After each game, we’ll be highlighting three defensive and three offensive players and looking in detail at their performance. We’ll start today with the defense:
We Three Kinlaws
Javon Kinlaw was brought in during the offseason on a one-year deal, having finally put his injuries behind him and started to produce in the final year of his rookie contract. Add in some excellent postseason moments and hopes were high that he was ready to take his game to the next level with Robert Saleh – his defensive coordinator when he was drafted in the first round – as his coach.
Kinlaw looked good early in the year but, with Saleh fired, his season has somewhat stagnated and he seems to have been a disappointment.
Nevertheless, he’s started all 15 games – the only defensive player other than Quincy Williams and Micheal Clemons to do so – and his grades and production are on a par with last year. He’s set a career high for defensive snaps and total tackles and his sack/hit numbers are basically the same as last year with two games still to go. His pressure percentage is down but only marginally.
Kinlaw has, to a degree, suffered from expectations being too high because he is earning $7m for this season and is a former first round pick, but even putting that aside his performances do leave a lot to be desired.
He’s quick out of the blocks at the snap, but once his man gets his hands on him, it seems like he’s too easily controlled.
All too often this week he was driven back or sealed off at the line, which is something that’s been a constant problem all year, one which was magnified by Quinnen Williams being absent.
Kinlaw did draw a holding penalty by penetrating on one run and hustled over to get in on the assist as Solomon Thomas stuffed a run at the line late in the fourth, but otherwise his impact in the running game was minimal. His two other tackles came on runs that went for first downs anyway.
He didn’t have much success as a pass rusher either, although the one time he got in Matthew Stafford’s face, it led to a turnover.
With two games left in his season, Kinlaw is looking more like a guy that the Jets will be looking to upgrade from than one who is likely to be back.
Rudolph the Reddick-Nosed Reindeer
Speaking of players some fans might view as just going through the motions before they leave, Haason Reddick’s expected impact never truly materialized. Following his lengthy holdout, he continues to come off the bench and is averaging less than 40 defensive snaps per game.
Reddick entered Sunday with nine tackles, half a sack, two tackles for loss and a quarterback hit in seven games. On Sunday, he again had no tackles or sacks, but did at least register a pass deflection and this quarterback hit.
That quarterback hit was the only time he got near Stafford all day, though, and as you can see, he didn’t beat anyone, just got to hit him as he stepped up and released the throw.
Is Reddick suddenly incapable of getting to the quarterbacks or just coasting to collect a pay check? He looked good in his first two appearances, with 11 total pressures. Since then? Eight in six games.
The one pass deflection he had was almost a big play as Isaiah Oliver could have had a pick-six but seemed to lose it in the sunlight. But he had no impact against the run and, like Kinlaw, was too often easily controlled at the line.
The Reddick deal obviously never worked out as planned with the one saving grace perhaps being that at least they didn’t commit any money to him after this year.
He’s not going to earn any of those incentives either…
Clark, the herald angels sing!
Chuck Clark is back in the lineup as a starting safety but continues to be a player who Jets fans are yet to see the best of. On Sunday, he had seven tackles, including this terrific open field stop on Puka Nacua.
Otherwise, Clark’s impact was minimal. Four of his tackles came on runs that went for gains of between seven and 10 yards. He did get in on two run stops near the line but those plays were late in the fourth quarter.
Clark didn’t really give anything up in coverage, other than being the closest man on a screen pass that went for 18. However, he was sealed off on a short yardage run and blocked out of the play down the field on a big run (albeit that it was negated by a penalty).
He also had two missed tackles, one on the play where Kyren Williams slipped his tackle and then drove the pile for several extra yards and another down the field on Nacua. He arguably could have made the tackle on Williams in the hole on his touchdown run too.
Clark was supposed to bring the Jets a veteran presence with experience of being part of a winning program but, having missed all of last year due to an injury, any tangible influence on the 2024 Jets has been difficult to see.
Much like Reddick and Kinlaw (and several other defensive contributors), he’s also out of contract at the end of the year. All three will probably be low down on the team’s priority list to bring back.
Three-on-O will follow tomorrow.