Jets 2025 Position Breakdown: Who will step up alongside Quinnen Williams?

Heading into the 2025 season, the Jets have made a series of moves to improve the state of their roster and overall depth, but are they ready to compete for a playoff spot?

In this series, we'll break down the depth chart for every position group. This time, we'll go in-depth at the defensive tackle position...

Projected depth chart

Starters:Quinnen Williams, Derrick Nnadi
Backups: Jay Tufele, Byron Cowart, Leonard Taylor
Key additions/losses: Nnadi, Tufele and Cowart signed one-year deals in free agency, as Javon Kinlaw, Leki Fotu, and Solomon Thomas signed elsewhere
Top Performers in 2024: Williams had 37 tackles, six sacks, and eight tackles for loss
2024 ranking via PFF: Williams was 31st overall and 17th for pass rush grade among all defensive tackles

What Jets' defensive tackles have going for them

The three-time Pro Bowler Williams is legitimately one of the NFL's best defensive tackles, along with Chris Jones and Dexter Lawrence, and will once again be relied upon to anchor this unit. Entering his prime at 27 years old, Williams is a force against the run and has had at least 5.5 sacks in five straight seasons.

Aside from Williams, the unit has been overhauled, with the Jets allowing their three next-highest paid defensive tackles to depart in free agency and replacing them with three veterans on minimum salary contracts as Tufele, Cowart, and Nnadi each signed a one-year deal.

The other returning face from last year's rotation is Taylor, while undrafted rookies Payton Page and Fatorma Mulbah will probably compete for a spot on the practice squad.

Key concern for 2025: Will the Jets be able to stop the run?

The Jets' run defense was often a problem last season, as they gave up over 140 rushing yards five times in the first 10 games and ranked near the bottom of the league. However, interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich deserves some credit for fixing this to a degree, as the Jets didn't give up 140 yards in any of the last seven games and ultimately surrendered the fifth-lowest yards per carry average in the league.

Whether replacing Kinlaw, Thomas and Fotu with the less expensive trio of Cowart, Nnadi and Tufele will lead to a regression remains to be seen, but certainly gives cause for concern.

Player who must step up in 2025: Taylor

As an undrafted rookie, Taylor defied the odds to make the roster and established himself as a key reserve. He'll be expected to build on that in 2025.

The youngster cannot afford a regression, though. If the three veterans the team brought in all jump ahead of him then he risks falling out of the rotation altogether and potentially losing his roster spot. The fact that the Jets didn't draft any defensive tackles in what was considered to be a deep draft class could be viewed as a vote of confidence in Taylor, whose ultimate goal will be to step up into a starting role.

Biggest camp battle: Tufele vs. Nnadi vs. Cowart

An interesting battle is shaping up between the three new faces, each of whom brings something different to the table. Unless Taylor makes the leap and takes a starting role for himself, whoever emerges from this trio will probably end up starting alongside Williams. However, barring an injury, there may not be room on the final roster for all three of them.

Nnadi is the most experienced of the three, having been a starter in Kansas City for several years, including on a couple of Super Bowl teams. He moved into a reserve role last season but could be keen to prove he's not past his prime at 29 years old.

Cowart was the top high school recruit in the nation 10 years ago but has been a disappointment at the NFL level and became a journeyman over the past few seasons. However, he had a bounce back year with the Bears, forging a role as an important rotational contributor. He'll never be the elite player some expected him to become several years ago, but of the three, he's the most likely to be a disruptor in the pass rush.

Finally, Tufele is still only 25 years old and played an important rotational role with the Bengals over the past three seasons. He may be looking to prove he's ready to step up into a starter role. Much like Nnadi, most of his production has come as a run defender and he has the bulk to take on double teams in the trenches.

Overall 2025 outlook

The success of this unit hinges almost entirely on Williams' availability and how he performs. If he has another productive season, everyone else benefits with New York having surrounded him with a mix of size, experience, talent and athleticism that should complement him well.

If Williams gets injured, or has a down year for whatever reason, then the defensive interior could prove to be a weakness. The competition to start alongside him should be fierce, though, so it will be interesting to see if anyone can outperform expectations.