Jeff Ulbrich had surprisingly lofty praise for one New York Jets offseason addition
Everyone surrounding the New York Jets was surprised when the team signed Javon Kinlaw to a $7.25 million deal.
Everyone, apparently, except defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.
Speaking on the official Jets podcast with Eric Allen, Ulbrich raved about Kinlaw.
“To bring a guy in like Javon Kinlaw, a big, explosive, violent athlete that in my opinion has not played his best football yet,” he asserted. “The NFL does not know who this man can be, and he’s about to show the entire world exactly who he is. In my opinion, that’s a top D-tackle in this league.”
Ulbrich added that he liked Kinlaw coming out of college to the point that Kinlaw was going to be Atlanta’s pick before the 49ers jumped them. Atlanta had the No. 16 overall pick, but the 49ers took Kinlaw at No. 14.
The defensive coordinator stated that injury and lack of opportunity conspired to keep Kinlaw from reaching his potential. He believes Kinlaw will have health and opportunity in New York. He also thinks Kinlaw’s NFL experience and time in the same system will help him.
“Look, I don’t want to say too much because I want him to really demonstrate it with his actions,” Ulbrich said. He continued that Kinlaw embodies the strain, effort, violence, and toughness the Jets look for.
Interestingly, Ulbrich commented that playing multiple different techniques along the defensive line may have prevented Kinlaw from showing his capabilities all the time. “This front that we have is made for guys like him that just go and go hard,” he said.
Is Ulbrich right?
We at Jets X-Factor have been notoriously critical of signing Kinlaw for that money. While his production in San Francisco was enough to earn him a $3-4 million deal and a backup role, the Jets paid him as a clear-cut starter. Kinlaw’s 9.6% pressure rate in 2023 ranked 33rd out of 91 qualified interior defensive linemen (min. 225 pass rush snaps). His 31.3 Pro Football Focus run defense grade ranked 99th out of 103 qualifiers (min. 150 run defense snaps).
There’s little on film to justify Ulbrich’s hype of Kinlaw. He arguably performed somewhat worse than Solomon Thomas did in 2023.
Furthermore, the argument that the Jets can develop defensive linemen is somewhat flawed. Outside of Quinnen Williams, who reached his potential under Robert Saleh and Ulbrich, the Jets really haven’t gotten anything more out of their defensive tackles than would be expected otherwise.
Sheldon Rankins’ 2021 play was far worse than it had been with the Saints. His 2022 performance was pretty much at his career norms. Quinton Jefferson produced pressure at a high level before he joined the Jets (11.7% pressure rate in 2022, 10.1% in 2021), so his 12.1% rate in 2023 wasn’t too much better.
Solomon Thomas’ two-year pressure rate with the Jets (6.7%) is nearly identical to his three full seasons in San Francisco (7%). Even his 2023 pressure rate (7.6%) was almost the same as it was with the Raiders in 2021 (7.9%). Contrary to a popular Jets narrative, Thomas is who he’s always been. Al Woods was also the same as always: good run stuffer, zero as a pass rusher.
Perhaps the only exception is Nathan Shepherd. From 2020-22, Shepherd’s pressure rates rose from 5.2% to 7.8% to 8.2%, close to the average for defensive tackles. While that’s not overly impressive for a former third-round pick, it is notable coming from a player whose college ball came at Simon Fraser and Fort Hays universities. The Jets managed to turn Shepherd into a sixth-round compensatory pick.
In general, the Jets’ development of defensive players at other positions means they deserve the benefit of the doubt. Quincy Williams’ 2023 breakout was the most notable of the improvements. Jermaine Johnson’s jump from 2022 to 2023 was another credit to Saleh and Ulbrich.
To different extents, John Franklin-Myers, Bryce Huff, Sauce Gardner, Quinnen Williams, and Michael Carter II are also feathers in their caps. Even Jamien Sherwood has developed into a nice role player, and the Jets got the most out of Ashtyn Davis in 2023.
The last time Ulbrich was this excited about a player was Quincy Williams, and look how that turned out. Kinlaw has a similar level of athleticism that pops off the film. His biggest issue is technique, but maybe Ulbrich thinks he can clean that up. He certainly did with the Williams brothers.
Additionally, the comment Ulbrich made about Kinlaw playing too many different techniques stands out. It seems that his primary role will be to play 2i-technique (over the guard’s inside shoulder) at left defensive tackle next to Quinnen Williams’ three-technique (over the guard’s outside shoulder) at right defensive tackle.
On film, it appeared that Kinlaw played a lot of 2i-technique, which would contradict Ulbrich’s point somewhat. Still, it could be that moving to 1-technique or 3-technique, even to whatever extent he did, hurt him. Kinlaw’s draft profile did mention that he was better off playing at 2i than going against guards from outside.
Hearing Ulbrich go on and on about Kinlaw could spur hope for a leap from the former first-round pick. For a defense smarting from the loss of Quinton Jefferson, that could make a tremendous difference.
