NFL players come in all shapes and sizes. They also can vary in skill sets, making the game of football so unique. How teams blend different skill sets can make or break a football team.
Recently, ESPN NFL writer Matt Bowen took a look at 101 players in the league and picked out the best players in a variety of traits — accuracy, pass rush, even blocking kicks. The Jets landed six players on this list and we’ll go through each player and how Bowen views them and their best trait.
DE Bryce Huff: Quickest first step
Bryce Huff currently leads the Jets with eight sacks. His quickness off the snap has been a key reason he gets into the backfield quite often. As a result, Bowen touted Huff as the player with the quickest first step in the league.
Huff gets off the ball in a blink, using that first-step quickness to challenge the edge of offensive tackles. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, his 0.75-second average get-off speed ranks fifth among players with at least 200 pass rushes this season. With eight sacks and 30 pressures, Huff will get paid on the free agent market after the season.
DT Quinnen Williams: Best run-stopper
Quinnen Williams earned his big payday this offseason with 12 sacks in 2022. But it’s his ability to stuff the run at an elite level that truly makes him a standout defensive lineman. Bowen agrees as he touts the Jets’ defensive heart and soul as the NFL’s best run-stopper.
Williams has the juice off the ball to create instant disruption, and he can press blockers to work laterally and pursue across the front. Williams has 54 tackles and eight tackles for loss on the season.
LB Quincy Williams: Fastest closing speed to ball carrier
You can make the argument no player in the entire league, let alone on the Jets, made a bigger improvement from last season to this than linebacker Quincy Williams. His ability to move sideline-to-sideline and be effective in both and run and pass game has been outstanding in 2023.
Watch Williams’ tape, and you’ll see him running clean lines from the second level — he’s an absolute missile to the ball with no hesitation. It’s all track it and go, and Williams has 116 tackles.
LB C.J. Mosley: Best tackler
At 31 years old, C.J. Mosley is still among the class of the league in tackling. He leads the Jets with 131 tackles and ranks 8th in the entire league — Quincy Williams isn’t far behind: his 116 tackles rank 13th in the NFL.
I really like stack linebackers who can drop the hammer on contact while also wrapping up and driving their legs to secure the tackle. That’s Mosley, a veteran who does it right. His 131 tackles rank eighth in the league.
CB Sauce Gardner: Best press coverage
In just two seasons — really in just his first season — Sauce Gardner has established himself as an elite shutdown corner in the NFL. Quarterbacks hardly throw in his direction because he’s constantly taking away one of his options. Not bad for a player that didn’t go to a Power 5 school.
With his long 6-foot-3 frame, Gardner is physical and tactical on the punch, and he has the footwork to slide and cut off the release. His seven pass breakups are tied for 20th in the NFL, but he led the league in that category as a rookie last season with 14.
S Jordan Whitehead: Best top-down impact
Some may argue this, but Bowen loves Whitehead’s ability to come down and attack the run and be able to work well deep in coverage. Whitehead leads the team with four interceptions, is second with nine passes defended and third in tackles with 85.
In the Jets’ defined split-safety coverage schemes, Whitehead explodes downhill to fill the alley in run support, and he can make plays on the ball as a top-down defender against the pass game.
