When I turned on the film, Tarell Basham stood out from the other Jets rush linebackers last season. He stood out because of how he rushes the passer more than anything else. I don’t know how fast his 40 time was, or how high his vertical leap was at the combine when he was coming out, but what I do know is this guy made pass-rush moves with the confidence of somebody who expected to beat the blocker.
While some of the other Jets edge rushers were content to just run right down the middle of offensive linemen and get stuck on blocks over and over, Basham was constantly working to an edge. His hands also never stopped moving.
Don’t get me wrong: it is obvious Basham is athletic, too. His get-off was very impressive, Even as a standup rusher, he was able to get a good jump on the snap and immediately put offensive tackles in distress. He appears to have good closing speed from the point where he beats a blocker to the point where he is hitting the quarterback.
Basham also plays stronger than he looks. Even though he isn’t that big, Basham was able to hold his ground well versus the run, and get good push on his power rushes as a pass rusher. The guy looked pretty good to me whether playing the run or the pass.
But what was most impressive about Basham’s game, to me at least, was his excellent technique.
For instance, he was precise with his cross-chop pass-rush move. Basham was patient enough to wait for the offensive linemen to throw their punch before targeting their outside arms with his chop. And when he did chop, he always made sure to get them right on their wrists where they were most vulnerable.
Now, that takes some quickness and athletic ability, but mostly it takes a lot of practice.
Basham also, from time to time, incorporated one of my favorite moves: the long arm. And he was able to do it to great effect by selling his speed rush first, then jabbing the linemen in their chest to get them to sit down on the move. Once they did stop their feet, those blockers would inevitably pause just long enough for Basham to knock their arms to the side and slide right by them. That might look easy, but I can just about promise you it took Basham working hard at it before he got good at that move.
Perhaps on another defense Basham wouldn’t have stood out to me the way he did on the Jets. I just didn’t see other Jets players rushing the passer in the same fashion technique-wise on a regular basis. I’m not trying to crap on his teammates, but it really looked like the rest of the rush linebackers were being coached differently than Basham. And not in a good way.
Maybe that was because Basham was coached up in Indianapolis for a year and a half before joining the Jets in the middle of last season. I’m not sure.
However, what I saw on film made me wonder why Basham wasn’t on the field more at the end of last season.
That’s especially the case on passing downs. If the Jets wanted to put pressure on the quarterback from the edge, Basham not being in the game in favor of some of those other cats just didn’t make a lot of sense to me.
The Jets haven’t had a double-digit sack guy since Muhammad Wilkerson put up 12 in 2015. The last time they had a rush linebacker with double-digit sacks was way back in 2013 with Calvin Pace. That also happens to be the last time they had a rush linebacker with more than seven sacks.
If the Jets want an edge rusher who can really get after the passer, I think Basham can be that guy for them at long last.
Of course, now there is a new regime in town. The Jets fired Todd Bowles and his staff after they went 4-12 last season. Adam Gase is the new head coach, and he has brought Gregg Williams along with him as his defensive coordinator.
This is interesting for a variety of reasons, but at the very least it means there’s a chance that Basham will get a fresh start and a legit opportunity to prove what he can do going forward. It’s worth noting that in the first preseason game against the Giants, he showed a lot of good things as a pass rusher, including running slap over their left tackle on one of his power rushes.
The Jets did invest a third-round pick in Jachai Polite in April, so I think it’s safe to assume that they will be trying to find ways to get him on the field as soon as possible. But I would think that considering the lack of winning lately, none of the holdovers from last year can expect to keep their job just because they were starters before.
With that in mind, I really believe that Basham will have the opportunity not only to increase his playing time, but to become a big part of what they do on passing downs.
It still remains to be seen just how much he will be on the field this season, but Tarell Basham has already shown that he knows how to get after the quarterback, even with limited opportunities. The more he is on the field, the more I expect him to keep showing up.
The Jets have not had a strong pass rush from the edge in quite some time. I not only expect him to break out this season, but I also expect that by the end of the year Basham will be someone opposing offenses will have to account for on third-and-long.
He just has to get on the field.
Confidence level: Moderate