Pro Football Focus recently published an article that named its most underrated player on each NFL team. For the Jets, that's DT Folorunso Fatukasi.
"Dominant run defenders are always underrated in today's NFL, and the Jets have a pretty good history of developing this type of player," Sam Monson wrote. "Folorunso Fatukasi is the latest in the line. Fatukasi recorded the best PFF run-defense grade from any interior defender outside of Aaron Donald, who, it turns out, can actually play the run."
Fatukasi, a sixth-round pick out of UConn in 2018, was PFF's second-best interior DL run defender in 2020 with an 86.2 grade. He ranked No. 4 in the NFL among defensive tackles in run-stop-win rate at 42% (Quinnen Williams was No. 1 at 49%). The Jets ranked No. 1 in the NFL in team run-stop-win rate at 33%. Fatukasi has come a long way from taking three defensive snaps as a rookie in 2018. He played in 15 games in 2020, starting in 8 of them, and had 42 tacakles, 11 TFLs, 2 sacks, 2 pass defenses and 1 forced fumble.
"I feel like I did some good things this year," Fatukasi said near the end of the 2020 regular season. "I feel like there are a lot of areas I need to grow in. I felt like I continued to show that I could do some good things. What I loved most about my play this year is that everyone else around me was flying so we were all feeding off each other. I was feeding off them and I'm pretty sure they were feeding off me."
