Two Jets defenders make PFF's Top 50 rankings
Both of these players appeared on last year's list but have slipped in the rankings. Gardner went from No. 16 to No. 23, while Williams fell from No. 27 all the way to No. 44. Somewhat ironically, Williams has already landed on the NFL's annual Top 100 players ranking, but on that list he lands all the way down at 87th, a drop of 50 spots from last year's rankings and more than 40 spots lower than PFF's list.
Writing for PFF, analysts Dalton Wasserman and Trevor Sikkema have this to say about Quinnen William's ranking: 'With Aaron Glenn bringing a more aggressive, attacking front to New York, Williams is a strong candidate to rebound in 2025 and reestablish himself as one of the league's most disruptive interior defenders.'
As for Gardner, his inclusion is almost a no-brainer. At No. 23 he is the highest ranked cornerback on this year's list. 'Since 2022, [Gardner] leads all cornerbacks with a 91.9 coverage grade and 2.10 PFF [wins-above-replacement]. While his interception total isn't eye-popping, Gardner's 43 forced incompletions lead the league over that span. In 2025, he could showcase his skills even more in a more aggressive scheme under new head coach Aaron Glenn.'
You may have noticed similar remarks for both players, and it's a common theme when projecting any Jets defender in 2025: a belief in Aaron Glenn to turn this unit around after a slight regression in 2024, and make it one of the league's premier defenses.
Whether that belief is well-founded will need to be proven on the field, though Glenn's track record speaks for itself. Glenn helped the Lions weather an unprecedented number of injuries to key defensive starters all throughout 2024 and still put a respectable unit on the field. It's easy to imagine how much better his defenses could be with the kind of talent that is in New York.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NASCAR: Denny Hamlin holds on for chaotic overtime win at Dover after hour-long rain delay with 14 scheduled laps to go
Denny Hamlin's victory on Sunday at Dover looked pretty safe with 14 laps to go. Ross Chastain's crash brought out a late caution flag and rain started to pour not long after the yellow was thrown. Hamlin was leading teammate Christopher Bell and likely thought he had his fourth win in the bag. Not so fast. With the heavy rain being fairly brief, NASCAR immediately worked to dry the track. Roughly an hour after the race was red-flagged, it resumed for eight scheduled green-flag laps. The actual number ended up being far fewer than that. Bell spun to trigger a multi-car crash while racing with Hamlin for the lead on the first restart, and then Hamlin had to hold on for two more restarts to get his Cup Series-leading fourth win of the season as he kept teammate Chase Briscoe at bay over the final two laps. It ended up being a stellar day for Hamlin on the track after a less than ideal week in the courtroom. Hamlin's 23XI Racing team lost its charters along with Front Row Motorsports as a federal judge refused to grant the teams a temporary restraining order to keep them. The ruling was part of the teams' months-long battle with NASCAR over the sanctioning body's franchising agreement. Both 23XI and FRM sued NASCAR, claiming that NASCAR was monopolistic as it gave its teams just hours to sign a new charter agreement in the fall of 2024. Sunday's race ended up going seven laps over its scheduled distance thanks to the two crashes after the rain delay. After Bell spun to start a crash that included Noah Gragson and William Byron, Zane Smith and Ryan Preece crashed after that restart. Briscoe, meanwhile, worked his way through the field after pitting for two fresh tires immediately after the rain delay. Hamlin, Bell and others at the front of the field opted to stay out on older tires knowing that passing was incredibly difficult all day at Dover thanks to the aerodynamic deficiencies of the current Cup Series car. The rain delay put NASCAR in a unique situation. In most instances, a red flag for rain with less than 20 laps to go equals an automatic end to the race. You can understand why. It's a lot of track drying work for little payoff. Eight laps of green-flag racing at Dover is less than four minutes. But the quickness of the rain — and the concrete track surface — gave NASCAR a reason to think it could finish the race. And sure enough, it ended on a mostly dry track. It was an eventful payoff for the fans who stuck around both at the track and on TNT. On a slow sports afternoon following Scottie Scheffler's dominant British Open victory, NASCAR didn't have much competition for viewers' attention. And restart highlights make for great social media clips. But you can also see the argument against restarting the race. Especially if you're a fan of Bell, Byron or anyone else who saw their days go south after the rain delay. It would have been surprising had a crash or two not happened over the final eight scheduled laps. Drivers know that restarts are their best chances to gain track position even when passing isn't as difficult as it was at Dover on Sunday. The myriad tire strategies only added to that likelihood as the speed discrepancies between drivers on older and newer tires can easily create contact. Crashes, of course, increase costs for teams. And this is a NASCAR that has cut track time in recent years in the name of cost savings for its competitors. Even as the sun quickly shined following the rain, cutting the race short by just 14 laps is an easily defensible situation. This is, after all, a regular-season race in the middle of the summer. It's not a playoff race. Had Chastain not crashed and the rain hit with less than 10 laps to go, it's very easy to see how NASCAR calls the race early. But the final 20-plus actual laps produced more action than the first 386 laps did combined to provide a notable end to what had been a snoozer of a race. Had someone like Briscoe, Kyle Larson or another driver who hardly led a lap all day ended up winning after the rain, the outcome might be hard to stomach. Instead, the guy who was winning when the rain fell ended up showing why he's a title contender yet again by getting the winner's trophy over an hour later than he might have expected.
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Christian Walker's go-ahead HR in the 6th inning propels Astros past Mariners 11-3
SEATTLE (AP) — Christian Walker hit a go-ahead solo homer in the sixth inning as the Houston Astros rallied from an early three-run deficit and beat the Seattle Mariners 11-3 on Sunday to avoid a series sweep. Walker, who entered the game hitting .333 in July, hit his third homer of the month and 13th of the season to left field off Mariners All-Star Bryan Woo (8-5). Two batters later, Taylor Trammell added his second homer of the season to double the Astros' lead. Trammell added a two-run double in the seventh inning. The Astros were resilient after falling behind 3-0 after three innings. They tied the game in the fifth on a fielding error by J.P. Crawford and a two-run double by Cam Smith. Houston starter Hunter Brown allowed three runs on six hits with seven strikeouts in four innings. Four relievers worked five shutout innings with right-hander Kaleb Ort (2-1) earning the win. Key moment It briefly appeared the Mariners had cut their deficit to one run when J.P. Crawford doubled to left field in the sixth. Miles Mastrobuoni tried to score from first and was originally ruled safe on a close play at the plate, but the Astros challenged the call, which was overturned. Key stat The Astros have scored at least nine runs in a game 11 times this season. They are 11-0 in those games. Up next The Astros continue their road trip on Monday at Arizona with left-hander Colton Gordon (3-2, 4.67 ERA) starting. The Mariners will send RHP George Kirby (4-4, 4.50) in the opener of a three-game series against visiting Milwaukee. ___ AP MLB:
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
UFC 318 reaction: What's Dustin Poirier's legacy after losing retirement fight?
Dustin Poirier didn't get his fairytale ending at UFC 318 when he came up short in his trilogy bout with Max Holloway. Poirier (30-10 MMA, 22-9 UFC) came close to scripting the perfect end with a near-finish of Holloway (27-8 MMA, 23-8 UFC) at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, but he could not finish the fight and came out on the wrong of a unanimous decision in the BMF title bout on Saturday. "The Diamond" has now officially retired from MMA competition after leaving his gloves in the center of the cage, closing out a career that will hold the test of time and is universally admired. What type of legacy does Poirier leave behind in MMA, both in and out of the octagon? Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on Poirier's career. This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 318 reaction: What is Dustin Poirier's legacy after loss?
