I don’t know if you’ve heard but former New York Jets pass rushing specialist and edge rusher Bryce Huff left for the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason. Yep, that’s the same edge rusher that led the league in pressure rate last season.
I don’t know if you’ve heard but New York Jets edge rusher Haason Reddick is holding out. Yep, that’s the same edge rusher that the New York Jets traded a 3rd round pick for.
I don’t know if you’ve heard but New York Jets edge rusher Jermaine Johnson II tore his Achilles and is out for the season. Yep, that’s the same edge rusher that had the highest grade among the team’s edge rushers last season.
Long story short, the New York Jets have taken blow after blow in the edge rushing room.
Most teams can’t withstand that many hits. Heck, a lot of teams can’t withstand one.
But the New York Jets are apparently not most teams and that is because edge rusher Will McDonald is potentially in the midst of a major breakout.
Will McDonald is currently:
— Harrison Glaser (@NYJetsTFMedia) September 20, 2024
💥 2nd in the league with 5 sacks
💥 3rd in the league with 7 QB hits
💥 2nd in the league with 11 QB pressures
He leads all #Jets in those categories as well
He's on pace for 35 sacks 👀
Not saying he'll get that many, but it could be an historic… pic.twitter.com/pLCzRlAWbX
And this isn’t necessarily an isolated incident. McDonald’s pass rushing skill was on display as early as last year, admittedly with limited reps.
Since last year, Will McDonald has eight sacks in 161 pass-rushing snaps — or one sack for every 20.1 pass-rushing snaps.
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) September 20, 2024
How good is that?
Myles Garrett last season: One every 37.3 snaps
Even Bryce Huff wasn't sacking at this rate last year: One every 33.4 snaps.
An unreal…
While McDonald is extremely unlikely at the 35 sack pace (and PFF seems to think that’s a remote possibility as they have given him a pass rushing grade of only 67.7 through 3 weeks), he could afford some significant regression in his counting stats and still be really, really, really good and that’s without the caveat of “really, really, really good for a backup plan.” Rather, Will McDonald is currently producing like he’s one of the best pass rushers in the league, full stop.
Now the Jets just have to hope that his dominance continues. If it does, then the New York Jets might have added yet another star to an already star-studded defense.
