New York Jets linebacker Demario Davis
New York Jets linebacker Demario Davis | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
When the New York Jets signed Demario Davis, they weren't just getting a familiar face and a veteran leader. Even though he was entering his third tour of duty in green and white as a 37-year-old, Davis was coming off another vintage campaign in 2025 and ranked among the NFL's top 100 players.
The vocal leadership piece was important. Davis has stepped up, wears the green dot, relays the plays in the huddle, and has a reach that extends past his linebacker peers and the defensive unit as a whole.
"I want to be a disrupter and as much as the defense requires me to be a communicator and kind of an orchestrator of the defense,"Davis told the mediaahead of the Jets Week 5 victory against the Cleveland Browns.
"Getting everybody lined up and kind of keeping them from making explosive plays, kind of a cap on the run in the middle of the field for deep passes. When I get a chance to be a disruptive player in the backfield on the other side, I like that, too."
He was just that against his former team. In that matchup, he was an effective blitzer, registering two pressures, while also playing lockdown coverage, allowing two catches for just four yards. It was what you want to see from the veteran, but it was the type of performance that we've only seen in flashes from the two-time Pro Bowler.
Demario Davis's tackling issues are holding the New York Jets' defense back
Heading into Monday Night Football, Davis has posted the worst missed tackle rate among all linebackers (minimum 250 snaps), at 19.6%. Last season, he whiffed just 10.5% of the time, and for his career, he owns a missed tackle rate of 10.3%.
Moreover, he's not making the kind of splash plays that you'd expect for a player with his resume. Davis has accumulated 14 stops so far this season, which Pro Football Focus defines as a tackle that results in a "failure" for the offense. Over a 17-game season, he's on pace for 34 stops, whereas he posted 55 stops last year.
You see this, and it's clear why Dolphins backup running back Ollie Gordon posted a career-high 10 missed tackles forced against the Jets in their Week 7 matchup. Davis is supposed to be the man leading the charge, and instead he's lagging behind.
Fortunately for New York, Jamien Sherwood has rebounded from a tough start, posting a much more reasonable 10.3% missed tackle rate and improving dramatically in coverage after hitting rock bottom against the Detroit Lions.
Still, this highly paid duo in the middle of the Jets' defense was supposed to be a stabilizing force that helped the youth along the defensive line as well as in the secondary. Instead, it's been a mixed bag, with Davis mostly lagging behind.
Father Time comes for us all, and you can't necessarily fault Davis for the impact of age on his performance. At the end of the day, it's clear that the once-speedy linebacker has lost a step or two, and while his cerebral play can help mitigate some of that drop-off, ultimately, physical skills matter, and the Jets' linebacker is running out of gas.