New York Jets’ Quincy Williams is seeking to replicate his All-Pro success
Quincy Williams had a monstrous breakout year in 2023 for the New York Jets. He was a joy to watch in a defense that relies a ton on its linebackers.
Williams led all linebackers with 80 defensive stops and was nine clear of the second-place player. Stops are tackles that constitute a failure for the offense, per PFF. To break it down by phase, Williams was first in stops against the run (52) and second in stops against the pass (28).
On top of that, Quincy led linebackers with eight pass breakups in coverage, which was a massive improvement from 2022 when he only had one.
Overall, it was a great season for Quincy. He made a massive number of splash plays in both phases.
However, with his play style, the splash plays will come with big missed tackles as well. It felt like he improved on the missed tackles in 2023, although, statistically, it was only by a small margin. In 2022, his missed tackle rate was 14%, and in 2023, it was 13.2%. I still think Quincy will want to improve on that, as it landed him 64th out of 89 qualifying linebackers.
In the Jets’ defensive scheme, there is a huge emphasis on linebackers being able to cover and tackle, as they are in nickel or dime much of the time. In my opinion, Quincy more than held his own as a tackler and in coverage, no matter what the stats say.
Let’s see how the film looks from 2023.
Quincy Williams’ 2023 film
First up is a play showcasing Quincy’s closing speed on run plays. He was diagnosing things at such a high level from the Jets’ WILL linebacker position. The Jets ask for so much out of him and C.J. Mosley due to playing most of their defensive snaps in nickel (4-2-5). Here, Williams reads the outside zone play to the weak side and does a great job of tracking and not overpursing. He stays on the RB’s inside hip and wraps him up for minimal to no gain. Awesome rep.
Another rep of Quincy showing his high IQ. He recognizes that the Eagles are running a power play to the weak side. He trusts his instincts and shoots the gap to ensure the run doesn’t even get to hit the gap it’s intended to hit, picking up the TFL.
These are just a few of the instinctual plays that showed up all over his film in 2023 but would not show up as often in previous years. He really took a step forward in that area, and it allowed for his game to blossom.
Another elite job of recognizing a play. Quincy sniffs out the screen right away and slightly overpursues, but it allows C.J. to come clean up. The center, who is supposed to be getting out in space to block, is forced to halt his progress and try to stop Quincy from screaming toward the QB/screen, which allows for C.J. to be unblocked and make a big TFL.
Elite job by Quincy here again to ID a screen to his side. He slips under the tackle’s block, which could be trouble, but he is too quick and makes him completely whiff. He then finishes the play for a big TFL. Another rep showing his brains and speed matching each other. He is not just running with his head on fire; he is making smart decisions and using his speed to make splash plays.
This is one of my favorite plays from Quincy’s film. Besides him, the rest of the defense seems to be a little out of sorts. No problem for Quincy. He shoots the gap and makes a huge TFL. This could have been a big play if you look at the push the O-line gets. Another awesome job by Quincy to burst through the attempted block, stay skinny, and wrap up.
I loved Quincy in coverage last year as well. Here, he drops to his hook/curl zone and does a good job of keeping his eyes on the QB. He sees the shallow cross and shows that elite burst of his to get to it, making a huge play to ensure that there is no YAC to be had. Love Saleh getting involved with the celly here as well.
My favorite play for last. This angle does not do a great job showing Quincy the whole way, but his identification on this play is outstanding, man. The Chiefs are running TE leak, but Quincy is not fooled and sees it the whole way. He matches the TE leaking and although Mahomes throws a good ball and Quincy has his back turned to him, there is no panic from Quincy. To make a PBU with your back turned is just such an outrageous play. This is so, so impressive. Quincy constantly played well with his back to the QB in coverage.
Looking forward to the 2024 season, I think Quincy will be able to keep up the level of play from last year. He has developed to the point where he now matches his athleticism with identification, awareness, and technique, making him an all-around star.
Quincy has been one of my favorite players to watch for a while now and I am super excited to see what he has in store for this year. He and Mosley continue to man the linebacker core that is considered one of the best in the league.
