NY Jets: Quinnen Williams had a breakout season in 2020

NY Jets‘ defensive lineman Quinnen Williams had a breakout season in 2020. Williams was hampered by a high ankle sprain in his rookie year that caused him to miss three games.

Former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams believed this injury negatively affected Williams’ play in 2019.

Williams came into his second NFL season six pounds lighter, at 297 pounds. The Alabama product decided to change his diet which helped him get quicker and stronger.

In his sophomore campaign, Williams showed his potential to wreak havoc in the backfield. He nearly doubled his production finishing the year with 55 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, seven sacks, and two forced fumbles.

Williams showed his ability to consistently dominate the opponents’ interior offensive line.

Quinnen Williams was very impressive with the NY Jets in 2020

According to Pro Football Focus, Williams was the second highest-graded sophomore defender with a grade of 81.4. Williams also ranked first in run stop win rate and fourth in pass rush win rate among all defensive tackles.

The 23-year-old wasn’t selected to the 2021 Pro Bowl but has more tackles and sacks than Pro Bowlers Frank Clark, Calais Campbell, and Cameron Heyward.

Williams has been able to constantly get pressure with no legitimate edge threat on this Jets team. He faced many double teams throughout the year but Williams found different ways to beat them.

The former No. 3 overall pick has shown the potential to be a top-five defensive tackle in this league. He is a part of a young but promising defensive line.

John Franklin-Myers and Williams each recorded 35+ pressures in the 2020 campaign. Williams and Folorunso Fatukasi were also commanding against the run. Both had 20+ run stuffs this past season.

The standout defensive tackle and new head coach Robert Saleh are big fans of each other. Williams endorsed his new head coach on Twitter when it was announced that Saleh was hired.

Saleh believed Williams was an unbelievable talent coming out of college. The man now leading the charge also thinks the sky is the limit for the young stud defensive tackle.

Saleh loves Williams and is ready to let him loose.

At 23-years-old, Quinnen Williams will only continue to improve. He is one of the lone bright spots on this Jets roster and should have many Pro Bowl and All-Pro seasons down the line.