When the New York Jets selected edge rusher David Bailey with the No. 2 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the hope was that he would not only develop into a premier havoc-wreaker but that he would also deliver an immediate impact for a struggling defense. Bailey fell short in the first month of his career in providing that spark, but he flipped a switch in Week 5 as the Jets logged their most dominant defensive performance of the year. Sunday's 17-12 win over the Cleveland Browns was the "I have arrived" kind of statement that eluded Bailey in his first four games.
He provided three sacks to lead a Jets pass rush that got home on Deshaun Watson eight times — good for the most sacks by any team in a single game this season. It was not just those three instances in which Bailey rattled Watson, either. He also forced the Browns quarterback to throw the ball into the turf on third down on the game's final series, and he flushed him out of the pocket on the next snap, which led to a game-ending strip sack for Will McDonald IV.
Bailey finished the day with seven tackles, nine quarterback pressures and three sacks. That was good for a 32.1% pressure rate on his 28 pass rush snaps. THIRD sack of the day for David Bailey@CLEvsNYJ on CBS/Paramount+Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/QTqQqo79NN The skepticism about Bailey's worthiness of an early first-round draft pick, which circulated among fans and the media, aged poorly.
A week ago, some tepidness about his rookie-year stardom would have been warranted, but after Game 5, there is hardly room for pessimism anymore. All of a sudden, Bailey leads all rookie pass rushers with 26 total pressures and nine quick pressures, per Next Gen Stats. "I've said all along that his time is going to come," Jets coach Aaron Glenn said after the win.
"I have all the confidence in him in the world. There were some things that he's gotta work on, but for him to come out and get three sacks, that's who David is, and we expected that." The disruptive effort was easily the best of Bailey's young career. The production went well beyond personal-best levels, too.
The nine pressures he logged on Watson were tied for the most in a single game by a rookie since Jared Verse matched that total against the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2024 season. What's more, his three sacks tied the most by a Jets rookie since individual sacks first became a tracked statistic in 1982. Only Hugh Douglas in 1995 recorded as many in a single game.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
