During the 2023NFLseason, the Jets found stability on defense, instability along the offensive line and got notable contributions from their rookies and younger players. Here's a look at the snap count and how playing time was distributed this season.
Defensive Dependability
The Jets' defense finished the season No. 3 in yards allowed (292.3 per game), No. 2 in first downs allowed (17.5 per game) and was rated the top defense in the league by Pro Football Focus (90.1). The success came in part because of continuity and availability. All 11 of the Jets' Week 1 starters on defense finished in the team's top 15 for most defensive snaps played and only one starter finished the season on injured reserve – DL Quinton Jefferson (469 snaps, 41.3%).
Linebackers C.J. Mosley (1,128, 99.2%) and Quincy Williams (1,093, 96.1%) led the defense in total snaps played. Key members of the secondary, S Jordan Whitehead (1,078, 94.8%), CB Sauce Gardner (1,051, 92.4%), CB D.J. Reed (993, 87.3%) and S Tony Adams (879, 77.3%), were close behind.
Along the D-Line, All-Pro Quinnen Williams (779, 68.5%) and second-year pass rusher Jermaine Johnson (748, 65.8%) led the group in snaps.
Rookies Came to Play
On offense, the Jets leaned on center Joe Tippmann, a second-round pick (No. 43) in April's NFL Draft. He played the fourth-most snaps on offense (854, 77.6%) for the Green & White, making 10 starts at center and 4 at right guard. In addition, Tippmann was the No. 1 rated rookie center by Pro Football Focus (61.0). T Carter Warren, who the Jets selected in the fourth round (No. 120), started 5 games and played the fifth-most snaps (403, 36.6%) of any lineman.
At the skill positions, the Jets undrafted WRs Xavier Gipson (496, 45.1%) and Jason Brownlee (311, 28.3%) played the most. On defense, only first round pick (No. 15) Will McDonald played significant snaps (184, 16.18%).
Take a look through some of the best photos throughout the Jets 2023 season.
The O-Line Shuffle
Left Guard Laken Tomlinson led the way for the Jets as the only player on either side of the ball to play 100% of the snaps (1,101). The veteran O-lineman, who signed with New York in 2022, has missed 1 offensive snap in the last two seasons.
Despite Tomlinson's reliability, the Jets O-Line was in a constant flux this season due to injury. The Jets started 13 different O-line combinations in 17 games. Over an 11-week span (from Week 5 to Week 16) they started a different front each week.
T Mekhi Becton played the second most snaps among O-Linemen (987, 89.6%) starting the first two weeks at RT before switching to LT where he started 14 times over the final 15 games. Besides Tomlinson, Becton and Tippmann, no Jets O-lineman played more than 50% of the offensive snaps, and13 different players saw time on the O-line.
An Injection of Youth
Following cutdown day at the end of training camp, the Jets had the second-oldest roster in the NFL by average age (27.0). At the end of the season, the final snap counts show that the Jets leaned on their roster's young players who were 25 years old and younger, taking 44.7% of the snaps on offense and defense.
The offense, featuring players such as WR Garrett Wilson (1,008, 91.6%) and Breece Hall (667, 60.6%), had players 25 and younger play 55.6% of the snaps. For the defense, the number was a bit lower at 34.1%.
