The New York Jets might have uncovered a diamond in the rough.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic highlighted defensive end Rashad Weaver as a standout at OTAs this offseason.
“Yeah, he has jumped out each time, and because Micheal Clemons wasn’t at practice yesterday, he was able to get more reps with guys like Quinnen Williams. He stood out to me, he had a couple of dominant reps. I think he beat Armand Membou one time, I think he would have had him with two sacks. The first practice I covered, I had him with a couple of sacks,” Rosenblatt explained on the “Flight Plan” podcast.
“He is a guy who has shown the ability to get pressure in the NFL. He had 5.5 sacks in 2022. The flip side of that is he hasn’t gotten any sacks since then. They saw some untapped potential with him, and they need somebody to emerge as the third or fourth defensive end. He is somebody that I have my eye on. If he can keep this up, he is going to play his way into a role. They need somebody who can be more than just a pass rusher. Micheal Clemons, in theory, is the run stopper hypothetically, although it’s more hypothetical than real so far in his career, but Rashad Weaver is definitely someone I have my eye on as we head into this next part of the offseason.”
‘He stood out to me. He had a couple dominant reps, he beat Armand Membou one time 👀 I think he would’ve had him with two
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This offseason, the Jets signed Weaver to a one-year, $1.17 million contract.
The move didn’t create headlines but rather confusion. Who the heck is Weaver? This past season, he spent time on the practice squads of the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Rams.
Weaver had a brief stint on the Texans’ active roster, appearing in three games and participating in 8% of the defensive snaps.
He was the No. 135 overall pick in the fourth round back in 2021. In three of his four NFL seasons, he hasn’t recorded a sack. However, in 2022, he had a breakout 5.5 sack campaign to go along with 15 quarterback hits, six pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and seven tackles for loss.
If Weaver ends up being anything for the Jets, the coaching and pro personnel staff will deserve major props for identifying an overlooked player and then getting the most out of him.
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Jermaine Johnson and Will McDonald are a young, dynamic pair of starting defensive ends in 2025. However, the depth behind them is questionable and completely unproven.
“Early returns have been promising [on Weaver] — he’s had some dominant reps in practice and I counted at least two sacks on Tuesday, one against [Justin] Fields, one against [Tyrod] Taylor. He received some valuable reps on Tuesday with Micheal Clemons not attending practice (for unknown reasons),” Rosenblatt wrote in The Athletic.
If it isn’t Weaver, it’ll have to be rookie Tyler Baron or one of the promising undrafted free agents from last season that got valuable reps in 2024.
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