Quinnen Williams delivers brutally honest assessment of Jets' 2025 defense

Quinnen Williams didn’t hold back when discussing the New York Jets’ defensive performance in 2025. The star defensive lineman offered a blunt assessment of the struggles that have contributed to his team's winless start.

Williams spoke to reporters on Thursday, just days before the Jets' Week 6 matchup with the Denver Broncos in London, and he echoed a sentiment shared by a lot of his team's fanbase when discussing the Jets' defense.

They're bad. How bad? "Probably the worst defense in the league," Williams told reporters. It's hard to argue with that assertion.

The Jets' defense has struggled mightily through the first five weeks of the season, allowing a whopping 31.4 points per game. Only the Baltimore Ravens have allowed more. But other key metrics show that Williams is probably correct in his evaluation.

Quinnen Williams believes the Jets have the worst defense in the NFL

The Jets currently rank 29th in EPA per play allowed and 32nd in EPA allowed per dropback. They're the only team in the league without a takeaway and the first team in NFL history to begin a season 0-5 with zero forced turnovers.

But the Jets' defense has done just as much garbage-time stat-padding as the team's offense in 2025. The Jets' EPA per play allowed in quarters 1-3 is a league-worst 0.235, significantly worse than any other team, as can be seen in the chart below.

The Jets’ defense is currently ranked 32nd in EPA allowed per dropback, but stripping out fourth-quarter performance paints an even grimmer picture. Their 0.443 mark is a full 0.14 higher than any other team. The gap between New York and the 31st-ranked defense is roughly the same as the difference between the 31st and 22nd teams.

The Jets are in their own stratosphere as far as defensive incompetence is concerned. They have the worst defensive end room in the NFL, likely the worst safety duo in football, and even their supposed top players are almost all underperforming.

Williams is one of the few exceptions, although even he hasn't quite produced as a pass rusher at the level Jets fans are accustomed to. Every aspect of this unit — from the scheme to the coaching to the personnel — has been disastrous.

While some issues, like a lack of NFL-caliber defensive ends, injuries at linebacker, and a weak safety room, aren’t fully within the Jets coaching staff’s control, there’s no excuse for the defense to perform this poorly.

Williams insisted that the coaches have provided “solutions” and that it’s now on the players to execute. Regardless of what the Jets identify as the root cause, the resulting takeaway remains the same.

The prodct on the field needs to be better.