As the Jets get close to training camp, I am examining the roster and giving you my top 25 players. Each weekday, we will reveal another person on the list, leading right into camp. I am not including rookies on this list because I do not feel it is possible to fully evaluate them before they play a game.
No. 24: Pierre Desir
Last year’s ranking: Unranked (not on team)
Position: CB
Age on Opening Day: 30
How acquired: Signed to a one-year deal worth up to $5.5 million on April 2.
Years left on contract: 1
2020 Salary Cap figure: $4 million
Looking back at 2019
Desir was coming off a breakout season in 2018 when he had a career high in tackles and became a starter for the Colts. The team signed him to a three-year, $22.5 million contract extension last spring.
Desir delivered with career highs in interceptions (3) and passes defensed (11) but dealt with injuries for most of the season and was a bit of a disappointment. He gave up five touchdowns and allowed a QB rating of over 100 when targeted.
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Injuries played a big role in Desir’s season. He first suffered a bone bruise in his knee in the second game of the year. Then a hamstring injury cost him four games in the middle of the year. He returned but the injury seemed to bother him for the rest of the season.
PFF graded him as the 77th cornerback out of 115 graded.
The Colts released him in the spring, just one year into his three-year deal.
Outlook for 2020
The Jets grabbed Desir quickly after the Colts released him, showing just how interested they were. Jets assistant GM Rex Hogan came from the Colts, so he saw Desir’s 2018 season up close and surely played a big role in this transaction.
Desir is going to be the Jets starter on one side and they will need him to be consistent because they could be cycling through a number of younger players opposite him.
In his career, Desir has been a better zone corner than man-to-man. That lines up with what defensive coordinator Gregg Williams showed last season when the Jets became a heavy Cover-2 team. Judging by the moves the Jets made this offseason, it is fair to expect them to play Cover-2 again and Desir could thrive in Williams’ system.