Defensive players have goals, too, and just like the offensive players we singled out in Friday's Part I of Inside the Numbers: Personal Goals for '24, some defenders have some big numbers in mind, too. Some are team- and league-sized, others are more modest improvements. Here are some numbers that some of the Jets defensive players will be attacking this season.

DL Quinnen Williams
A "filter stat" may capture what Williams does best. "Q" is the only Jet since 2016 with at least 60 tackles, 5 sacks, 60 pressures and 20 hits in a season. And that season was 2023, when Williams' line read 62-5.5-70-20. He's already in the Aaron Donald/DeForest Buckner interior DL neighborhood. And he's almost ready to move on up to NY Sack Exchange territory, since if he earns his third consecutive Pro Bowl nod after this season, he'd join Joe Klecko and Mark Gastineau of NYSE fame as the only Jets D-linemen to go 3-for-3 since they did it together from 1983-85.

LB Jermaine Johnson
For his Pro Bowl encore, how about double-digit sacks for Johnson? He had 7.5 last season, and if he gets to 10, he'd be the first LB to reach that total since Calvin Pace had 10 in 2013 and the first LB to lead the Jets with DD sacks since Mo Lewis had 10 in 2000. As amazing as it might seem, those are the top-sacking 'backers in franchise history, since virtually all of the top sackers have been D-linemen. Johnson's a hybrid, listed as a LB but lining up as a standup edge most of the time, but let's not quibble. With 11 sacks, Johnson would have the record for most by a Jets LB in a season.

DL Javon Kinlaw
If we were to provide a "By the Numbers" list for Kinlaw, it might be 6-9-330, as in six chicken cutlets for his normal lunch, nine eggs for breakfast, and a protein-packed 330 pounds of relentless run-stopper and pocket-pusher. Kinlaw's football numbers aren't as impressive yet — he set career highs with the 49ers last season with 17 games played, 3.5 sacks, 4 TFLs and 6 QB hits. But as he told Ethan Greenberg earlier this month, "This year's been my first time feeling like I can really be who I think I can be, who I know I can be." So no specific numbers for Kinlaw but it will be cool watching him surpass some of those modest personal bests and helping the rush defense bring some of their numbers down.

LB C.J. Mosley
"The Captain" already has 1,061 career tackles, with 478 of those coming as the Jets' MLB. And in '24 Mosley can become the first Jets defender to post four consecutive 150-tackle seasons. Many have tried but none are believed to have scaled that peak in the Green mountains. (Mo Lewis came very close from 1992-95, and Kyle Clifton had five 150s in a six-season span, with the only "low" total coming in the nine-game 1987 strike season.)

LB Quincy Williams
Williams does a little bit of everything but one of the things he doe best is operate on the other side of the LOS. Not including sacks, this "Q" had 18 tackles for loss/no gain on rush and pass plays, the most by a Jet since Sheldon Richardson's 20 in 2016. Winnowing out the no-gains, Quincy's 13.5 TFLs topped Richardson's 13 that season and are among the most by a Jets defender. Do I hear 14?

CB Sauce Gardner
No Joe Namath guarantees, but it seems highly likely that Gardner, after two interceptions as a rookie and none last year, will get multiple thefts this time around, especially if opposing offenses under pressure find that they have to throw Sauce's way a bit more than they did last year. Gardner also has 32 pass defenses as a pro, and with a healthy but not undoable 25 PDs, his 57 would give him the most by any NFL player in a three-season span since Richard Shermans' 57 PDs from 2011-13.

We'll catch up with the kickers in a future Inside the Numbers. And for one very important team goal the Jets are aware of and are pursuing, check out my next Inside the Numbers on Friday, three days before everything gets real on Sept. 9.