The New York Jets couldn’t trade out of the third pick in the draft, but they emerged as winners anyway by selecting Alabama defensive tackle Quinnen Williams instead.
Sometimes the best deals are the ones that you don’t make. The Jets may find that to be the case this year, who tried to trade down to recoup draft capital but instead ended up with Alabama defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, who may be the best player in this class.
Williams was reportedly a favorite of new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who built a tremendous defense in Los Angeles on the strength of a dominant front headlined by Aaron Donald. The Jets can now pair Quinnen Williams, who is a physical freak at 6’3″, 303 pounds with 4.8 speed, with Leonard Williams to terrify opposing quarterbacks up front.
This continues a trend for Jets’ General Manager Mike Maccagnan, who has had the good fortune of having top prospects fall into his lap at the top of the draft. Besides Quinnen, the Jets have had players who drew hype as the potential best player falls to them in 2015 (Leonard Williams at 6), 2017 (Jamal Adams at 6) and 2018 (Sam Darnold at 3).
Even though some of their fans wanted the Jets to draft Josh Allen to give the franchise the edge rusher it has lacked since John Abraham was traded to Atlanta in 2005, Williams should prove to be the better fit. The key to disrupting Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady, who is still the gold standard of the AFC East, is to get pressure up the middle.
Williams can not only work with Leonard Williams to collapse the pocket, he is also an excellent run defender, allowing him to not only make plays there but clear blockers for the Jets’ revamped linebacker corps, headlined by former Raven C.J. Mosley. The Jets may emerge as the biggest winners of draft night with Quinnen Williams in town to serve as a potential anchor for their defensive front, and that may be worth far more than whatever picks they could have landed in a trade.