ESPN continues to unveil the results of a survey that asked over 70 NFL scouts, coaches, and executives to rank the top players at each position.
The New York Jets have not been very well represented thus far. Quinnen Williams and Breece Hall tumbled from their spots on last year’s rankings, while many positions feature no Jets players. They did, however, have two interior offensive linemen receive top-10 votes.
The linebacker position was the Jets’ best chance at getting two players in the top 10. Jamien Sherwood and Quincy Williams form one of the league’s best pairings.
Only one of them made the top 10, though.
According to the survey results published on Tuesday, Williams was voted as the league’s 10th-best linebacker. Sherwood was listed as one of 11 honorable mentions.
These were the top 10 linebackers in the survey:
- Fred Warner, San Francisco 49ers
- Roquan Smith, Baltimore Ravens
- Zack Baun, Philadelphia Eagles
- Nick Bolton, Kansas City Chiefs
- Frankie Luvu, Washington Commanders
- Tremaine Edmunds, Chicago Bears
- Lavonte David, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- DeMarvion Overshown, Dallas Cowboys
- Dre Greenlaw, San Francisco 49ers
- Quincy Williams, New York Jets
An NFL defensive coach said of Williams, “Zero to 100 closing speed sideline to sideline. Will strike you. Dog.”
A veteran NFL defensive coach praised Williams as a Pro Bowl-caliber player, but explained why the 28-year-old doesn’t rank higher at the position.
“He’s a Pro Bowl-caliber player, elite speed and burst to close, plays physical and bigger than he is — but to be elite you have to consistently take the ball away and he hasn’t done that.”
Perhaps that veteran defensive coach should do a little more research; Williams has a combined total of 10 forced fumbles (6) and recovered fumbles (4) since 2023, which leads all linebackers. The coach may have been referring to Williams’ lack of interceptions (he only has one in his career), but the fumbles count as takeaways all the same.
As for Sherwood, the article did not provide a detailed description of why he was left out of the top 10, but it shared one quote from an NFL personnel evaluator, who said of Sherwood, “Ascending player. He’s a bullet. Was one of my favorite [pending] free agents back in March.” — NFL personnel evaluator.”
Frankly, both players are underrated on this list.
On top of leading his position in forced-plus-recovered fumbles since 2023, Williams also ranks first with 140 defensive stops (per Pro Football Focus). He placed first in 2023 (80) and still ranked third in 2024 despite dropping to 60.
Yet, the survey ranks Williams below players like Dre Greenlaw (who played two games in 2024 and has never been named an All-Pro or Pro Bowler) and DeMarvion Overshown (who has played 13 career games and had the second-highest missed tackle rate among linebackers who played 500+ snaps in 2024).
Sherwood has a strong case to outrank multiple players on the list. In 2024, he ranked fourth at the position with 59 defensive stops. He also held his own in coverage, allowing zero touchdowns on 558 coverage snaps. Sherwood joined Baltimore’s Roquan Smith as the only two NFL linebackers with 50+ defensive stops and zero touchdowns allowed in coverage.
While it’s nice to see the Jets get some recognition for their strong linebacker duo, Williams and Sherwood are arguably a much stronger tandem than the survey paints them as.
