NY Jets’ best player is someone nobody could have expected

Sauce Gardner? Quinnen Williams? Breece Hall?

These are just a few of the players New York Jets fans would have responded with when asked, “Who is the Jets’ best player?” prior to the 2024 season.

But as we sit here on November 19, all of those players have underperformed. Gardner forgot how to tackle. Hall has one game with more than 80 rushing yards. Williams got off to an ice-cold start, and while he has rebounded as a pass rusher, his run defense has declined significantly compared to his usual standards.

Even some of the other leading candidates for the title of “Jets’ Best Player” have failed to meet expectations. Aaron Rodgers has the same completion percentage as Deshaun Watson and the same Y/A as Bo Nix. Garrett Wilson is averaging a career-low 10.5 yards per reception.

With so many of the Jets’ biggest stars going through underwhelming seasons, the door has swung wide open for a dark horse to emerge as the team’s best performer in 2024. And as we sit here in Week 12, I know who gets my vote. It’s somebody that not a single Jets fan could have thought was in the running for this title before the season began…

John Simpson.

The Jets’ 27-year-old left guard pitched another shutout in the team’s latest outing against Indianapolis, allowing zero pressures on 32 pass-blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus. It was his fifth zero-pressure game of the season. He has allowed fewer than two pressures in eight of his 11 starts and fewer than three pressures in all 11 of his starts.

Ultimately, Simpson has allowed just 9 pressures on 417 pass-blocking snaps in 2024. Simpson’s allowed pressure rate is a minuscule 2.16%, ranking second-best in the NFL among left guards behind only Joe Thuney (a three-time All-Pro).

On top of that, Simpson has an 82.1 run-blocking grade at PFF. This also places second-best among left guards, trailing only Quenton Nelson (a four-time All-Pro).

If Simpson can maintain his two-way excellence, his 2024 season will go down as one of the best by a left guard in recent memory. Over the last 10 seasons (since 2015), the only left guards to finish a season with a sub-3.00% pressure rate and an 80.0+ run-blocking grade are Joel Bitonio (3x; 2020-22), Ali Marpet (2x; 2020-21), Quenton Nelson (2020), and Kelechi Osemele (2016). Six of those seven seasons resulted in a Pro Bowl appearance, and five garnered All-Pro honors.

Joining elite company in both phases of the game, Simpson has been one of the NFL’s best left guards this season. Unfortunately, he will probably not garner Pro Bowl or All-Pro consideration due to his lack of notoriety and the Jets’ horrendous season. That is a total shame because he undoubtedly deserves it.

Other Jets players have had their moments in the spotlight this year, whether it’s Garrett Wilson, D.J. Reed, Quincy Williams, or Will McDonald, but nobody has been as consistently productive as Simpson. Under contract for one more season with a 2025 cap hit of just $6.7 million, Simpson is general manager Joe Douglas’s best parting gift for the organization as he heads for a likely exit in January.