Sunday was another overall gloomy day for the Jets, but a few bright spots emerged in the form of New York’s rookie class.
It wasn’t enough to prevent the Jets from dropping their sixth game of the season, but a couple of Gang Green’s rookies stepped up and played well against the Jaguars. At 1-6, all New York has to look forward to at this point is the future. It helps that the Jets have a rookie class that is actually producing and gives the team hope.
With that being said, let’s take a look at the latest edition of the Jets Wire rookie power rankings series.
No. 5: TE Trevon Wesco
Last Week: No. 5
One of New York’s tight ends had himself a game, but it was not Trevon Wesco.
The West Virginia product watched while starter Ryan Griffin caught two touchdowns and a two-point conversion. Wesco has not been able to make any kind of impact as a receiver. His opportunities to do so will become even more scarce when Chris Herndon returns from injury.
No. 4: OT Chuma Edoga
Last Week: No. 4
Edoga started in place of the injured Kelvin Beachum at left tackle for the second consecutive week and was once again part of an offensive line that failed to protect Sam Darnold and create holes for Le’Veon Bell.
The USC product was tasked with slowing down fellow rookie Josh Allen for most of the afternoon and failed to do so, allowing him to record two sacks and three quarterback hits.
Edoga was raw coming out of college, so it’s not much of a surprise that he is struggling early in his career. He’ll get better as he continues to play, but he’ll likely be relegated to backup duty once Beachum returns.
No. 3: DT Quinnen Williams
Last Week: No. 3
Williams didn’t play poorly against the Jaguars, but didn’t make too much noise in the trenches, recording only three tackles, one quarterback hit and 0.5 TFLs.
Williams’ performance against Jacksonville was typical of what he has produced all season — solid, but not spectacular. The Jets need their No. 3 overall pick to fall more on the spectacular side of the spectrum moving forward in order for their defense to improve defending the run and getting to the quarterback.
No. 2: LB Blake Cashman
Last Week: No. 2
Cashman gets bounced out of the top spot in the rankings by Kyle Phillips, but the one-spot fall has nothing to do with the way he performed against the Jaguars.
Cashman turned in his usual solid showing against Jacksonville, registering six tackles while serving as the elder statesman of New York’s insider linebacker duo experience-wise with both C.J. Mosley and Neville Hewitt sidelined.
The Minnesota product has been nothing but productive for the Jets in his first season with the team. Expect that to continue moving forward.
No. 1: DE Kyle Phillips
Last Week: No. 2
The more Kyle Phillips plays, the better he gets.
Starting at defensive end in place of Henry Anderson for the second consecutive week, the undrafted free agent out of Tennessee turned in the best performance of his career with five tackles (three of which came for a loss), 1 quarterback hit and 0.5 sacks.
There’s no debating that the Jets found a diamond in the rough in Phillips at this point. He’s earned himself a serious share of playing time and it’s not hard to see him remaining in the starting lineup once Anderson returns.
