New York Jets general manager Darren Mougey has shown a knack for finding value on the margins. It hasn’t shown up in the win column yet, but the Jets’ cumulative talent is among the league’s better half; their lowly record falls on the coaching staff for creating a whole that is less than the sum of the parts.
Another gem of a find may be emerging for Mougey: edge rusher Nate Lynn.
Nate Lynn is carving out a role for the Jets
The Jets signed Lynn on August 18, right in the middle of the preseason. Despite his mid-August availability, Lynn’s track record made him an intriguing pickup.
A 2024 undrafted free agent out of William & Mary, Lynn signed with the Detroit Lions. He was a standout in his rookie summer, which translated to his preseason debut, where he racked up a sack, two quarterback hits, and two hurries (five total pressures) on just 13 pass-rush snaps. Lynn was on track to earn a roster spot until those plans were derailed by a torn ligament in his shoulder, putting him on season-ending injured reserve.
Lynn returned strongly in the 2025 preseason. Across four appearances, he racked up 10 total pressures on just 70 pass-rush snaps, posting at least three pressures in three games. His 90.6 pass-rush grade from Pro Football Focus indicated his dominance over preseason-level competitors, suggesting he was cut out for a 53-man roster spot.
Unfortunately, Lynn was waived by Detroit as part of final roster cuts. He would land on the Tennessee Titans’ practice squad in November, but did not play in any games. After signing a reserve/future contract in January, he was waived in April.
When the Jets picked up Lynn, it was impossible not to be intrigued by his consistent excellence in the preseason. Across five preseason games, he was outstanding nearly every time he took the field, amassing 15 pressures on 83 pass-rush snaps. Then, just days after flying into New Jersey, Lynn replicated that production for the Jets.
Across two preseason games in New York, Lynn collected six more pressures on 31 pass-rush snaps, including three sacks. Through three NFL preseasons, that brought him to 21 total pressures on 114 pass-rush snaps, with five of those being sacks.
It seemed like more than enough for a roster spot, especially for a Jets roster that seemingly had room for a fifth edge rusher. Instead, the Jets kept Braiden McGregor as their EDGE5, but they retained Lynn on the practice squad.
A few months later, Lynn has finally received his first chances to show what he can do in the regular season.
Lynn made his NFL debut in the Jets’ Week 6 loss to the New England Patriots, and he also appeared in each of the following two games, logging 39 total snaps over three appearances. With David Bailey and Joseph Ossai absent against the Raiders this past week, Lynn played a season-high 28 snaps.
The results have been promising so far, although not in the way you’d expect.
It’s a limited sample size, but Lynn has been most impressive as a run defender, earning a 73.2 run-defense grade from Pro Football Focus. The only Jets edge rusher with a better mark this season is Kingsley Enagbare (74.1).
Lynn has yet to record a sack, and he has just one pressure, but he has only played 14 pass-rush snaps, so it’s too small a sample to evaluate him in that phase. In fact, he has rushed the passer on a measly 36% of his defensive snaps. The Jets are using him in a run-stopping role, with 54% of his snaps coming against the run, while he dropped into coverage on the remaining 10%.
Over 21 snaps against the run, Lynn has collected four tackles without missing any. Two of those four tackles were charted as defensive stops. Overall, he has been extremely active around and behind the line of scrimmage; the average depth of his four run-game tackles was -2.0 yards.
The sample is tiny, but those are excellent numbers, particularly the depth of his tackles. New York’s edge rushers have often been pushed off the line of scrimmage, not making tackles until runners have already gotten multiple yards downfield.
Enagbare’s average depth of tackle is the best of the unit at 1.6 yards, ranking 14th among 57 qualified edge rushers (min. 100 run-defense snaps), but neither Will McDonald (2.7, 33rd) nor Bailey (3.8, 50th) ranks in the top half. While Ossai has not played enough to qualify, his mark is a woeful 6.8.
It’s not what fans may have expected from a player who was best known for his pass rushing, but Lynn’s early flashes against the run are a promising sign for a Jets team that can badly use help in that area. Enagbare has been the team’s only consistent edge-setter. If Lynn can maintain this level of run defense for the rest of the season, he could carve out a role for himself in the 2027 rotation.
The most encouraging aspect of Lynn’s early production is that he has barely even gotten a chance to show off what he does best: get after the quarterback. If Lynn can complement his run defense with even half of the pass-rush efficiency that he showed off in the preseason, he could be a valuable two-way NFL edge rusher.
