After each game, we typically highlight three defensive and three offensive players and look in detail at their performance. We’ll start today with the defense:
Watts the occasion?
Eric Watts showed progress over the course of last season and played well against the run in a rotational role down the stretch. However, he’s been stuck on the practice squad all season in 2025. He got his first chance to play on Sunday, though, against a Falcons team with an impressive running game.
That running game was still successful, as Atlanta racked up 167 yards on the ground, along with two touchdowns. This included four runs of 12 yards or more. Most of that production, of course, came from the impressive Bijan Robinson.
Watts wasn’t to blame for this running game success and, actually, you could probably say it likely would have been a lot worse if Braiden McGregor or Tyler Baron – each of whom were inactive – were used in the same role as Watts displays impressive strength at the point of attack.
Although Watts was in the game for two of those runs of 12 of more, gains of 12 and 13, it would be fair to say he did his job on these, setting the edge on one by getting upfield to force a cutback and forcing the runner out wide on the other by penetrating into the backfield.
Watts was credited with three tackles, the best of which was probably this one (although Quincy Williams deserves most of the credit for his read and beating the block here).
Watts, who didn’t register any pressures when rushing the passer, has been patient in waiting for his chance and did a solid job. Whether this was specifically because of the opponent and their running game or something they plan to explore further, it likely increased his chances of being back in a similar role next year.
In-Clemon’t Weather
After a slow start, Micheal Clemons has settled back into a rotational role on defense and was obviously going to be an important player against a run-heavy opponent.
He made a rare contribution against the pass, though, as he recorded his first sack in 20 games with this impressive bull rush:
Clemons had started off well rushing the passer last year with 4.5 sacks in the first nine games, but his production dropped off a cliff when Haason Reddick was activated and he stopped getting reps on passing downs. Hopefully, this sack is a sign he can start producing more in this area. For what it’s worth, his pressure rates have remained consistent.
Against the run, Clemons did a solid role and although he was on the field for all four of the 12+ runs, none of them were really his fault, although he arguably came downhill too aggressively, allowing himself to be sealed off, on the play where Robinson cut back for 26.
This was his best play and, in fact, the only other tackle he was credited with apart from his sack.
Clemons has had one of the most consistent roles on the team this year, as his snap count has been between 30 and 43 in every single game.
Another point worth noting is that he has zero penalties since week three. That’s a sign he’s listening to what his coaches want from him.
As a pending free agent, Clemons is a very interesting case. It would make sense that he might like to move on from the Jets, given the abuse he gets from a certain corner of the fanbase who have decided he’s not a good player. Based on how he’s performed this season, it’s possible the market will feel otherwise once he’s a free agent.
Ja’Sir, I can boogie
Sunday gave us our first real look at cornerback Ja’Sir Taylor, who was an under-the-radar trade deadline addition with all the focus instead on the Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner deals. Taylor had a role in the slot with Jarvis Brownlee ruled out.
While the Jets geared up against the run with a lot of base packages (including some 3-4, which was a new wrinkle), Taylor was out there in sub-packages so he saw action on 30 snaps.
While he had three tackles and only gave up one catch on three targets with a pass break-up, Taylor made an impression for the wrong reasons when he overpursued and missed an arm tackle on Robinson’s touchdown run and then also overpursued and whiffed on David Sills V for another Falcons touchdown.
Taylor was in on a couple of tackles on short passes underneath and his best play saw him come up to make a third down tackle short of the marker just after Tyrod Taylor’s touchdown run had tied the score. The receiver actually lost the ball on the hit, so Taylor was credited with a pass defensed here.
Although Taylor ended up with mixed results, he was by no means overmatched out there in the latest example of the Jets losing a starter and not experiencing much of a drop-off with the next man up. That speaks to Aaron Glenn’s coaching and Steve Wilks’ system, but is also a credit to Taylor who has been contributing on special teams but could also be a useful depth piece on this evidence.
Taylor is in the last year of his rookie deal, so is really just a rental until the end of the season. However, if he continues to play a part, and enjoys playing here, then the Jets have the inside track on bringing him back on a low-risk deal next season.
Three-on-O will follow tomorrow.