Jets LB Quincy Williams deserves to be full-time starter
Quincy Williams proved in Week 11 that he deserves to be a full-time starter after posting a team-high, game-high and career-high 15 combined tackles.
The Jets linebacker’s top skillset has always been his sideline-to-sideline speed, and he showed it off against the Dolphins. Williams reached a top speed of 18 mph, according to NextGen Stats, and covered 939 total yards while running 468 yards.
“One of his superpowers is speed,” Robert Saleh said Friday. “He’s one of the faster linebackers in football if you look at his GPS numbers.”
That speed helped Williams excel in the Jets’ nickel defense with only two linebackers on the field last weekend. He played 92 percent of his 63 snaps in this scheme, tallying 14 stops and nine solo tackles.
Week 11 wasn’t an outlier, either. Williams tallied 12 combined tackles with 10 solo stops during the Jets’ Week 4 win over the Titans. On the season, Williams ranks first on the team in tackles for a loss (7) and second behind C.J. Mosley in combined tackles (54). He’s also recorded one sack.
Wiliams has played well in coverage, too. He’s allowed a 61.3 completion percentage when targeted and just 19 receptions, 140 yards and no touchdowns. Those marks are top-five on the team. Williams also allows just a three-yard average depth of target and a 72 quarterback rating when targeted.
The Jets don’t have much clarity at the linebacker spot behind Mosley, who’s struggled in his own right. Free agent acquisition Jarrad Davis looks like a poor signing, Blake Cashman is injury-prone, and rookies Jamien Sherwood and Hamsah Nasirildeen have missed time as well.
Williams, however, looks like New York’s second-best player at the position. The younger brother of Jets star Quinnen Williams, Quincy admitted to playing with a chip on his shoulder as soon as he entered the league with Jacksonville in 2019. A few years later, he’s playing like a deserving starter.
“He’s gotten a lot better since the first day he arrived here,” Saleh said of the post-training camp pickup. “It’s just a matter of continuing to stack up good days.”
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4 things to know about new Jets LB Quincy Williams
