Verlon Biggs: The Jets first sack leader
by Jason Pauley
As I continue to nerd out on this new treasure trove of sack data from 1960–1981, I came across a name that I’m surprised I never heard of…Verlon Biggs. Biggs, a 3rd round draft pick out of Jackson State, was a major contributor to the Jets almost immediately with 8.0 sacks in his 1965 rookie season. At that time, it was 2.5 sacks shy of the rookie record in the small 6-year window of 1960–1965.
Over the next 4 seasons, he would have an AFL-leading 12.5 sacks in his second season, followed by 15.0, 10.5, and 10.0. For his first 5 seasons in the league, he would have 56.0 sacks. At the time, that would have been the third most sacks for a player’s first 5 seasons behind Deacon Jones (68.5) and George Andrie (56.5). It’s still the 18th most today for seasons 1–5.
A total of four Jets would lead the NFL in sacks for at least one season. Biggs was the first Jet to lead the league in sacks (1966), followed by Gerry Philbin in 1968 (14.0), Joe Klecko in 1981 (20.5), Mark Gastineau in 1983 and 1984 (19.0 and 22.0).
The 5-year run was capped by two huge plays in the playoffs per the NY Times:
Biggs had two of his biggest plays in the 1968 post-season. First, he sacked Oakland’s quarterback, Daryle Lamonica, on fourth and 10 late in the A.F.L. championship game, which the Jets won, 27–23. Then, on the first play from scrimmage in the second half of Super Bowl III, he forced a fumble that set up a field goal and a 10–0 lead in the Jets’ famous 16–7 upset of the Baltimore Colts.
Then in 1970 with the Jets, even though he started in 13 of their 14 games, he only recorded 2.5 sacks. He was then traded to Washington where he would have continued to start nearly every game, and except for one phenomenal season (15 sacks in 1973), his production was never the same. From 1971 to 1974 he had 5.0, 8.0, 15.0, and 4.0 sacks.
His drop-off in sacks is particularly odd given that injuries don’t seem to be the issue and he wasn’t relatively old. From 1970–1974, he started in 68 of his team’s 70 games and averaged 0.51 sacks per game. From 1965–1969, he averaged 0.84.
He owns two of the top ten sack seasons for the Jets.
He is 5th in all-time sacks for the Jets, but his sack rate per game of 0.73 for his time with the Jets is much higher than everyone ahead of him except for Mark Gastineau.
At the time his career ended in 1974, he was 9th all-time in sacks. He is currently 83rd all-time.
