It’s been a tough season so far for the Jets, but there have been some signs of progress from some of their rookie class. Let’s check on the status of this year’s rookies.
OT Olu Fashanu
Although Fashanu started off on the bench, he’s been a valuable reserve, filling in at right tackle, right guard and left tackle due to injuries. In all, he’s started three games and played almost 300 snaps. He’s had some ups and downs, with three penalties, but has only allowed one sack so far.
Unsurprisingly, his best start of the season was on Sunday against the Colts because that was the first time he’s been able to start at left tackle. Fashanu played left tackle throughout his college career and obviously feels most comfortable there. That’s where his future is, so the Jets might be happy to get him as many reps as possible in that role, even if Tyron Smith recovers from his current neck issue.
WR Malachi Corley
After an impressive training camp, Corley didn’t make much of an impact in preseason and barely saw the field during the first half of the season. When he finally got a chance to make an impact against Houston, he made a costly blunder as he dropped the ball before crossing the goal line to erase what would have been his first NFL touchdown.
Since that time, Corley has been seeing more playing time with Mike Williams having been traded to free up an opportunity. However, Allen Lazard’s return from injured reserve could send him back to the bench. Corley, who has just three catches so far, hasn’t had any opportunities yet to showcase his abilities after the catch, which earned him the moniker “The YAC King” in college.
RB Braelon Allen
Allen made a strong start to the season as he averaged 4.8 yards per carry and caught seven passes in the first four games. He also scored the winning touchdown against the Titans. However, his production has dipped since that time, as he has averaged just 2.8 yards per carry and caught only three passes over the last seven games.
While he’s still been useful in short yardage situations and has impressed with his burst and power at times, the Jets inability to establish the run has prevented them from being able to increase Allen’s workload, especially with Breece Hall demanding plenty of touches. He has looked promising though.
QB Jordan Travis
Travis remains on the non-football injury list as he continues to recover from a serious leg injury last season. This could end up being a redshirt year for him, but the Jets may consider at least activating him for practice down the stretch so he can get some valuable experience, depending on his physical condition.
RB Isaiah Davis
Playing behind Hall and Allen has meant that Davis hasn’t seen the field much on offense, but he’s been contributing on special teams as he has been sharing kickoff return duties with Xavier Gipson and made four tackles in kick coverage. On offense, opportunities have been scant, but he has made 28 yards and three first downs on his five touches.
CB Qwan’tez Stiggers
Stiggers looked primed to be a key rotational contributor during training camp and had an impressive preseason. However, he’s been unable to get on the field on defense with players like Isaiah Oliver, Brandin Echols and Kendall Sheffield getting reps ahead of him when starters missed time. He’s made a few plays on special teams, but his impact so far has been disappointing. However, as Stiggers never played college football, this perhaps should have been anticipated.
Undrafted rookie recap
The Jets have actually received better production from their undrafted rookies than most of their draft class, which included one player – safety Jaylen Key – who didn’t even make the team. Defensive linemen Braiden McGregor, Eric Watts and Leonard Taylor III have all made rotational contributions so far this season, although McGregor has been a healthy scratch five times.
Taylor looks to have the most potential out of this trio as he’s already established himself as a useful interior backup with 15 tackles, four tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, 1.5 sacks and a pass breakup in 15 games. However, Watts has also recently started to show some promise as a run stopper on the edge.
Conclusions
The production from the Jets’ rookies this year has been disappointing so far, although most of them have shown positive flashes when they’ve had a chance to get some reps. Part of that is probably because the team put a lot of effort into ensuring they had plenty of veteran depth, which has meant the opportunities to contribute have been limited.
Ultimately, this class will be judged primarily on how successful the Fashanu pick proves to be and the team is likely to be encouraged with his progress so far, even though he hasn’t played that much yet. As for the rest of the rookies, the Jets will hope to see players like Corley, Taylor and Allen make more of an impact down the stretch.
