New York Jets Defensive Stars Receive High Honor For 2024

The expectations are high once again for the New York Jets entering the 2024 NFL season. After suffering through major disappointment last year following the Aaron Rodgers injury, the team is ready to get back on the field and get revenge for their poor hand in 2023.

Joe Douglas did a great job of improving the offense around Rodgers this offseason. He made major moves to shore up the offensive line and also added wide receiver Mike Williams in NFL free agency.

Defensively, the Jets look like one of the top units in football. They have drafted well and have made strategic free agency moves that have helped them get to this point.

Even this offseason, Douglas went out and brought in key players like Javon Kinlaw and Haason Reddick. While Reddick seemingly has a contract dispute ongoing with the franchise, both players are expected to make big-time impacts this year.

Recently, in a column from Sports Illustrated analyst Gilbert Manzano, New York’s defense received some major praise.

Manzano took a look at the best defensive triplets throughout the entire NFL. The Jets, with Sauce Gardner, C.J. Mosley, and Quinnen Williams, ranked No. 3 on the list.

“The Jets are hoping their star-studded defense will get an opportunity to showcase themselves in a playoff game come January. That will depend on the play of Aaron Rodgers, but the ferocious unit can make life easier for their middle-aged signal-caller by containing offenses on a weekly basis. The Jets will be tough to beat with their stacked trio of Williams, Mosley and Gardner. Mosley is still playing at a high level heading into his 11th season.”

Looking at the projected starting defense, led by the three aforementioned players, New York is going to be tough to score against.

There are big names throughout every level of the defense. Williams anchors the defensive line, but he’s joined by Kinlaw, Reddick, and Jermaine Johnson. At linebacker, the Jets boast Mosley, with two other talented linebackers in Jamien Sherwood and Quincy Williams. In the secondary, they have Gardner, D.J. Reed, and Chuck Clark.

Throughout the entire defensive unit, there are playmakers at every level.

It will be interesting to see if New York can finally make the jump into the playoffs. A lot of their success or lack thereof will be placed on the shoulders, or should we say Achilles, of Rodgers. If he can return to pre-injury form, the Jets are going to be a very good team.

With that being said, New York as a team is much bigger than Rodgers. They are in a much better all-around place than they were at this time last year.

The sky is the limit for the Jets. They have zero excuses left. It’s playoffs or bust in 2024.