New York Jets Well Represented In ESPN Top-100 Player Rankings

By Kenneth Teape | Sep 2, 2015

The New York Jets were very active in the offseason. They have a new regime in place, with Mike Maccagnan taking over the front office as general manager for John Idzik, and Todd Bowles replacing Rex Ryan as head coach. With that, comes heightened expectations, as the Jets greatly upgraded their roster.

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With upgraded talent, there are some people that are expecting good things for the Jets this season. They rebuilt their secondary with Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie returning, in addition to signing Buster Skrine and Marcus Gilchrist. That has caused people to take notice of the Jets, and ESPN is one of those places that have.

In ESPN’s Player Rankings, the Jets are very well represented. They have four players that made the cut, giving them the seventh highest amount of any team in the NFL. Only the Seattle Seahawks (nine), Dallas Cowboys (six), Green Bay Packers (six), Baltimore Ravens (five), Denver Broncos (five) and Kansas City Chiefs (five) finished with more players on the list than the Jets.

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Who are the four you ask? Revis leads the way as the ninth ranked player, followed by Muhammad Wilkerson at 50, Sheldon Richardson at 61 and Nick Mangold at 88.

The position for Revis is an intriguing one, as he ranks right behind Richard Sherman. In fact, Revis is behind him by only .07, which speaks volumes to just how close the two truly are in the race for top cornerback in the NFL. Just to put in perspective how much ahead of the field they are, the next ranked cornerback is Joe Haden at 42 with a score of 85.46. Definitely strong, but far off from the eighth and ninth ranked Sherman and Revis, who scored 93.31 and 93.24 respectively.

The rankings for Wilkerson and Richardson show just how much respect people have for the Jets’ defensive line. They have arguably the best one in the NFL, and these rankings will only reinforce that. They may not have a single player as dominant as J.J. Watt or Ndamukong Suh, who ranked first and third, but neither of them are flanked by a teammate as strong as Wilkerson and Richardson.

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Wilkerson is the seventh rated defensive lineman, while Richardson comes in at 10. Watt, Suh, Gerald McCoy, Robert Quinn, Mario Williams and Aaron Donald were the only ones to finish above Wilkerson, while Cameron Wake and Michael Bennett are ahead of Richardson. It is fair to say that Richardson’s looming legal troubles hindered his grade a bit, but there is no arguing that his production on the field warrants the ranking of a top-10 defensive lineman.

Last but not least, we have Mangold. He was rated as the fourth best center in the NFL, which is a strong standing. He has anchored the Jets’ offensive line since being selected 29th overall in the 2006 NFL Draft. He has missed only three games in his career and has been a lynchpin for the Jets in the middle of their line. While other parts have rotated and been inefficient in those nine seasons, Mangold has been as consistent as you could ask for. His ranking is fair and well earned.

Jul 30, 2015; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets defensive back Darrelle Revis (24) defensive back Antonio Cromartie (31) during first day of training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

While the four players is a lot compared to other teams, the Jets did have some omissions. One of their biggest offseason acquisitions was Brandon Marshall to help boost their offensive production. While Marshall had a down year in 2014 battling injuries, it is a surprise to see him off a list like this.

Also, Damon Harrison could have snuck in as well. Harrison is one of the best run stuffing defensive lineman in the NFL, and is as important to the Jets as Wilkerson or Richardson. With players such as Fletcher Cox, Kyle Williams and Haloti Ngata sneaking in the final 10 players, there is no reason that Harrison couldn’t either.

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