sacks he had accrued throughout three years at Stanford. Extra importantly, his manufacturing survived the bigger position. He didn’t merely compile statistics as a result of he performed extra. He continued beating blockers after offenses knew precisely the place he was and what he meant to do.
That’s the reason the Jets took him over the extra theoretical upside of Arvell Reese.
Reese might ultimately turn out to be an amazing edge rusher. Bailey had already demonstrated that he was one.
On the mix, Bailey measured 6-foot-3⅝ and 251 kilos with 33¾-inch arms and 10¼-inch palms.
He ran the 40-yard sprint in 4.50 seconds, posted a 1.62-second 10-yard cut up, jumped 35 inches vertically and recorded a 10-foot-9 broad leap.
These numbers affirm what the movie exhibits. Bailey is explosive out of his stance, covers floor shortly and has respectable NFL closing velocity.
However calling him an athletic venture would undersell him.
Bailey already possesses a mature pass-rush plan. He can threaten a deal with’s exterior shoulder together with his first step and bend, convert that velocity into energy, cross-chop the blocker’s palms or counter inside with a spin transfer. His closing burst turns into significantly noticeable when the quarterback strikes off his spot. He doesn’t want the play to stay completely structured to complete it.
Sports activities Data Options ranked Bailey second total and described him as an instantaneous three-down starter with eventual All-Professional potential. Its analysis highlighted his first step, violent preliminary punch, rip, swipe and spin strikes, capability to deal with chips and effectiveness on stunts.
That final half will matter in Glenn’s protection. Bailey doesn’t have to stay parked exterior the offensive deal with. Texas Tech often lowered him inside or ran him by way of twists, permitting his acceleration to emphasize slower guards and create confusion between blockers.
The priority can also be apparent.
Bailey is lengthy however lean. When a 320-pound deal with will get squarely into his chest, he can have issue anchoring, separating and sustaining the sting. At instances, his eagerness to penetrate turns into his greatest downside. He’ll shoot inside, lose include and create an escape route for the operating again or quarterback.
That’s completely different from saying Bailey can not defend the run.
The priority is inconsistency, not an entire incapacity to play the run. He confirmed the flexibility to tackle pulling guards and tackles in school, and Glenn has publicly dismissed the concept that Bailey is a run-game legal responsibility. The problem is utilizing his size correctly, staying disciplined and studying that an NFL defender typically wins by occupying the proper hole somewhat than making an attempt to personally destroy each play.
In any other case, Bailey presents as clever, considerate and unusually achieved academically. He instructed reporters that he would examine psychology if given one other probability to decide on a serious due to his curiosity in human conduct and the mindset of opponents.
For an edge rusher, that appears moderately helpful.
No comparability is precise. Bailey’s physique, athletic testing, approach and position level towards a number of completely different NFL gamers, and every comparability tells us one thing completely different.
Participant
Why the comparability matches
Rookie season
What it tells us
Will Anderson Jr.
Almost an identical measurement and size, related 10-yard explosion, high-end school manufacturing and a developed energy/velocity mixture
15 video games, 13 begins, 45 tackles, 7 sacks, 22 QB hits and 67 pressures; Defensive Rookie of the Yr
Seven sacks can symbolize a dominant rookie 12 months when the stress manufacturing and run protection are already current.
Brian Burns
Lean, explosive velocity rusher with bend, closing burst and an inside counter
16 video games, 5 begins, 23 tackles, 7.5 sacks and 27 pressures
Bailey can produce instantly with out being a completely completed run defender. Burns misplaced snaps as a result of Carolina most well-liked heavier defenders on early downs.
Nik Bonitto
The commonest stylistic comparability: related body, first-step velocity and stand-up outside-linebacker capability
15 video games, one begin, 13 tackles and 1.5 sacks
Position issues. Bonitto was used sparingly as a rookie, then jumped to eight sacks in Yr 2 and 13.5 in Yr 3.
Aidan Hutchinson
Not a bodily match, however probably the most related teaching comparability: one other No. 2 total edge defender positioned in Glenn’s attacking entrance
17 begins, 52 tackles, 9.5 sacks, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries
Glenn has already proven that he’ll give an elite rookie edge rusher an instantaneous, expansive position.
Anderson often is the most revealing bodily comparability. He measured 6-foot-3½ and 253 kilos with 33⅞-inch arms and a 1.61-second 10-yard cut up. Bailey is inside two kilos, one-eighth of an inch in arm size and one-hundredth of a second within the cut up.
That doesn’t imply Bailey will turn out to be Anderson. Anderson was a cleaner run defender and one of the embellished defensive gamers in college-football historical past.
It means Bailey belongs in that bodily household.
Burns demonstrates the rapid pass-rush potential. Bonitto represents the developmental threat if Bailey can not earn early-down belief. Hutchinson supplies the blueprint for the way Glenn treats a premium edge prospect.
Taken collectively, the comparisons set up an inexpensive rookie vary. Bailey doesn’t want 12 sacks to justify the decide. Anderson gained Defensive Rookie of the Yr with seven. However a rotational 1.5-sack season like Bonitto’s can be tough to simply accept from the second total choice as a result of Bailey ought to obtain a a lot bigger alternative.
Glenn’s 4 years as Detroit’s defensive coordinator weren’t an uninterrupted run of defensive brilliance.
The Lions ranked close to the underside of the league through the first half of that tenure. They lacked established expertise, struggled in protection and periodically gave up factors in bulk. By means of the primary seven video games of 2022, Detroit allowed 32.1 factors per recreation.
Then Glenn adjusted his scheme and personnel. Over the ultimate 10 video games, the Lions allowed 20.2 factors per recreation, the NFL’s Eleventh-best mark throughout that stretch.
