If necessity is the mother of invention, or so the saying goes, then Jets rookies S Malachi Moore and CB Azareye’h Thomas have transformed the team’s needs in the defensive backfield into opportunity, potentially over the long term.

Thomas, selected out of Florida State in Round 3 (No. 73 overall), and Moore, the second of the team’s two selections in the Round 4 (No. 130), out of Alabama, have become secondary fixtures in their first pro campaigns. The early returns on the scope of the Jets’ 2025 draft bodes well as the team stockpiles a basketful of selections in the early rounds over the next couple of seasons.

Moore, who led the team with 10 tackles plus a TFL in the win over Atlanta on Sunday, cracked the starting lineup first when S Tony Adams was limited by injuries. The hard-hitting Moore has played more than 97% of the snaps on defense in 7 straight games, which includes 100% in 5 of those games. Moore is second to LB Jamien Sherwood with 60 tackles.

Thomas began the season primarily playing on special teams and had limited defensive reps until the Jets traded @sauce to Indianapolis ahead of the NFL’s trade deadline. Since then, he’s flipped that script. And on Atlanta’s first series of Sunday’s game, Thomas deftly read the third-and-1 play as he took down RB Tyler Allgeier for a 1-yard loss, forcing a punt. Through 11 games, Thomas is tied with four teammates with 6 passes defensed.

Glenn on Monday said he could not be more pleased with the pair of rookies.

“Listen, this is critical for those two guys to get as many reps as they can,” Glenn said. “And I’m talking about true live-game action as being young players we drafted this past year. Every rep they get is valuable as far as their understanding of how this league works, their understanding of how to play collective football within each other and make sure structure and all that is on a high, high level.

“They’re doing a really, really good job. I would tell you that now there’s some things they got to clean up. They make their rookie mistakes, just like most rookies do, but they’re getting a crash course of how this league is and how you have to be on top of your game every week. And listen, the margin for error is very minimal in this league. So the more those guys continue to play, the more they can continue to grow – the better we are going to be as a team in general.”