How did McDonald, Clemons, and Jets DL play vs. Washington?

One of the New York Jets’ more interesting camp battles is along their defensive line. With Haason Reddick out, several edge rushers are getting more reps than they would normally be. Additionally, since the Jets generally carry 9 or 10 defensive linemen, at least one or two spots are up for grabs.

Among those fighting for roster spots, Leonard Taylor III, Eric Watts, Braiden McGregor, and Takk McKinley played in the first preseason game. Will McDonald, Micheal Clemons, and Leki Fotu also got a few reps. Tanzel Smart, Bruce Hector, and Jalyn Holmes saw time on the Jets last season, but they’re not realistic candidates to make the 53-man roster, so I won’t include them.

Who stood out?

Mixed bag for McDonald

Will McDonald saw 12 defensive snaps, seven on run defense and five as a pass rusher. His 52.5 Pro Football Focus run defense grade in the game matched his performance: he needs some work. Understandably, Micheal Clemons has been taking the first-team reps in the Jets’ base defense.

McDonald wears No. 99 and lines up as an edge rusher.

McDonald was knocked down by the tight end kicking out on the backside of a split-zone play. No. 87’s blocking technique wasn’t even that good, as he ducked his helmet. McDonald simply did not get low enough to absorb the contact well with his shoulder, allowing No. 87 to get into his chest and maul him to the ground.

On his next run play, McDonald was down blocked by a receiver and seemed unprepared for it. Seeing the wide receivers lined up in a bunch set with an H-back should have cued McDonald that a receiver block could be coming his way. Seeing the tackle pull should have been his instant sign after the snap that the receiver might try to pin him inside. His lack of awareness gave Washington easy numbers on the toss, resulting in a five-yard gain on first down.

Three of McDonald’s pass rush reps were on quick throws, so there were only two true reps. On the first one, he allowed the tackle to get an arm into his chest and took too long to defeat it. He generally tries a rip, but he needs to improve at gaining first contact and controlling the blocker’s chest.

McDonald’s one highlight of the day was negated due to a roughing-the-passer penalty. He took a hard outside rush, chopped down on the tackle’s elbow/biceps to defeat the arm, and used his trademark spin move with an ice pick to keep himself clear. He then laid a massive shot on quarterback Jeff Driskel. Unfortunately, he allowed his full body weight to fall forward on Driskel, which will draw a flag every time.

McDonald said after the game that he didn’t agree with the call, but Jermaine Johnson talked to him about it after the play. (Incidentally, Johnson has never been called for roughing the passer in his two-year career.)

#Jets pass rusher Jermaine Johnson is coaching up Will McDonald on the sideline. Love to see it.

Explaining to him that he needs to put his arms out, spread weight, so he isn't leaning into the QB. McDonald was flagged for roughing the passer.#JetUp

— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) August 10, 2024

Overall, it was a mixed bag from McDonald. It would have been nice to see more pass rush reps, but he did not make his case to play in the Jets’ base defense.

Clemons is… Clemons

Jets fans hoping for a rebound from Micheal Clemons this season probably don’t know what to expect any more than they did before the game. He played 18 defensive snaps.

Clemons wears No. 72 and plays on the edge.

Clemons was most noticeable on a pair of run plays where he bit hard on the zone-read and allowed the quarterback to get around the edge easily, including on Jayden Daniels’ three-yard touchdown run. It doesn’t appear the Jets were running an exchange, which means he was responsible for the edge. He needs to split the difference on those reps.

He also blew up the tight end on one of the prior plays, pushing him straight into the running back for a loss. This is what Clemons did his whole rookie year.

Clemons beat the center on a stunt (poorly picked up, but still) and laid a crushing hit on the quarterback. He got his hands into the center’s chest to control him and get to the passer.

Not the cleanest of wins here, as Clemons attempted to chop down on the tackle’s arm but fell over and was caught by the arm. However, it looks like if a quick pass hadn’t been called here, Clemons would have been in position for a pressure. (The blocking might have been different, but it doesn’t look like it.)

Clemons clearly penetrated against the tight end, and it looks like he was held.

Clemons performed brilliantly in the preseason as a rookie, then went on to have a solid but unspectacular rookie season. Last year, after bulking up to 286 pounds, he was invisible in the preseason and during the regular season. It’s hard to say that his stock is up after this game because of the bad run defense reps, which is the area he’s supposed to excel in.

Still, if Clemons can get anywhere close to his rookie-year production in both phases, he’ll be a solid fourth defensive end. That’s all you can ask for from a former 25-year-old fourth-round pick.

