Key advanced metrics for New York Jets defense in 20-3 loss to Miami Dolphins

Quinnen Williams' ascension to stardom highlights the key advanced analytics from a strong performance by the New York Jets defense. It's official: Quinnen Williams is a star Stacking one elite performance after the next, Williams has established himself as one of the most destructive interior defensive linemen in the NFL. After setting a new career-high with seven pressures against the Chargers in Week 11, Williams matched that number with another seven pressures against Miami on Sunday. He added two batted passes, two run stuffs, and a forced fumble in an absolutely dominant all-around performance. Williams is tied for 13th among interior defensive linemen with 29 pressures this season. His pressure rate of 10.3% ranks at the 83rd percentile among qualifiers, while his Pro Football Focus pass-rush grade of 76.6 ranks at the 90th percentile. As a testament to his prowess in the running game, Williams has collected 28 stops (tackles that constitute a failed play by the offense), which leads all IDL. Williams has a combined total of 54 pressures, stops, and pass breakups. That ties him with Cameron Heyward and Chris Jones for fourth-best at the position, trailing only Grady Jarrett (59), Stephon Tuitt (67), and Aaron Donald (76). That's the dictionary definition of "elite company." Note: sacks are counted as both a stop and a pressure. Williams has been a part of six sacks, so his combined total of 60 pressures (29), stops (28), and pass breakups (3) is subtracted by six to prevent sacks from being double-counted. How did Bryce Hall look in his second start? Hall took the fanbase by storm with a shockingly solid starting debut against the duo of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams in Los Angeles. In his encore performance, Hall put some very interesting numbers on his resume. Against Miami, Hall spent much of his time lined up against DeVante Parker, with mixed results. When covering Parker, Hall allowed four catches on six targets for 58 yards (9.7 per target) and four first downs (66.7%), notching one pass breakup. While Parker won the matchup on paper, many of his grabs against Hall were tightly contested, as Joe Blewett and Robby Sabo will certainly delve into throughout this week. Hall seemed up to the task against Miami's elite No. 1 weapon. Hall allowed 1-of-2 passing for seven yards and no first downs on targets against No. 2 wide receiver Mack Hollins. So, in total, Hall yielded 5-of-8 passing for 65 yards and four first downs over 46 coverage snaps. Despite the shaky production, it has to be taken into account how tight Hall was on most of the catches he gave up. His awareness, intelligence, and technique look incredibly refined for a rookie. He is no Pierre Desir, just lining up 15 yards off the line and hoping for the best. No, sir. This kid can cover. Jordan Jenkins is catching fire Jenkins was on the road to putting together another "meh" season, but over the past two games, he has really turned it on. He set a new season-high with five pressures against the Chargers, and this past Sunday against Miami, he tied a career-high with six pressures. Over the past two weeks, Jenkins' total of 11 pressures is tied for third among edge defenders. On the season, Jenkins ranks 39th among edge defenders with 26 pressures. His pressure rate of 10.2% ranks at the 52nd percentile among the 65 edge defenders with at least 200 pass-rush snaps, placing Jenkins on track for another average-level type of season. Jabari Zuniga is still M.I.A. Another week, another line of goose eggs for Zuniga. He recorded no tackles or pressures over 15 snaps. Of those 15 snaps, 13 were against the pass while only two were against the run. While he has played in four games, Zuniga has only played 60 defensive snaps. That's less than one game's worth - for example, the Jets defense took the field for 71 plays against Miami. So, it is still far too early to be seriously concerned about Zuniga's future. You would like to see him do something to inspire some confidence, though. Marcus Maye at free safety is a recipe for success Maye allowed no catches, had two pass breakups, and converted four tackles without a miss. Since moving back to free safety in Week 6, he has the second-highest PFF grade among all safeties (90.6). Tackling has been the biggest area of improvement for Maye since moving back home. He has a ratio of 26 tackles to one missed tackle since Week 6, compared to 28 tackles and seven missed tackles through Week 5. Ashtyn Davis allows third touchdown Davis was beaten by Mike Gesicki for a 13-yard touchdown in the second quarter, stumbling on a corner route out of the slot. It is his third touchdown allowed this season, and the third time in four starts that he allowed a score. On the positive side, that is the only conversion that Davis allowed in the game. He was targeted three other times and gave up just one catch for five yards. Is Harvey Langi actually good? Since taking over as a starting inside linebacker in Week 9, Langi has captured the hearts of the Jets fanbase with his bombastic, wild, hard-hitting style of play (his tremendous hair certainly helps him achieve that persona). I liked Langi's first start of the season, against New England. However, I think he has taken a step back over the past couple of games. Tackling has been an issue. Langi has missed two tackles in each of his past two games, ranking third among linebackers with four missed tackles over the past two weeks. Langi has also struggled in coverage, earning the third-worst PFF coverage grade (40.9) among qualified linebackers over the past two weeks. Against Miami, he yielded a seven-yard touchdown grab to Adam Shaheen and was also victimized by Mike Gesicki for a 22-yard conversion on third down in the first quarter. Gesicki beat Langi to open himself up for another first down catch a few plays later, but he failed to track the ball and could not pull it in. There has been a lot to like from Langi, but I would refrain from saying he has been "good" just yet. When he does look good, he looks really good - a natural result of his aggressive style - but is important to avoid allowing the flashiness of the peak moments to distract from the mistakes. Bryce Huff is at his best in smaller dosages While Huff did not make any noticeable impact plays against Miami, he was inches away from making a few of them. He recorded three pressures on only 10 pass-rush snaps, snapping a cold streak in which he had just one pressure across 52 pass-rush snaps over his previous three games. It was a limited appearance for Huff, who logged only 19 defensive snaps, a 26.8% portion. Both numbers were his lowest since Week 6. Huff has played his best football this season when asked to take on smaller roles. In five games where he was sent after the quarterback fewer than 15 times, Huff has nine pressures on 43 pass-rush snaps, an outstanding rate of 20.9%. In four games where Huff was sent after the quarterback more than 15 times, he has just three pressures over 90 pass-rush snaps, an abysmal rate of 3.3%. For now, it appears that the most effective way to utilize Huff is as a situational pass-rusher who takes the field to pin his ears back on a handful of obvious passing plays per game. He's thriving in that role. If a highly efficient situational edge rusher is what you get out of an undrafted free agent, that is a massive victory. Perhaps with some time, Huff will round out his game enough to where he can be efficient over a larger volume.