Six games into the Jets’ season, there have been plenty of surprises.
You can start with Aaron Rodgers’ shocking injury on the first series of the first game. Then, you can go to the Jets righting the ship to play well in a loss to the Chiefs and then finding a way to beat the Eagles on Sunday and go to the bye at 3-3.
Along the way, there have been some individuals who have performed better or worse than anticipated entering the year.
Here are three of each that stand out:
Pleasant surprises
Mekhi Becton, OT
There was a thought early in training camp that Becton might be traded or not even make the team. Becton received no reps with the starters until late August. The coaches seemed intent on making him earn his spot. Becton played well in the preseason, but there were questions about whether he could stay healthy enough to be a factor. It felt as if he won the right tackle job by default after Max Mitchell and Billy Turner played poorly.
But since getting a chance in August, Becton has played well. He began the year at right tackle and shifted to left tackle after Duane Brown was injured in Week 2. Becton has shown durability, only missing a few snaps this season. He played through clear pain in Denver, coming out twice but returning.
Becton is credited by Pro Football Focus with allowing four sacks. He did not have a great game Sunday against the Eagles, but has been pretty good in the Jets’ other games.
This was a player whom the Jets had no expectations for coming into training camp after he missed the past two seasons. The Jets would tell you anything they got from Becton was gravy.
So far, he has been a reliable player for them on their offensive line and has shown some of the form that made him a first-round pick in 2020.
Bryce Huff, DE
Huff has shown potential since signing with the Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2020, but this year he has turned that potential into production. Huff has 34 quarterback pressures and 2 ½ sacks, and only recently has he started playing more than 25 snaps a game.
Huff always has been lightning-quick off the line. But he was a liability against the run, so he would only play on third downs. He has proven this season he can be tough against the run and now is becoming an every-down option for the Jets defense.
Huff is scheduled to be a free agent after the season, and it will be fascinating to see what he gets paid.
He is an ascending star on the Jets defense and has been a much bigger piece than anyone could have anticipated.
Quincy Williams, LB
The Jets picked up Williams off the waiver wire at the beginning of the 2021 season. Williams showed his speed and hitting ability early on that season, but he tended to play out of control and would often overrun plays.
This season, Williams is playing at a Pro Bowl level. He is all over the field, and has been strong both against the run and in coverage. Williams and C.J. Mosley have given the Jets one of the best linebacker combinations in the NFL. He has 31 stops this season, per PFF. Williams made one of the biggest plays of the Jets season when he got the strip-sack on Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson to seal that win. No one is referring to him as just Quinnen’s brother anymore.
Unpleasant surprises
Randall Cobb, WR
I don’t think anyone had crazy expectations for the 33-year-old Cobb. Many people viewed him as a signing just to keep Rodgers happy. But he has been terrible.
PFF has Cobb ranked No. 112 out of 113 wide receivers they have ranked.
He almost has as many drops (2) as catches (3). The highlight of his season was a two-point conversion Sunday against the Eagles.
It feels like a matter of time before Xavier Gipson begins getting snaps over Cobb.
Mecole Hardman, WR
Amazingly, Cobb is on the field because the Jets trust him more than Hardman. The team signed Hardman to a one-year, $4 million contract in the offseason, but he has been a complete and total non-factor this year to the point where he was inactive against the Broncos.
The coaches clearly don’t trust Hardman, and it would be a surprise if he is on the team past the Oct. 31 trade deadline. This one was a swing and a miss by general manager Joe Douglas.
Carl Lawson, DE
The big free-agent signing from 2021 has become a part-time role player in 2023. Lawson has been inactive for two games and played 15 or fewer snaps in two others. He has no sacks and just two pressures.
Lawson had a back injury in training camp, so maybe we should have seen this coming. But the Jets never made it sound too serious. Lawson has not looked like his explosive self, which could be the back injury hurting him.
The Jets also have too many good edge rushers for all of them to play. The emergences of Huff and Jermaine Johnson, as well as wanting first-round pick Will McDonald to play, have limited Lawson’s chances to play.
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Stat’s so
Breece Hall is off to a strong start in his second season with the Jets. Hall has rushed for 426 yards, already the 16th-best total by a second-year running back in Jets history.
It’s déjà vu all over again
There are a lot of similarities right now between this season and last season.
The Jets are winning with outstanding defense and hoping the quarterback does not make a mistake. That is how the Jets got to 5-2 last season when they beat the Steelers, Dolphins, Packers and Broncos in October.
It feels as if they are doing it again.
Last season, the Jets beat the Bills for a big upset win before the bye. This year, they beat the Eagles.
Now, the question becomes whether the Jets can avoid what happened last year when they collapsed after the bye.
I do think this team is better equipped to sustain winning this year. This defense is better than last year’s defense, which beat up on a lot of backup quarterbacks. This group has made Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts look bad.
Then, there is Hall, who was lost for the season in Week 7 last year. A healthy Hall is the key to the Jets offense doing anything.
It will be fascinating to watch the Jets down the stretch and to see whether they can avoid a repeat of last year’s collapse.
A return by Rodgers couldn’t hurt either.