New York Jets: Grading Joe Douglas free agent signings
Linebacker (Grade: B)
The Jets were able to re-sign James Burgess Jr., Jordan Jenkins, and Neville Hewitt while signing Patrick Onwuasor, all who are on one-year deals. The details of their contracts are listed below:
Douglas wanted to replenish the inside linebacker depth after CJ Mosely and Avery Williamson both suffered season-ending injuries. However, it is a crowded group with Mosley, Williamson, Burgess, Hewitt, and Onwuasor. Because of the depth, Williamson may be the odd man out, which could open an additional $6.5M in cap space.
This is the final year of Williamson’s contract and he is owed $8.5M (with a $2M dead cap hit). Since he and Mosely are eating $26M of the cap this year, it makes sense to why the Jets would release Williamson.
Yet, Rich Cimini notes that retaining Williamson is beneficial because the New York Jets need the depth at inside linebacker. Time will tell if Williamson will be with the team at the start of the season. It all depends on whether Gang Green needs to utilize that money to strengthen the roster elsewhere.
As for Jenkins, it’s great that the Jets were able to resign him to a team-friendly deal. He has been a pleasant surprise with his edge-rushing ability, which the team so desperately needs. As shown by his stats, Jenkins has improved every single year and has been effective bringing pressure on the quarterback.
| Games | Def Interceptions | Fumbles | Tackles | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | Pos | No. | G | GS | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | Fmb | FR | Yds | TD | Sk | Comb | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sfty | AV |
| 2016 | 22 | NYJ | LB | 48 | 14 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.5 | 41 | 23 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| 2017 | 23 | NYJ | LB | 48 | 16 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 49 | 32 | 17 | 5 | 9 | 7 | |
| 2018 | 24 | NYJ | LB | 48 | 16 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 35 | 24 | 11 | 6 | 15 | 6 | ||||||
| 2019 | 25 | NYJ | LB | 48 | 14 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 | 32 | 21 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 7 | |
| Career | 60 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.5 | 157 | 100 | 57 | 22 | 40 | 25 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/11/2020.
Some may think his numbers dropped from 2018 to 2019 and that he has reached his peak or maybe he is on the decline. Actually, Jenkins played fewer snaps in the 2019 season than he did in the 2018 season.
Per Pro Football Reference, Jenkins played 660 defensive snaps, which accounted for 59 percent of the season. As for 2019, he played 573 snaps, accounting for 52 percent of the snaps. So if anything, Jenkins was more productive this past season than in 2018.
If Jenkins performs well again this year, I can see the Jets bringing him back on a longterm deal because he will only be 26-years-old this season. However, resigning the former third-round pick (2016) does not solve all the pass-rushing problems. Gang green had difficulty putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks, so they will either need to sign or draft pass additional rushers to improve in that department.