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Elijah Riley has been a quietly solid addition to New York Jets’ defense

The safety position has been a revolving door for the New York Jets. Due to projected starters Lamarcus Joyner and Marcus Maye finishing their 2021 seasons with a combined seven starts (1 for Joyner, 6 for Maye) prior to season-ending injuries, the Jets have used eight different safeties this year.

Most of those safeties have struggled mightily to refrain from making costly mistakes. New York’s six backup safeties have combined for 12 missed tackles while allowing 535 yards and three touchdowns in coverage.

Opposing quarterbacks are averaging 14.9 yards per target when throwing at a backup Jets safety compared to 8.