Jets Pass Rusher Gets Snubbed; Hungry Youngster Coming

Several New York Jets defensive playmakers got the shaft this week.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN revealed his top 10 rankings for the best pass rushers in the NFL on Wednesday, July 10. He polled over 80 league execs, coaches, and scouts to form this list.

Somehow Haason Reddick was not included in the conversation. Instead, Reddick was shoved in the “honorable mention” category with six other players.

“Reddick closed out his seventh NFL season with 11 sacks, 38 tackles, 5.5 stuffs, and one forced fumble. ‘He was still really good last year, probably the most consistent starter on the Eagles defense. The numbers weren’t as gaudy as they were the previous season, but he was an aggressive edge rusher who teams had to account for all four quarters,’ an NFC personnel evaluator told ESPN.”

Reddick’s Exclusion From the List Is Inexplicable

Fowler makes it very clear in the opening monologue of his article that this isn’t a five-year projection nor a career achievement award, but rather a current temperature check on who the best in the NFL is right now.

This past season, Reddick had 11 sacks, 23 quarterback hits, and 13 tackles for loss. That resulted in the second Pro Bowl of his career.

Two of the players that made the list inside the top-10 best pass rushers had fewer sacks than he did in 2023.

Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers finished with 10.5 and Brian Burns now of the New York Giants had eight sacks.

The placement on this elite ranking isn’t a career achievement award, but if it were Burns would lose that argument too.

In his five seasons in the NFL, Burns has only ever had one double-digit sack season (2022). Reddick has had four straight double-digit sack campaigns.

Those 50.5 sacks over the last four years is the fourth-highest total in the NFL, per ESPN.

Sacks isn’t the only thing pass rushers are graded and judged on but it’s a very important metric in the evaluation process.

What in the flying hoot!

A Jets Riser Is Ready to Stake His Claim in 2024

Not a single member of the Jets defense was featured in these pass rusher rankings. Reddick’s absence was certainly surprising, but another member of the defense could be hunting for inclusion on the list next year.

Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic highlighted on social media that there was, “No mention of Jermaine Johnson. I don’t think that will be the case again at this time next year.”

It shouldn’t be surprising that he wasn’t featured in the top 10. Johnson had a very nice year in 2023, but his 7.5 sacks were tied for No. 46 in the NFL.

What was surprising is that he didn’t get even a passing mention in the honorable mention category and didn’t receive a single vote by any of the coaches, scouts, and league execs.

Fowler lists the top 10 pass rushers who were voted in, six honorable mention players who just missed the cut, and he finishes off the column with any player that received a single vote. That included another nine players in the NFL.

In total, 25 pass rushers heard their name called in this ESPN ranking and Johnson wasn’t one of them. 2024 is an absolutely massive year for the former Florida State product.

Each year of his career thus far he has exponentially improved and people inside the building are expecting another leap forward in 2024. After Johnson completes his third professional season he will be eligible for the first time in his NFL career to discuss a contract extension.

Out of the core four players drafted in 2022, Johnson is last in terms of production and status. Sauce Gardner is arguably the top corner in football, Garrett Wilson is a borderline top-10 receiver, and Breece Hall was just crowned the second-best running back in the sport.

Johnson can change that narrative and conversation this season with a massive year.