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This player’s assessment of what he needs to improve is spot-on . . .
Jets linebacker Quincy Williams is a hellacious hitter. He gets high marks for toughness. To use an old scouting term, he plays with “his hair on fire.”
But he needs to play more under control. C.J. Mosley touched on that a little late last season. Sometimes Williams is too aggressive and overruns plays.
Moving forward, Williams says he’s “not always going for the big hit.”
“That’s my thing, going for the big hits, but with doing that I was missing out on turnovers and stuff,” Williams said.
An example of being too aggressive was in the Jets’ loss to New Orleans.
In the third quarter, Saints QB Taysom Hill threw a pass short left to RB Tony Jones to NYJ 26 for 19 yards. Williams shot up the field too far, and Jones snuck out behind him for a 19-yard catch-and-run.
Williams is a very fast, athletic linebacker who should excel in coverage, but he had no picks last year. They need him to grab a few this year.
In the same game, he showed his potential and range in coverage. Later in the third quarter, Hill threw to Alvin Kamara deep left, and Williams stayed in the running backs hip pocket and knocked the pass away.
The Jets need more of that.
“The biggest thing now is stealing a possession for the offense,” Williams said. “I had a lot of forced fumbles [3 last season], but that’s because I was focusing on the hit. So now it’s like creating turnovers as far as strips and interceptions. I think I dropped like nine of them last year.”
Williams needs to read his keys better in coverage, and thinks he will this season. Remember he didn’t join the Jets until September, 2021 as a waiver claim, so he was playing catch-up all season learning the Jets’ defense.
He’s more comfortable now.
“The biggest difference is the IQ of football,” Williams said. “[I’m] not worrying about what I’m doing now. Last year was me coming in late, learning what I’m supposed to be doing.”
Now the key is for Williams to take this improved knowledge to the field on game day.
Because what he has to show are improved instincts, and become less of a see-and-go reactor.
Of course learning the playbook is important, but sometimes instincts and knowledge of the playbook are two different things.
Some of the great linebackers over the years, like Luke Kuechly, had very sophisticated eyes, and saw things before they happened, allowing them to get to the scene of the crime a tick early.
So we will see if all this hard work Williams is putting in will improve his football IQ, and will also help his instincts, especially in coverage.
The Jets need a coverage linebacker, like Atlanta’s Deion Jones and Indianapolis’ Darius Leonard, who both by the way have 11 career interceptions, and maybe Williams can become this guy.
The Jets had no linebacker interceptions last season.
If they want to become a top-shelf defense, that is one of the things that must change.
May 23, 2022
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