Getty New York Jets defensive star, Quinnen Williams, slamming Dwayne Haskins Jr into the turf.
The New York Jets were noticeably absent from the 2020 version of the NFL Network’s “top 100” series.
Each offseason for the last 10 years, the NFL Top 100 has revealed who is the best of the very best in all of professional football. This is an annual list that features the top 100 NFL players as voted on by the players.
One of the major reasons the green and white didn’t have a participant on last year’s list is because they traded away their best player right before the start of training camp.
The Jets agreed to a blockbuster deal that sent their former All-Pro safety, Jamal Adams, to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a slew of draft picks.
The former LSU star ended up landing No. 27 overall on the NFL’s top 100 list, but as a member of the Seahawks.
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Borderline Top-100 Candidates for the Jets
With the NFL season rapidly approaching and the start of the 2021 version of the NFL’s top 100 list on the horizon, we decided to take a look at which Jets players could crack this year’s show.
Before we get to the potential top stars near the top of the list, let’s start on the bottom.
Corey Davis, wide receiver
If you look at the stats, they don’t overwhelm you. Davis had 65 receptions for 984 yards, averaged over 15 yards per reception, and snagged five touchdowns. While that may not sound groundbreaking, all of those metrics were career highs for Davis in a contract year.
The voting process isn’t an exact science especially when you consider the votes are cast by fellow players. Each person weighs things differently and accounts for things that others wouldn’t.
From people we’ve spoken with, Davis has earned massive street cred among the players and it wouldn’t be surprising if he cracked the list for the green and white during this series.
Mekhi Becton, offensive tackle
Despite being a rookie in a COVID world that completely limited the offseason, Becton rose above the crappy circumstances to have a remarkable year. Although it wasn’t perfect by any means.
The big man from Louisville missed games and couldn’t stay on the field consistently, but when he was on the field, he made other offensive linemen giggle in excitement. He wowed with unusual splash plays that made the highlight shows.
How much respect did he create in one short year? In a recent ESPN panel, he was rated the sixth-best offensive tackle in the entire NFL, if he is held with half of that high regard, he will easily make this list.
Morgan Moses, offensive tackle
While Morgan Moses didn’t play a down for the Jets last year, he could still represent them on the NFL’s top-100 list.
The former Washington Football Team stud finished his sixth consecutive season with a full boatload of starts. 16 starts every year for six straight years equals 96 starts in a row by the iron man.
Moses possesses more than just a perfect attendance blue ribbon on his resume, he has been a pillar of consistency.
The Best of the Rest
Marcus Maye, safety
How good was Marcus Maye in 2020? Good enough to receive a franchise tag that’ll pay him $10.6M which places him among the highest-paid safeties in all of football.
There was a ton of pressure on Maye heading into the season after his former running mate was sent out of town. Suddenly Maye went from Robin to Batman and he lived up to the hype.
For the third time out of four seasons, the former Florida Gator played a full 16 game season. He also set career highs in almost every major statistical category:
- Interceptions (2)
- Pass deflections (11)
- Forced fumbles (2)
- Sacks (2)
- Combined tackles (88)
He’s proven to be the real deal and we’ll see if the Jets can hammer out a long-term deal ahead of the franchise tag deadline (July 15).
Quinnen Williams, defensive tackle
It was a coming-out party for the former Alabama star and there’s still even more room to grow and that thought should terrorize NFL teams across the league.
Williams has arguably the best chance to be the highest-rated Jets star on the NFL’s top-100 list. He was disruptive, explosive, and downright mean throughout the 2020 season. The team was terrible (2-14), but Williams never let that affect his level of play.
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