Ranking the Jets 10 best players in 2022 and their importance to 6-3 start

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The Jets are 6-3, and the biggest reasons for that can be boiled down to three key factors:

1. Talent
2. Progression of returning players
3. Coaching

There is no question general manager Joe Douglas upgraded the roster last offseason via the NFL Draft and free agency, but the Jets have also seen some key players take major leaps forward in 2022 to help power this impressive start. That has the Jets thinking about not only the playoffs, but competing for the AFC East title.

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In that spirit, as the team emerges from its bye with half of its season over, we thought it would be a good idea to choose the 10 best Jets players through nine games. The exercise helps explain how the Jets got to this point, and also gives us something to look back on at the end of the season to see what changes.

For the sake of this exercise, we left off players who are on injured reserve and out for the season, like running back Breece Hall and offensive tackle Alijah Vera-Tucker. Both, if healthy, would’ve landed in the top five. Also: All stats are through Week 9.

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Davis missed most of the last three games with a knee injury — the Jets are hopeful he’ll return after the bye — but that shouldn’t detract from how important he has been to the offense. He had at least 50 receiving yards in four of his six full games, which might not sound like a lot but is impactful in a run-first offense. He was the Jets’ most consistent wide receiver, and a favorite target of Zach Wilson, before getting injured. His numbers over six games (19 catches, 351 yards, two touchdowns) project out to 54 catches, 995 yards and six touchdowns over 17 games.

After struggling with drops last year (six on 59 targets) Davis has been sure-handed this season, with one drop on 30 targets, and that came in the first quarter of the first game.

But Davis’ biggest impact has actually been in the running game. Per Pro Football Focus, Davis’ run-blocking grade ranks eighth of 70 wide receivers with at least 100 blocking snaps.

Just look at the on-field/off-field splits for the Jets’ rushing attack, per TruMedia:

Jets rushing attack

“He does all the grunt work and then he gets all the big over-the-middle body catches — big body routes that have to absorb hits and contact, and he’s there in the run game just digging out safeties,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said after beating the Steelers in Week 4. “He absolutely grinds every play. His stats may not show it, but he’s been having a really nice year just with his grit, the way he grinds play-in and play-out.”

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9. K Greg Zuerlein

Yes, a Jets kicker. “Greg the Leg” has been that good — and maybe he should be even higher relative to the mess the Jets have had at this position the last few years.

It didn’t look good in Week 1: Zuerlein missed a 45-yard field goal and an extra point against the Ravens. “I think he’ll bounce back,” Saleh said at the time. “I’m not worried about Z.”

He was right. The 34-year-old has been practically perfect since then: 15 of 17 on field goals and 20 for 20 on extra-point attempts. He’s also 4 for 5 from 50 yards or more. Four of the Jets’ six wins have been by fewer than 10 points, so Zuerlein’s consistency has been crucial.

The Jets have two other cornerbacks who get all the (deserved) attention, but Carter has been one of the better nickel corners in the league — and he often has to deal with the throws that come when quarterbacks start avoiding Sauce Gardner or D.J. Reed.

Carter been targeted in the slot 37 times, fifth-most in the league. He has given up 295 yards in slot coverage, per PFF, but only an 84.9 passer rating. That’s eighth-lowest among cornerbacks with at least 100 slot snaps. Carter’s average depth of target on throws in his coverage area is just 4.8, fifth-lowest among all corners with at least 100 coverage snaps — which is an indicator of why he’s allowing receivers to catch 74.4 percent of their targets.

PFF grades Carter as the 18th-best cornerback overall (minimum 100 snaps) and third-best among cornerbacks who spend the majority of their time in the slot, behind L’Jarius Sneed (Chiefs) and Desmond King (Texans). He has the best coverage grade among slot corners.

He also has two pass breakups and two interceptions, including the game-winning pick against the Steelers, plus eight stops on pass plays, which PFF classifies as tackles that constitute “failures” for the offense.

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“No one ever talks about Michael Carter, but he is phenomenal,” cornerbacks coach Tony Oden said. “He’s the unsung hero. He does everything the right way.”

Lawson was a little slow to get going coming off an Achilles injury, and hasn’t necessarily been dominant week-to-week — he had zero pressures against the Bills in Week 9. But at his best, the 27-year-old looks well worth the $45 million the Jets gave him last offseason.

His best game was against the Dolphins in Week 5, when he had eight pressures, five QB hits and PFF graded him as the best edge rusher in the NFL. Lawson has four sacks, putting him on pace for 7 1/2, which would be the most he’s had since his 2017 rookie season. He is also tied for seventh in the NFL in QB hits plus sacks (15).

It feels like Franklin-Myers has gotten more attention for two costly roughing the passer penalties this season — one against the Bengals, another versus the Patriots — than his play.

But JFM is playing at a high level and has been a crucial piece of the Jets’ dominant defensive line. According to PFF’s grading, he hasn’t had a single negative overall grade this season and ranks 10th (of 80) edge rushers to play at least 200 snaps. But calling Franklin-Myers an edge rusher doesn’t even do him justice — on passing downs, he often slides inside and still makes an impact.

He already has eight QB hits, two off his career high, along with 25 pressures and 2 1/2 sacks. PFF also has him as the best tackler among all edge rushers, with a missed tackle percentage of just 5.6.

When he’s on the field, per TruMedia, the Jets allow 4.52 yards per play, 3.73 yards per rush and have an EPA per dropback of 0.11. When Franklin-Myers is off the field: 5.47 yards per play, 4.56 yards per rush and a minus-0.04 EPA per dropback.

Before Mosley left the Bills game briefly last week, he’d played 1,022 consecutive snaps for the Jets, an impressive streak considering all he’s been through injury-wise.

