Most, if not all NFL writers and analysts have cast their ballots for the Most Valuable Player of the 2023 NFL season. Ballots now can include five players instead of the single vote voters has previously been allowed.
ESPN’s Seth Walder recently decided to go all out and experiment with rolling out a list of 100 players. In that list, five members of the New York Jets had their name appear on the list. Let’s take a look at those five players.
26. CB Sauce Gardner
Gardner excelled at preventing targets — his 13% target rate was third best among outside corners — and he ranked second to Johnson in yards per coverage snap allowed (0.8), per NFL Next Gen Stats.
While we don’t have individual open scores for defensive backs, we have team-level open scores, and the Jets ranked first by far (81) in the category. It’s a reflection of the rest of their secondary, too, but that number is another sign that Gardner is a stellar player.
45. WR Garrett Wilson
After sharing my initial list with a few trusted sources and colleagues to get feedback, multiple NFL team staffers independently noted I was severely underrating Wilson and that he had been one of the best wide receivers in the league. It’s just that his play was shrouded by the misery that was the Jets’ offense.
When I looked closer, we had quantitative evidence to back up what they were seeing, too. Wilson ranked sixth in open score (83), the most important of the three receiver tracking metrics. If a receiver does his job and gets open, that’s value — even if Zach Wilson or Tim Boyle don’t throw him the ball.
63. DT Quinnen Williams
76. LB Quincy Williams
81. RB Breece Hall
Despite playing in a nonfunctional offense, Hall managed to finish second among running backs in total yards (rushing plus receiving) with 1,585. He also recorded 146 rush yards over expectation, per NFL Next Gen Stats, more than backs who might have been considered here, such as Raheem Mostert, James Cook, Kyren Williams, Isiah Pacheco or Derrick Henry.
