New York Jets: Leonard Williams gets off to quick start
The New York Jets have a fearsome group of defensive linemen, and second year player Leonard Williams notched 2.5 sacks in the first game of the year…
When talking about some of the best young players in the NFL, New York Jets defensive lineman Leonard Williams seems to be the oft-forgotten one. His play on Sunday changed that, as he absolutely dominated the Cincinnati Bengals’ offensive line in an opening day loss.
While Mo does deserve credit for his sack due to explosion, Leonard Williams even helped set that up too: pic.twitter.com/wq0mr6OV1W
— Connor Rogers (@ConnorJRogers) September 12, 2016
Williams wound up being the highest graded Jets defender by Pro Football Focus and showed that his hard work this offseason has begun paying dividends. Obviously, the Jets have a very talented defensive front with Muhammad Wilkerson and Steve McClendon also helping combine for a whopping six sacks on the day (a 7th was added by LB Lorenzo Mauldin). What’s crazy is that the line is about to get even better with the addition of Sheldon Richardson, who might be the most talented of the bunch.
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Todd Bowles certainly has a fun situation on his hands every week, trying to decide what kind of defensive front to play. The formation will fluctuate based on matchups, but there’s no denying that the Jets have to find ways to get these guys on the field all at the same time.
During the game against the Bengals, young Leonard Williams was nearly unblockable. The great news for the Jets? He just turned 22 this offseason and is only going to get better and better.
Largely considered the best defensive player in the class of 2015, Williams inexplicably dropped down the board to the sixth overall selection where the Jets simply couldn’t pass up, even though there wasn’t an overly pressing need.
As he proved on Sunday, you can never have too many great pass rushers. After finishing his rookie season with just three sacks, Williams is already just 0.5 sacks away from matching that total this season after one game, and looks like an entirely different player.