Throughout the season, NewYorkJets.com will provide a Stock Report focusing on the Jets' upcoming matchup.
This week's report features players and/or themes that are trending before the Green & White take on the Dolphins in South Florida on Sunday afternoon.
š Jets Rush Defense
Since the Green & White allowed 147 rushing yards to the Cardinals in Week 10, it has been one of the league's best rush defenses. The Jets have yielded 87.5 rushing yards per game over the last three weeks (two games) which ranks No. 9 in the NFL and leads the league in yards per rush allowed.
The Jets yielded 39 rushing yards in Week 13, the second fewest in the NFL, while Dolphins RBs De'Von Achane and Raheem Mostert combined for 33 yards on 12 carries (2.8 avg) in Week 13 against the Packers at Lambeau Field.
š Dolphins TE Jonnu Smith
The Dolphins receiving corps is headlined by five-time first-team All-Pro WR Tyreek Hill, but TE Jonnu Smith has emerged as QB Tua Tagovailoa's go-to target. Smith leads the team with 58 receptions and his 508 receiving yards in Weeks 7-13 rank No. 2 among all tight ends in the NFL.
Signed this offseason after one season with the Falcons, Smith has generated the second-most receiving yards over expected (+112) and the most EPA (expected points added, +37.1) among tight ends in the NFL this season, according to Next Gen Stats.
He's also recorded 4 touchdowns in that span, tied for second-most among tight ends, and his 44 receptions are No. 3.
š Jets Special Teams
Against the Seahawks, the Jets became the first team in NFL history to have a kick-return TD, two fumble recoveries on kickoffs and a blocked extra point (Quinnen Williams) in one game. They did it in the first half.
RB-KR Kene Nwangwu was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week after he registered his fourth return TD in as many seasons and forced a fumble in the first quarter. Nwangwu became the 13th Jet since 1997 to return a kickoff for a touchdown and the first since Braxton Berrios in 2021.
š Penalties
The Jets and the Dolphins were each penalized frequently in Week 13. The Dolphins were flagged 10 times for 75 yards and the Jets 12 for 83, including 4 infractions on the Seahawks' game-winning drive.
"Part of that process is the penalty or the lack thereof," interim HC Jeff Ulbrich said. "Some penalties, as we've spoken about at length before, are aggressive penalties and you live with them. Solly's [Solomon Thomas] penalty with the horse-collar tackle, he's in the pit, scraping for a fourth-and-1. You're just trying to grab at whatever you can get grab at and sometimes you get it. The beauty of that play was the minute he realized, he let it go and that wasn't ultimately what tackled the guy, so if you get called for stuff like that, I think we can live with those.
"The ones you can't live with are the illegal shifts, illegal formations, the delay of games, the offside, those are absolutely unacceptable. They are an illustration and demonstration of lack of discipline at times, so got to be better in that way."
