The Jets built a ton of momentum going into their bye week following their 20-14 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. At 3-3, the Jets are right in the wild-card mix with plenty of time remaining.
Did that momentum mean strong grades at Pro Football Focus for some of the Jets? Are some players still working their way up? Here’s a look at the five best and worst PFF grades for the Jets at the bye week.
*Players must have played in at least 25 percent of their unit’s snaps to qualify.
Best of the offense
WR Garrett Wilson: 78.9
TE Jeremy Ruckert: 72.6
OT Alijah Vera-Tucker: 71.7
TE C.J. Uzomah: 71.3
RB Breece Hall: 70.8
It should come as no surprise that Garrett Wilson sits with the best PFF grade on offense. The man just knows how the make plays. The gap he has between himself and the next-best player in Jeremy Ruckert also shows how important he has been to this offense. Similar story for Hall. It just took him a bit to get going because the Jets took a few weeks to take the training wheels off.
Speaking of Ruckert, it may soon be time for him to take over as the No. 2 tight end, ahead of C.J. Uzomah. Uzomah may have a strong run-blocking grade (82.2), but he is grading poorly in pass-blocking (42.6) while Ruckert has a solid 67.1. Ruckert has earned his opportunity to be more involved in the offense coming out of the bye.
Seeing Vera-Tucker on here is certainly a little bittersweet since he is done for the season with an Achilles injury. Needless to say, his replacement, Max Mitchell (61.5 overall), hasn’t exactly performed up to Vera-Tucker’s standards.
Worst of the offense
WR Randall Cobb: 46.5
RB Michael Carter: 47.9
OT Duane Brown: 51.8
C Connor McGovern: 54.7
OT Mekhi Becton: 56.1
Fans have argued for weeks now that there is no reason Cobb should be running as the No. 3 wide receiver. With Mecole Hardman being traded back to Kansas City, unless the Jets start getting Xavier Gipson more involved, Cobb will remain the WR3 almost by default for the time being. It’s never too late to change that.
Michael Carter has played just enough snaps to qualify here. We saw his apparent riff with running backs coach Taylor Embree as Carter may also be frustrated with his playing time but hasn’t fully shown it. He’s not only taken a backseat to Breece Hall, but also to Dalvin Cook. That said, the Jets could easily trade Cook and make Carter the No. 2 again while also giving work to Izzy Abanikanda.
The offensive line struggled at the beginning of the season while Duane Brown was in the lineup, so these numbers could be a bit skewed from that. Ever since Becton moved to the left side, the offensive line was playing better. That was until Alijah Vera-Tucker went down with an Achilles injury and now there are questions again at right tackle with Max Mitchell. The left side has been better with Becton and guard Laken Tomlinson.
Best of the defense
DT Quinnen Williams: 87.5
LB C.J. Mosley: 87.1
LB Quincy Williams: 84.3
DE Bryce Huff: 80.2
CB D.J. Reed: 74.0
The heart of the defense has been the middle triangle of Quinnen Williams, C.J. Mosley and Quincy Williams. Quincy Williams, in particular, has quickly been growing into a star. Between his tackling ability and his improved coverage skills, Quincy Williams has not only been one of the most-improved players on the Jets, but also throughout the entire league.
Bryce Huff deserves to be paid. There are articles all over pounding the table for that and they are all absolutely correct. When Huff is on the field, opposing quarterbacks need an extra pep in their step or No. 47 is going to find them very quickly. His snaps are very limited, so people don’t realize how good Huff actually is. Some day they will.
The cornerbacks have been just fine once again. Reed is here in the top five and Sauce Gardner is right behind him with a 76.0 grade. Both have been very good in coverage yet again, including Sauce with a grade of 80.9.
Worst of the defense
DT Solomon Thomas: 41.6
S Tony Adams: 52.9
DT Al Woods: 55.7
DT Quinton Jefferson: 56.0
CB Michael Carter II: 58.5
It feels quite odd that Adams and Carter are among the bottom here. Of course, with how good the defense has been again this season, someone had to be on the bottom. But interestingly enough, Adams is ranked 73rd out of 84 qualifying safeties. It doesn’t seem like Adams has been a bottom-ten safety, but that’s at least how PFF currently views him.
Quinnen Williams has the best grade on the defense for the Jets. But PFF does not like the rest of the group on the inside. The remaining three interior defensive linemen all rank among the bottom five (again, this is among those that have played at least 25% of the snaps). Of course, Jefferson also leads the Jets with three sacks. Take that how you will.