Taylor flashes talent

Initially named the undrafted free agent most likely to make the Jets’ roster, Leonard Taylor III seemed invisible for most of training camp. There was finally a peep from him during the joint practice with Washington. Still, this preseason game was pivotal for him to make some noise.

Taylor played 35 snaps, totaling 17 as a pass rusher, 17 as a run defender, and one in coverage. He had a few big plays that showed up on the live broadcast, but it’s interesting to see how his performance was beyond the highlight reel.

Taylor wears No. 96 and lines up at defensive tackle.

Taylor actually made a nice play here to string out the run, shed the blocker, and get in position to bring down the ball carrier. The problem? He missed the tackle, allowing the running back to gain an extra five or six yards. Tackling has been a persistent issue for the Jets at all levels of their defense, so it’s not great to see it from a defensive tackle.

Once again, Taylor made a nice play in the run game but couldn’t finish. He got his hands in the blocker’s chest, gripped, and lifted him before crossing his face and shedding him completely. But then, when trying for the arm tackle, he got turned around and whiffed. Luckily, this time other defenders were there to clean up, but the ball carrier still gained an extra two or three yards.

This is exactly what the Jets ask their defensive linemen to do: penetrate quickly upfield with the speed to blow up run plays in the backfield. Taylor got lucky the pulling center ran into his own man, but it may not have made any difference because of how quickly he penetrated.

Taylor stood his ground against a double-team, anchoring down and maintaining leverage against the right tackle. The whole defense did a good job here.

Taylor did intially get pinned inside by the combo block from the tackle, but he did a really nice job crossing the face of the guard and keeping the hole muddy. Even though Taylor didn’t get in on the tackle, that was a tough gap for the running back to squeeze through.

The center had a hard time gaining any serious movement on Taylor on this play. He reduced his weight to make it harder for the center to gain traction, then anchored down and mostly stood his ground. Any movement that came later was from Taylor trying to break the double-team to get in on the tackle.

Although Taylor initially gave up some movement on the combo block from the tackle, he anchored down and jerked the guard into both gaps, forcing the running back to cut back. He didn’t quite shed for the tackle, but not a bad run play against a combo block after initially losing.

Taylor also had a couple of pretty bad run plays. The first one was a near-touchdown where he was immediately pinned to the ground. The second was one where he did not expect the combo block coming from the tackle and therefore did not gain the leverage necessary to stand his ground.

PFF graded Taylor’s run defense at 38.2. I do not know what they were looking at. Sure, there were some bad plays, including the missed tackles and the two above. But on a play-by-play basis, Taylor’s film in this game was better than watching Javon Kinlaw, Solomon Thomas, or Leki Fotu from last year.

I know that’s a bold statement to make about a UDFA playing against third-stringers in the preseason. Ignoring the difference in competition, though, Taylor’s pure performance warrants that positive comparison. Maybe I’m grading on a curve due to low expectations, but that’s what it looked like to me.

As a pass rusher, Taylor also showed some intriguing potential.

Taylor swiped away the guard’s passive hands and beat him almost cleanly, then used his long reach (33⅞ inches, 73rd percentile among interior defensive linemen) to slam the quarterback down with one arm.

Even though this was a screen, Taylor beat the guard who was clearly supposed to stay in to block him. It’s not as if the right guard was meant to leak out. Taylor crossed his face while swiping and penetrated into the backfield quite quickly.

This looks like a nice pass rush win from Taylor even though he didn’t affect the quarterback. As before, he swiped away the guard’s hands before they could cleanly hit his chest (although they did land slightly). He then used a rip, nearly clearing himself to come around for a pressure.

PFF credited Taylor with a 13.3% pass rush win rate. While that’s a tiny sample size on 17 snaps, I saw several nice wins where the ball was released quickly or he affected the pocket. For reference, a 13.3% pass rush win rate ranked 14th out of 77 qualified interior defensive linemen last season (min. 250 pass rush snaps). Extrapolating from such a tiny sample size in the preseason means nothing, but Taylor showed something to build on.

The Jets kept Taylor largely away from the zero or one-technique that plagued him in college. He played mainly at 2i or three-technique, which is where they play most of their defensive tackles aside from Leki Fotu, anyway. At 6-foot-3 and 302 pounds, Taylor’s listed size is identical to Quinnen Williams’ (6-foot-3, 302 pounds), making him more suited to line up against guards rather than head-up over the center.

In this game, you can see the vision the Jets had when they brought him in as a UDFA. Could he end up going the way of the RAS king Jonathan Marshall? Perhaps (although his RAS was a more pedestrian 7.33). But Taylor has a few more weeks to make his case for the roster while functioning in his proper role.

