The New York Jets desperately need a win against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. To pull it off, the Jets need one of their biggest stars to return to his typical form: Quinnen Williams.
With all of the turmoil along their defensive line, the Jets have needed their longest-tenured homegrown player to elevate the unit. Instead, he has been one of the Jets’ most disappointing players through five weeks.
Visit our New York Jets Analytics page to learn the advanced football numbers.
This is not the Quinnen Williams we know
Statistically, this is Williams’s worst season since his rookie year, if not ever.
From 2022-23, Williams had a pressure rate of 13.7%. In 2024, that number has dropped to 8.0%, ranked 41st among 79 defensive tackles with at least 125 defensive snaps. That’s also last among all Jets defensive linemen who qualify, trailing Solomon Thomas (8.6%), Javon Kinlaw (9.9%), Micheal Clemons (10.9%), and Will McDonald (17.1%).
In the box score, Williams has one sack, one tackle for a loss, and eight tackles in 5 games. Williams once had eight tackles in a single game, while he’s had seven multi-sack games and eight games with multiple tackles for loss. To see those numbers through five games is a shock.
Even on film, he’s not dominating in the ways we expect. In the past, he would wreck games and will the Jets to victory. This year, every metric puts him around average. This begs the question: Why is he struggling?
What’s causing the slump?
Williams isn’t alone in his early season struggles. The entire defensive line is struggling against the run. Meanwhile, the pass rush is being elevated by elite coverage.
It’s not all Williams’s fault. The talent around him is arguably the worst it’s been in his career. As a result, the Jets are asking him to do more, including playing at different spots on the defensive line.
Williams is playing 13.2% of his snaps aligned as a nose tackle, the 22nd-highest mark among qualified defensive tackles. This is his highest rate since 2020 and double the rate he saw in 2023 (6.6%). He’s also playing on the edge more. Williams has aligned outside the tackle on 5.3% of snaps in 2024 compared to 3.1% in 2023. In total, that’s an additional 8.8% of his snaps coming out of position.
The change in usage isn’t a huge surprise. The Jets need Williams to anchor a poor run defense, while playing at the edge could give him more one-on-one opportunities and confuse the defense.
While this was a reasonable idea, it has not worked as planned. Reverting Williams to his standard play style could provide a spark. The benefit of moving him around is muted if he’s less effective from these alignments.
Another possible explanation being offered for Williams’s struggles is that he is being double-teamed more often. However, this is not the case, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Williams has been doubled on 41.9% of his pass-rush snaps in 2024, which ranks 29th out of 78 defensive tackles. This is actually lower than his 2023 rate of 46.7%, which ranked 12th out of 75.
The problem is not how often Williams is being doubled, but how he is handling those double teams. Last year, Williams led defensive tackles with 25 pressures when doubled, while his 12.3% pressure rate when doubled was third-best. This year, Williams is tied for 19th with only three pressures when doubled, while his 5.8% pressure rate when doubled ranks 27th and is less than half of his rate in 2023.
Buffalo’s interior offensive line is ripe to break his slump
The Bills’ offensive line is one of the best in the NFL, ranking fifth-best in PFF’s Week 6 rankings. This is led by their tackle duo of Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown.
However, their interior is a bit more vulnerable. Second-year right guard O’Cyrus Torrence is allowing pressure on 5.45% of his pass-blocking snaps, 51st among 69 guards with 125+ snaps. His 47.4 PFF run-blocking grade is the second-lowest among guards as well.
Next to him is center Connor McGovern (not the one that played for the Jets). McGovern has allowed pressure on 5.73% of snaps, 29th among 33 centers with 125+ snaps. While he currently has the fourth-highest run-blocking grade, he has struggled in this area in the past.
However, none of the Bills’ interior offensive linemen have allowed a sack this season. Thankfully, Williams has a knack for taking down Josh Allen. He has sacked Allen four times in their last four matchups.
Over the past few years, the only true constant for Jets fans has been Quinnen Williams. Since being drafted third overall in 2019, he instantly became a fan favorite. In the years since, he has only endeared himself further through his elite play. His disappointing start encapsulates the Jets’ season so far. Talent and history mean nothing. It’s time for him and the rest of the team to snap into shape. It’s only Week 6, but it feels like now or never in New York.
