A surprising New York Jets standout has suddenly been thrust under the microscope.
Zoltán Buday of Pro Football Focus revealed the top 10 NFL players “with the most to prove in 2025,” and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams cracked the list.
“Many players on the Jets’ defense will want to prove that the 2024 season was just a fluke. The unit, which was considered to be one of the best defenses in the league in previous seasons, if not the best, significantly underperformed.
Williams was no exception. Across 2022 and 2023, he earned a 91.5 PFF overall grade, which ranked fourth in the NFL over that period, behind only Dexter Lawrence, Chris Jones, and Aaron Donald. In 2024, his 69.6 PFF overall grade ranked only 28th among interior defenders. While he won 19.1% of his pass-rush snaps in 2023, his clip dipped to 14.2% in 2024.
Similar to the rest of the Jets’ defense, Williams is looking to show that he is still at the top of his game under new head coach Aaron Glenn,” Buday explained.
Williams Created Some Headlines This Offseason
Williams, 27, has three years remaining on his $96 million contract through the 2027 season. That is the largest deal in the Jets’ franchise history, both in terms of overall value and average per year.
This offseason, the Jets chose to move on from four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, voluntarily opting to join the quarterback carousel once again.
Williams wasn’t happy about that decision and shared his displeasure on social media.
“Another rebuild year for me I guess 🙄,” Williams tweeted and then quickly deleted on X. The damage was already done.
The former Alabama product’s response went viral, and that sparked questions about his football future. Williams’ response was understandable considering Rodgers was the best quarterback he has played with during his Jets career. However, at the same time, sending that type of message as a team captain can ruffle a lot of feathers in the locker room.
When Williams met with the media at the beginning of the offseason, he took full accountability for his actions.
“I definitely think it was an immature thing for me to do at that moment out of emotions and frustrations,” Williams explained to the media. “I hadn’t talked to Aaron [Glenn] previous to that … Talking to him, talking to the staff and everybody else just got me super excited and super confident that we’re going in the right direction.”
The Former Alabama Star Has a Chance to Breakout in This System
The Jets coaching staff and players have been super secretive with personnel information this offseason. It is still unclear exactly what kind of schematics the Jets will be running on the defensive side of the ball.
History tells us it’ll be a 4-3 alignment, with tons of man coverage, and a lot of blitzing. The previous regime rarely ever blitzed, instead relying on the front four to get home.
Instead of having to create destruction by himself, Williams should be able to capitalize on the exotic blitz schemes that defensive coordinator Steve Wilks cooks up.
Williams has developed a nice floor as a pass rusher. In five of his six seasons, Williams has recorded at least 5.5 sacks. However, he has only reached the double-digit plateau once, and that was back in 2022 when he earned first-team All-Pro honors.
That player is still in there; we’ll see if Wilks and head coach Aaron Glenn can get it back out.
