Justin Fields sure has produced some interesting and promising metrics over his four seasons of growth as an NFL quarterback. We've detailed some of those numbers over the past two weeks
But what about the rest of the Jets' first free agency class under the direction of GM Darren Mougey and HC Aaron Glenn? Consensus may be that it's not an exciting group, but many of the members of the class have put up some wow combination statistics in their time in the NFL before becoming Jets. Here are some selected numbers from the group:
Nnadi: Chiefly a Winning Profile
Derrick Nnadi didn't rack up big D-line stats in his first seven NFL seasons, all with Kansas City, but he did the dirty work on the DL interior, drawing double teams and sticking his face in the fan to bring down opposing backs for minimal gains.
The results have been availability and winning defensive football for the Chiefs. In the past four NFL seasons of 17-game schedules, only 50 players have played in all 68 regular-season games. Only 14 of those were offensive, 13 were defensive and 23 were special teamers. And Nnadi was one of just four NTs and DTs to play in every game of every regular season since 2021.
Of those 50 hearty souls, the top three with the best team winning percentage in all the games they played, not surprisingly, are all Chiefs. Nnadi for the defense, C Creed Humphrey for the offense and LS James Winchester for the specialists all contributed to KC's remarkable 52-16 record in the past four seasons.
Stephens: Available and Productive
Brandon Stephens' PFF pass defense grades weren't high, but Baltimore rolled with him because he was always ready to play and be productive for a winning defense. A great measure of that is his 33 starts and 2,015 D-snaps for the 2023-24 Ravens, who posted a .727 winning percentage (23-11) in the games he started.
Stephens is one of only three CBs since 2015, and the only one from the AFC, with at least 30 starts and 2,000 snaps for a team with at least a .700 winning percentage in back-to-back seasons. The others were Josh Norman for Washington in 2015-16 and James Bradberry for Philadelphia in '22-23.
Cisco: Wearer of Many Safety Hats
"Bringing the best out of everybody is my job," Andre Cisco said of his role in four seasons in Jacksonville's deep middle. Another job of his is to hawk the ball, which he has done well in his past three seasons with the Jaguars: 8 INTs, tied for ninth among all NFL safeties, and 22 PDs, tied for 13th.
And if we add tackles to the mix, Cisco's 199 defensive tackles (not including 3 more on specials) make him one of just seven NFL safeties from 2022-24 to amass at least 150 tackles, 8 INTs and 20 PDs.
Weaver: In Good Company in '22
Rashad Weaver seemed to be a victim of circumstances the past two seasons. In '23, Harold Landry returned from a season-long injury and Arden Key arrived via free agency, relegating Weaver to mostly special teams work with Tennessee. The next year HC Mike Vrabel was out, Brian Callahan was in, and Weaver was a final cut and then an infrequent contributor with the Texans. Technically, he signed with the Jets not as a UFA but as a street FA.
But Weaver's 2022 season with the Titans perhaps showed what he can contribute to the Jets' defense. He lined up in 3- and 4-man fronts, 3- and 4-point stances, either end of the line. And he compiled career highs in games played (16) and started (4), defensive snaps (640), tackles (45), sacks (5.5), QB hits (15), pass defenses (6) and forced fumbles (2).
In the past three NFL seasons, only a handful of linebackers besides Weaver reached at least 5 sacks, 10 QBHs, 5 PDs and 2 FFs in a season: Devin White, Tampa Bay in '22; T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh, Jadeveon Clowney, Baltimore, Khalil Mack, L.A. Chargers, and former Jet Frankie Luvu, Carolina, all in '23, and Mack alone in '24.
Myers: In the Center of It All
Never leaving the field doesn't mean you're an unstoppable monster, but especially on the OL it can mean making key contributions play after play for a very good offense. That was Josh Myers' game at Green Bay. The past three seasons he played in 50 of the Packers' 51 regular-season games, making 50 starts. Those starts were fourth-most among NFL centers from 2022-24, and Myers' 3,046 combined O-snaps was third-most among C's from '22-24.
Smartt: Downfield Dimension
Stone Smartt didn't get a lot of offensive love his first three NFL seasons with the Chargers, but when he got in the formation he usually caught the ball downfield a bit. In the 2023-24 seasons combined, Smartt had 27 catches for 363 yards. That's 13.4 yards/catch, and if we lower the bar for receptions to at least 25 catches the past two seasons, he had the No. 2 per-catch average among NFL tight ends, trailing only San Francisco's George Kittle, who had a few more opportunities (143 catches) and got a little further downfield (14.9 yards/catch).
Boyd: Filling the ST Void
Kris Boyd may be listed as a corner but he has really been a force on special teams. And while the Jets lost Ashtyn Davis, their top takeaway guy on D and ST, in free agency, they filled that void with Boyd, who had even better numbers as a coverage and loose ball magnet specialist.
In his last six NFL seasons, split among Minnesota, Arizona and Houston, in all games (including playoffs), Boyd has racked up 42 tackles in kick coverage, a very solid but not great amount, but he has recovered six fumbles and forced two more, all on teams. Three of his recoveries were of opponents' fumbles, three of fumbles by his own team's returners.
In the last 10 seasons, Boyd is the only NFL special teamer with 40-plus tackles and 6-plus fumble recoveries in a six-season span. The last to do it was New England's Justin Bethel with 80 tackles and 6 recoveries from 2014-19.
