Latest news with #AhmadGardner
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Three takeaways from Garrett Wilson's historic contract with Jets
A rather routine Monday in July turned out to be an exciting day for New York Jets fans when multiple NFL insiders broke the news that superstar wide receiver Garrett Wilson had signed a new 4-year deal with the Jets worth $130 million, $90 million of which is guaranteed. This contract also made a bit of NFL history, not for the money but for the timing. According to Rich Cimini, who covers the Jets for ESPN, this is the first time a receiver has earned more than $31 million per year on average after playing just three seasons in the NFL. Here are three takeaways for Jets fans now that Wilson has finally inked an extension. 1. The Jets are finally acting like a serious franchise Let's just be honest: there are a handful of NFL franchises that are best known for their sheer incompetence and organizational dysfunction. For years, the Jets have been one of them and the fiasco that was the 2024 season did not help their reputation. That could change soon and this contract is evidence of that. We've recently seen other teams who are also generally known for their ineptitude drag their feet in getting deals done with young, superstar receivers. Luckily for the fans, the Jets got a deal done with Wilson as soon as he was eligible for one. That's good business and a smart football decision, too. 2. Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner is next The Jets had previously expressed an interest in getting both of their stellar first-round picks from the 2022 draft class signed at roughly the same time. With Wilson's deal now done, they can focus more intently on getting Gardner signed to an extension, which should also run well north of $30 million per year on average. 3. The youth movement in New York is taking over Unless Justin Fields has a historic breakout season in 2025, Wilson is the clear leader of this offense despite his young age. This is not a role he could take on as a rookie, nor over the last two years when NFL legend and future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers was in the locker room. But now, with a contract extension and three seasons of at least 1,000 receiving yards under his belt, Wilson is the unquestioned leader of the offense.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Two Jets defenders make PFF's Top 50 rankings
Every year, before the NFL season begins, the analysts at Pro Football Focus put together a list of the 50 best NFL players. PFF's rankings are based mostly on a player's grade and on certain analytics, like wins-above-replacement. This year, their Top 50 list features two New York Jets, both of whom play defense: cornerback Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. 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.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sauce Gardner falls in latest cornerback rankings from ESPN
Few players have made a bigger, more immediate impact in the NFL than Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner. Immediately after the New York Jets selected him 4th overall in the 2022 NFL draft, he won Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, and was then selected as a first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowler in each of his first two seasons. This electric start to his career is a big reason why he just signed a historic contract extension. Unfortunately for Gardner, his 2024 season was a bit of a fall from grace. The entire Jets team struggled, especially in the aftermath of the firing of Robert Saleh, and even a two-time All-Pro was not immune to the setbacks. Gardner ended the season without any accolades for the first time in his career. While no one is predicting a cataclysmic slide for Gardner, there are now people around the league who wonder if perhaps Gardner's explosive entry into the NFL was more of a fluke than his real self. This sentiment is reflected in the latest rankings from ESPN, who polled anonymous NFL executives, coaches, and scouts to find the ten best players in each position group. This year, Gardner checks in at No. 5, a drop of two spots from last year's list. The highest vote cast for him was at No. 3 while at least one respondent had him entirely outside of the Top 10. One AFC staffer did not mince words when it came to Gardner: 'Lots of missed tackles and penalties and didn't make many plays last year. Too much, too soon and thought the NFL was easy.' Jets fans won't want to hear it, but that's spot-on analysis. Even in college, the big knock on his game was how much he grabbed and held receivers when he failed to win a matchup. As a rookie, Gardner appeared to inexplicably get away with a ton of uncalled holding or interference penalties. In 2024, however, the flags started to come out and Gardner struggled to respond. Another respondent, an NFC defensive coach, concurred, saying, '...he was getting put in conversations that I didn't think were legitimate or fair. When I watch the film, I see a top ten cornerback. I don't see the top three.' That's about as straightforward as it gets. Harsh, but not out of line. The analysis isn't all bad, however. Pro Football Focus is still a believer in Sauce, who they ranked as the NFL's top cornerback heading into the 2025 season. But Gardner appears to have some doubters around the league now, maybe some who had doubted him all along, and it's up to him to prove them wrong in 2025.
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Quinnen Williams' ranking takes appalling plunge on NFL Top 100 list
Every year, NFL players vote on the Top 100 players in the league for the NFL to compile into a list, and every year it generates quite a bit of buzz from the fans. Everyone has different opinions on different players, after all, so there's always a good deal of arguing about who truly deserved their spot on the list, who was snubbed, and who was ranked too high or too low. On that note, the appearance of New York Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams is no surprise. He made the list each of the last two seasons, ranking at No. 40 in 2023 and No. 37 in 2024. But this year, Williams' placement on the list takes a stunning nosedive from the Top 40 as he finds himself at No. 87 instead. That's a drop of 50 spots. This quasi-snub will be sure to stoke the ire of Jets fans everywhere. No one, not even the most hardcore of Jets fans, will deny that Williams had a down year in 2024. The entire team regressed, especially after the firing of former head coach Robert Saleh, and even team stars like Williams and Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner were not immune. Advertisement But a down year for Williams is still a solid performance. He racked up 7 sacks and 54 QB pressures in 2024, 12th and 7th most out of all defensive tackles, respectively. He finished with a disappointing yet still proficient grade of 69.6 from Pro Football Focus. And in a separate list from earlier this week, anonymous NFL executives, coaches, and scouts polled by ESPN ranked Williams as the 5th best defensive tackle in the league. As aforementioned, Williams wasn't quite as dominant in 2024 as he's been in the past. Jets fans know it, the team knows it, and Williams himself would be the first to admit it. He needs a bounce back year just as much as the next New York Jet. But sending him tumbling down 50 spots in the NFL Top 100 list is just baffling. Hopefully Williams takes this and uses it for fuel once the regular season begins.