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He made his presence known on his first play back, lighting up running back James Cook on a catch and forcing an incompletion. Mosley is 30 and perhaps lacks the same athleticism he had while dominating with the Ravens early in his career.

But the Jets’ defense isn’t as good without him. He’s on pace for 166 tackles and also has one sack, four pass deflections and a fumble recovery — but his impact goes beyond the numbers. Just ask Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who raved about Mosley’ ability to read New England’s defense in Week 8:

“It looked like Mosley almost heard the play in the huddle. He was on it so fast,” Belichick said. “That’s what good defensive players do. They anticipate things and they are able to sometimes get a read on what they think is going to happen. They’re not always right but sometimes they are, and they can certainly make you look bad offensively.”

It was clear in training camp that Wilson was a special talent. It became clear against the Browns in Week 2, when he had eight catches (on 14 targets) for 102 yards and two touchdowns, that he was already the Jets’ most talented wide receiver. They don’t beat Cleveland without him.

The last two weeks, it became clear he’s already a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver as a rookie.

Other teams took notice before that: The numbers say he was an afterthought in the offense from Weeks 4-7, when he was targeted only 19 times and had 10 catches for 100 yards. But the reality: Teams started scheming more to stop him, and the Jets went to a run-heavy attack in which no wide receiver was targeted much.

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The last two weeks, after Elijah Moore went into the doghouse and Davis got injured, the Jets introduced a new wrinkle in their Wilson usage that reignited his impact: He’s spent more time as an outside receiver than in the slot.

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There are a couple reasons for that. First, the Jets were without Moore in Week 7 (benched) and Davis in Weeks 8-9 (injured), so Wilson officially became one of the Jets’ top receivers no matter what personnel was playing. From Weeks 1-6, Wilson had played only 32 snaps in personnel packages with two or fewer wide receivers. Moore played 84 snaps in those groupings.

In Weeks 8-9, Moore played only one snap in those personnel groupings, while Wilson played 32.

Wilson had 14 total catches (on 16 targets) for 207 yards in the past two games. If he keeps that pace up, he’ll become the first Jets wide receiver since Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker in 2015 to sail past 1,000 receiving yards.

He’s already being treated as a No. 1 receiver by opponents, and it’s easy to see why: He’s quick and adept at using his uber-athleticism to get open. According to FiveThirtyEight, Wilson is already the sixth-best wide receiver at getting open. He averages a solid 4.8 yards after the catch, which ranks 19th of 53 receivers with at least 40 targets.

And PFF grades him as the 14th-best receiver overall with that many targets.

“That guy is special,” wide receiver Denzel Mims said. “I tell him every day.”

3. CB D.J. Reed

Reed may be one of the best free-agent signings in the NFL this year. He’s playing at a Pro Bowl level, making his contract (three years, $33 million) look like a bargain, too. He’s been stellar in coverage (ranked 10th among corners by PFF) and has stood out as a tackler as well.

“He’s physical. He likes to introduce himself to people on the field like that,” Oden said. “That’s his skill set. That’s the only way he knows: to play hard, fast and physical.”

His best game came in Week 1 against the Ravens, when he picked off Lamar Jackson on a day when he’d just found out that his father had died. Reed has quickly made himself one of the Jets’ leaders, and is a crucial piece to their much-improved defense.

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Quarterbacks have only a 58.6 rating when throwing on Reed this season, per PFF, and he hasn’t allowed a touchdown. Plus, he’s amassed seven pass deflections and forced seven incompletions.

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“If you really sit down and watch the tape and dissect what he has been doing, he’s playing at an All-Pro level,” Saleh said. “He hasn’t been getting enough love, in my opinion, but I know we love him in there.”

2. CB Sauce Gardner

Even the most optimistic Jets fan couldn’t have predicted Gardner would’ve been this good, this fast. He might already be one of the five best cornerbacks in the NFL — and he’s not No. 5.

Just about every opposing coach, quarterback or wide receiver he’s faced has raved about him. So far this season, he’s shut down Mark Andrews, Ja’Marr Chase, Diontae Johnson, Tyreek Hill, Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy and Gabe Davis. He can cover tight ends or wide receivers.

Richard Sherman has raved about him, on air and privately to Saleh. He gets the loudest cheers during introductions at MetLife Stadium. Gardner is already a star, just nine games into his career.

There are too many statistics to explain how good Gardner has been. I picked out a few:
•  In man coverage, Gardner has allowed four catches on 13 targets for 7 yards and a 40.2 passer rating.
•  He leads the NFL with 13 pass deflections.
•  He’s PFF’s top-graded corner in man coverage and third overall.
•  He has the second-most forced incompletions (10) behind Eagles corner James Bradberry.

Reminder: Gardner is a rookie.

Williams’ talent has never been a question, but some around the league wondered if he’d ever dominate consistently play-to-play.

Well, that is no longer a question. He’s doing it.

Statistically, no defensive tackle is playing better than Williams. The eye test backs that up, too: He makes an impact on just about every play for which he’s on the field, whether that’s using his athleticism to force incompletions on attempted screens or eating up blockers to free up his fellow defensive linemen.

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He’s been utterly dominant, every week.

Williams is tied with Jeffery Simmons (Titans) for the most pressures (35) among defensive tackles. He’s first in sacks with seven, which already ties his career high. He also has nine QB hits and PFF grades him as the third-best defensive tackle, behind the Rams’ Aaron Donald and the Chiefs’ Chris Jones. If the season ended today, he’d likely be voted an All-Pro.

If he keeps up his current pace, he might even earn Defensive Player of the Year votes.

Simply put, the Jets’ defense isn’t this good without his dominance up front.

Other players considered: Running back Michael Carter, defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, special teamer Justin Hardee.

(Top photo of Garrett Wilson: Nick Cammett / Getty Images)

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