McKinley moves up

The fiercest competition along the defensive line might be between Takk McKinley, Eric Watts, and Braiden McGregor for the fifth edge rusher spot. Two of them could potentially make the team. In 2023, the Jets began the season with 10 defensive linemen on the active roster: six EDGEs and four interior linemen. In 2022, they had 11, with six EDGEs and five IDL.

Theoretically, that means two edge rushers and Taylor could all make the roster if the Jets want to go heavy on defense. (That seems unlikely with Jarrick Bernard-Converse pushing to be the sixth cornerback, but it’s possible.)

McKinley played half the number of snaps (17) of Watts (34) and McGregor (35), but he also played far later in the game, a bad sign for him. McKinley made the most noise in training camp before getting injured, but Watts has consistently flashed. Part of the battle might be whether the Jets are looking for a prototypical edge-setter (Watts or McGregor) or more of a pass rusher (McKinley).

Pro Football Focus charted McKinley with a 44.4% pass rush win rate and two pressures on nine pass rush reps. Two of those reps were a quarterback spike and a quick screen to the running back. He also looked more than capable in the run game. All in all, this was a win for the veteran, which he’ll take whenever his opportunities arise.

McKinley wears No. 93 and lines up at edge rusher.

Clemons might want to take a lesson or two from this rep. Rather than biting hard inside, McKinley recognized the zone read and stayed home, forcing the quarterback to hand it off. Since he was unblocked, he still had time to chase down the play from behind.

Speaking of Clemons, McKinley showed the ability to do nearly the same thing at over 20 pounds lighter. He may not have dominated the tight end the way Clemons can, but he took open chest and pushed him right back into the run play, just missing the tackle.

This wasn’t a pass rush win, but I like how McKinley spun off the block from the tight end to get into the backfield. Sure, the ball was out quickly, but that’s a way to potentially ruin a play-action bootleg.

McKinley likely could use lower leverage into this bull rush for maximum power, but it had the desired effect. Coming in from the wide-9, he got a full head of steam before winning the tackle’s chest and bulling him straight backward into the quarterback’s lap. Sure, it’s against a third-string tackle, but McKinley should teach McDonald a thing or two.

McKinley actually beat two blockers here for the pressure: first the tackle and then the running back together. His best asset coming out of college was his 4.59 speed (93rd percentile among EDGEs). That was certainly on display, but it also shows his underlying power. He didn’t do anything much with his hands, just straight-up muscled his way toward the quarterback.

McKinley might have been a hair early off the snap, but if it wasn’t called, it didn’t happen. He flew around the edge past the tackle and got a hit on the quarterback. (Ignore Jeff Driskel’s mom shouting about throwing the flag. That’s why we try to avoid the broadcast angle.)

Watts and McGregor miss opportunity

One way for a UDFA to sneak their way onto a roster is to stand out in the preseason. It’s surely not the only measurement a team uses, but even if their current team doesn’t have space, other teams look at the preseason as a barometer for players they might be interested in picking up off waivers. After all, they don’t see the training camp practices.

Eric Watts and Braiden McGregor had a chance to stand out in the game, particularly as run defenders. It’s not that they looked bad, but there were just other players who stood out more. Taylor and McKinley popped off the screen far more. Watts and McGregor made some good plays (I noted them in the titles of the previous videos), but they just didn’t stand out. Their college film indicates that neither player has many pass rush moves, and it showed up against the Commanders, too.

Watts wears No. 58 and McGregor No. 91; they line up at edge rusher. Check out the videos above for some of their plays.

Fotu… I guess?

*Snores.* That’s about how much you notice Leki Fotu. In all seriousness, he showed nothing as a pass rusher and made a play or two in the run game.

Conclusion

I think Leonard Taylor and Takk McKinley made legitimate cases to make the Jets’ 53-man roster. Perhaps I’m biased because that’s what I expected to see coming into the preseason. I think their talent significantly exceeds that of any of the other players behind them, and it showed against the Commanders.

Will McDonald needs plenty of work in the run game. Micheal Clemons needs better awareness in the run game to couple with his strength. Eric Watts, Braiden McGregor, and Leki Fotu didn’t particularly stand out.

I think the Jets should try to give McDonald more work in the next two preseason games. It’s possible they’re hesitant because of Reddick’s holdout given that their depth is already somewhat compromised. Still, McDonald needs as many live reps as possible. The Jets might not want to play him in their base defense in practice, but he should get more reps there in the preseason if only to help him gain some play recognition. Cut down on Jalyn Holmes’ snaps at EDGE (25) and give them to players who need the reps.

More than any others, this battle could shape the rest of the Jets’ 53-man roster.