Quincy Williams last season became an All-Pro for the first time and was also voted the Jets' Team MVP in a vote by his teammates. To say the linebacker came out of nowhere would be an understatement. He was cut by Jacksonville and has ended up being a waiver-wire home run for GM Joe Douglas.
As strong a season as Williams had last year, he said that his focus in the offseason is not only getting his hands on opponents. It's getting his hands on the ball.
"The biggest thing I've been working on are turnovers this year," he said. "I think I dropped like seven interceptions and only got one of them last year. So I'm working on my hands, hand-eye coordination, finding the air behind the ball when I'm punching it out and then just being a leader this year and not just playing a role."
Since being claimed off waivers by the Jets in 2021, in 2023 no doubt Williams had the best year of his NFL career earning first-team All-Pro honors, though he was not named to his first Pro Bowl. Williams and C.J. Mosley each surpassed 100 tackles for an elite defense, with the two finishing among the top 15 in the league in tackles.
"We're on the same page this year," Williams said of his relationship with Mosley. "Then on top of that we're actually getting to call our own stuff, too. So it's like we're both sitting back and playing Madden."
After OTAs and minicamp, Williams said he's enjoyed the time before training camp to get to know some of the team's younger players.
"You get to run your plays and then we get a chance for the younger guys to come in and get ahead of training camp which is just speed, speed, speed," he said. "So you kind of get a chance to slow it down and get to talk to the younger guys like, all right, this is what we've seen during the season, this is what you're going to see right now, so it's like a slower camp. That's what I really like about it.
"Then you get done early and you actually get to hang out with the players. So this is the time we find out each other's why, like why they're playing football. So when training camp comes and then the season comes I'm actually talking to them through their why, like when they have trouble and things or are just tired, just remember your why. And then it just snaps back to them. But I wouldn't know it unless I hang out with them."
Joe Tippmann Makes NFL All-Breakout Team
Quiet time again in the NFL and NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks wrote about his pick of players -- in his first installment of 11 guys on offense -- whom he expects to make a leap in the coming season in his 2024 All-Breakout Team.
The Jets' second-year center Joe Tippmann is among the players who "have yet to receive any All-Pro or Pro Bowl honors, but I believe they could garner consideration with their play in the coming campaign."
Tippmann was the Jets' second-round pick in 2023 (No. 43) out of Wisconsin, where he played at center while also blocking for RB Braelon Allen, one of the team's draft picks in April. Tippmann was not expected to see much playing time early on, but was pressed into duty first on the offensive line before sliding over to his more familiar position when veteran Connor McGovern was injured.
"Tippmann didn't make his first regular-season appearance until Week 3 last season, and he didn't move from right guard to center until Week 9, with the Aaron Rodgers-less Jets winning just three of Tippmann's 10 starts from that point forward," Brooks wrote. "Rodgers' return from the Achilles injury that cost him all but four offensive snaps in 2023 should make life easier for Tippmann at the point of attack.
"The four-time MVP quarterback can alleviate some of the stress on Tippmann to make all the calls at the line while helping the young pivot master some of the nuances of playing the position. As a scrappy blocker with exceptional length and athleticism, the former second-rounder could settle into his role in Year 2 and show more dominance after flashing blue-chip potential."
