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There is no question he does, but some other things need to improve . . .
The Jets tweeted on Monday: “Quincy Williams – quite literally hits different.”
And under this tweet, there were some highlights of his big hits.
There is no question he’s a big-time hitter. That can’t be denied. He had some very impressive sticks this year.
But the problem is, mixed in with these highlight film hits, are plays where he’s a little out of control and overruns plays.
His motor always runs hot, and he only knows one speed, and while that is commendable on one level, on another level, it leads to some big plays for opponents at times.
Here are a few examples from the Jets’ loss to New Orleans:
In the second quarter, on an Alvin Kamara 9-yard gain off left guard, Jarrad Davis missed a tackle opportunity early in the run and then Williams overran the play.
Late in the first half, 1 & 10 – NO 16, Kamara ran off right end for 16 yards – TOUCHDOWN. Key blocks – TE Ethan Wolf pushed JFM inside from the edge. Williams shot into the middle of the line, taking himself out of the play, and he was the left linebacker.
On a TD run by Taysom Hill in the fourth quarter, tight end Adam Prentice locked up C.J. Mosley, and for some reason, Williams ran into the same gap, and into Mosley’s back, kind of taking him out of the play. Williams seemed to go into the same gap as Mosley and into the same blocker. This was kind of a head-scratcher.
Look, he makes a lot of terrific plays, but there were too many plays like the ones above, where he was all gas, but needed a brake. Even Mosley, in a very diplomatic fashion, said in a presser late in the season, that Williams needs to amp down his speed on some plays. Hey, Williams knows it himself.
But watching these kinds of plays, where he overran plays, or went into the wrong gap, perhaps this contributed to the Jacksonville Jaguars waiving him on August 31, 2021. Obviously the Jaguars were far from a model franchise this year, but that notwithstanding, why would a rebuilding program release a young linebacker with excellent speed and hitting ability on a cheap contract? Wouldn’t you think he would be the kind of player they would want – fast, tough, young, big-hitter and inexpensive?
While the Jets’ social media promotes this player quite a bit, like he’s a rising star, if he doesn’t play under more control and improve his instincts a tad, they might have to replace him as a starter in 2022.
Don’t get me wrong, I would not get rid of him because he has All-Pro potential as a kick/punt cover guy with his heat-seeking missile playing style.
But the Jets need more consistent linebacker play around Mosley moving forward. There is no way around that.
And Williams needs to figure out a way to play under control and more consistently.
January 25, 2022
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