The folks at ESPN have been gradually revealing the results of a survey that polled over 70 NFL executives, coaches, and scouts to rank the league’s best players at each position.
According to the survey, the New York Jets’ Quinnen Williams was ranked as the NFL’s fifth-best defensive tackle, while Breece Hall was listed as an honorable mention just outside of the league’s top 10 running backs. However, the Jets did not get any positive news in the following three positional lists unveiled by ESPN.
In the articles revealing the survey results for edge rushers, safeties, and tight ends, no Jets players were named a top-10 selection or an honorable mention. In fact, no Jet even received a single vote.
It is unsurprising to see the Jets excluded from these lists. Their best shot at earning any votes was at edge rusher. While they surely do not have any top-10-caliber edge rushers on their roster, Will McDonald and Jermaine Johnson have shown enough flashes to potentially convince at least one voter to buy into their upside. That did not turn out to be the case.
McDonald is coming off a breakout sophomore season in which he posted 10.5 sacks, 24 quarterback hits, three pass deflections, and two forced fumbles. A former top-15 pick, McDonald has a high pass-rush ceiling entering his third year, but his woeful run defense is likely what prevented him from receiving any votes as a top-10 overall edge rusher.
Johnson, a first-round pick in 2022, had a fantastic sophomore season in 2023. He displayed some of the best all-around impact at his position, recording 7.5 sacks, 16 quarterback hits, seven pass deflections, a pick-six, and 55 total tackles. Thriving in both phases, Johnson was on track to establish himself as one of the league’s most well-rounded edge rushers until an Achilles injury ended his third season in Week 2.
With McDonald’s struggles against the run and Johnson’s recovery from an Achilles tear, it makes sense that league insiders are unwilling to label either of them as top-10 edge rushers just yet. However, both players have displayed the upside to enter that conversation, and they hope to prove their doubters wrong in 2025.
As for safety and tight end, the Jets do not have any players who deserve realistic consideration as top-10 performers at their position. Andre Cisco, Tony Adams, and fourth-round rookie Malachi Moore headline a questionable safety unit. Second-round rookie Mason Taylor is projected to start at tight end, overtaking unproven players like Jeremy Ruckert and Stone Smartt.
Clearly, people around the NFL are pessimistic about many facets of the Jets’ roster entering the 2025 season. It is up to Aaron Glenn and the Jets’ staff to prove the skeptics wrong, which they can accomplish by coaching up the supposedly “weak” parts of the roster to outplay their expectations.