The bigger lesson was Glenn’s willingness to alter.
Detroit started Glenn’s tenure with a read-and-react 3–4. After drafting Hutchinson second total in 2022, Glenn shifted towards a extra aggressive 4–3 entrance designed round penetration and disruption. He nonetheless used odd fronts and a number of alignments, however the basis turned assault somewhat than response.
“Schematically, what can we do to help these players be the best they can be?” Glenn defined when discussing the change. Detroit’s personal account explicitly linked the brand new method to maximizing Hutchinson and the younger defensive position.
By 2024, Detroit ranked first in third-down protection and opponent passer score. Throughout 2023 and 2024 mixed, the Lions allowed the NFL’s fewest dashing yards per recreation. Glenn additionally had sufficient confidence in his secondary to play Cowl 1 on 35.2 p.c of Detroit’s defensive snaps in 2024, the league’s second-highest complete.
Glenn desires to problem receivers, crowd throwing home windows and make quarterbacks maintain the ball. That method turns into harmful with out a move rush and devastating with one.
The Jets discovered the primary half in 2025.
They completed with solely 26 sacks whereas permitting opposing quarterbacks to throw 36 touchdowns with out a single interception-the first zero-interception season in NFL historical past. Glenn didn’t name the defensive performs final 12 months, however as head coach he nonetheless owns the outcome.
In 2026, that association modifications.
Glenn will name the protection himself whereas new coordinator Brian Duker handles a lot of the preparation and group. Bailey just isn’t merely one other participant being added to Glenn’s protection. He’s the centerpiece of Glenn’s try and reclaim what he has known as his teaching “superpower.”
Ignore the argument over whether or not the Jets are a 3–4 or 4–3 workforce. Glenn has already equipped the reply: each, relying on personnel and state of affairs.
He has stated the Jets will use four-man fronts, five-man fronts and appreciable pre-snap motion. As a result of NFL defenses spend roughly 70 p.c of their time in nickel, Glenn expects to function primarily from four-down spacing no matter how the official depth chart labels the gamers.
For Bailey, that ought to produce three main roles.
Within the base 3–4, he’ll arise as an outdoor linebacker. Bailey stated earlier than the draft that he prefers a two-point stance towards the run as a result of that was acquainted to him at Stanford.
When the Jets transfer to a four-man entrance, Bailey will place his hand within the grime and assault from defensive finish. On third down, he can use a sprinter’s stance and focus virtually totally on beating the deal with to the nook.
Lastly, Glenn can transfer him. Bailey can rush from a large alignment, cut back inside, run video games with Jowon Briggs or David Onyemata and sometimes drop into the flat as a part of a simulated stress. He has sufficient linebacker expertise to make the latter plausible, though dropping Bailey ought to stay a changeup-not a behavior.
The plain passing-down bundle places Bailey and McDonald on reverse edges, with the 366-pound T’Vondre Sweat occupying blockers inside and Briggs supplying inside stress. Joseph Ossai and Kingsley Enagbare give Glenn sufficient depth to maintain Bailey contemporary and shield him throughout tough run conditions with out making him a part-time participant.
A latest Jets X-Issue projection positioned Bailey at a defensive-line-high 65 p.c of the snaps. That feels cheap. He ought to play greater than Bonitto or Burns did as rookies, though most likely not the big 900-plus-snap workload Hutchinson carried.
The Jets didn’t choose Bailey second total to turn out to be a delegated third-down rusher. They chose him to ultimately turn out to be the participant opposing offenses determine earlier than each snap.
The honest expectation just isn’t that Bailey instantly turns into an All-Professional. It’s that he instantly turns into disruptive.
An inexpensive rookie goal can be:
Roughly 60–70 p.c of the defensive snaps
Seven to 9 sacks
Not less than 40–50 complete pressures
Two or three compelled fumbles
A respectable presence within the Defensive Rookie of the Yr dialog
Ten or extra sacks would represent an distinctive rookie season and place him alongside Hutchinson’s first-year manufacturing. 5 or 6 sacks wouldn’t essentially imply he struggled if the stress fee remained sturdy and he developed right into a reliable run defender.
The bigger concern can be utilization. If Bailey is taking part in fewer than half the snaps by November as a result of Glenn can not belief him to carry the sting, that will recommend the transition is taking longer than anticipated.
There are different methods to measure his affect.
Does McDonald obtain extra remoted pass-rush alternatives? Do hurried quarterbacks lastly give the secondary probabilities to intercept passes? Can the Jets create stress with 4 rushers as a substitute of exposing their protection with fixed blitzes? Does Bailey stay disciplined when offenses start testing him with counters, traps and read-option ideas?
The sacks will appeal to the eye. These questions will inform us whether or not he’s changing into an entire participant.
Jets followers have good purpose to be cautious. Optimism round this workforce has normally include an expiration date and no refund coverage.
However Bailey’s case doesn’t require blind optimism.
He was dominant at Mater Dei. He began instantly at Stanford. His sacks rose from 2.5 to 5 to seven regardless of remaining in a rotational position. When Texas Tech made him a full-time starter, his sack manufacturing doubled and he turned the most efficient move rusher in school soccer.
Each time Bailey has been given extra duty, he has produced extra disruption.
Now Glenn will get to make the subsequent wager.
The Jets chosen the primary defender within the draft and gave a defensive head coach the kind of participant who can reshape all the pieces behind him. Bailey has the explosiveness to wreck a 3rd down instantly, the intelligence to deal with Glenn’s multiplicity and the manufacturing to recommend that is way over a projection.
For the second, his arrival has been surprisingly quiet.
That ought to change the primary time David Bailey beats a deal with off the snap, bends across the nook and introduces himself to an NFL quarterback.
Sacks have a approach of making their very own fanfare.
