5 USFL Players That May Interest the Jets

Edition #422

Good morning! ☕

Today we're going to dive straight in and then I've got 5 USFL players who could potentially interest the Jets.

Let's do it.

🫣 Chad Reuter over at NFL.com had an interesting article, a seven-round win-now NFL draft of active players. So in essence a mock draft of the best players in football. The Jets had the 13th pick, and here’s where we landed. I’d much rather take our current roster than this “win-now” one.

🏈 I know a lot of people don’t like fantasy football, so I’ll keep this brief. PFF outlined the top 300 players for fantasy football purposes. Garrett Wilson was the highest-ranked player at #22 overall, followed by Breece Hall at #26. Allen Lazard came in at #123 with Aaron Rodgers closely behind at #131. Tyler Conklin was featured at #161 with Michael Carter at #184. There were five more Jets players between 200-300.

📝 My colleague over at Last Word on Sports Mike Kash wrote this article about Israel Abanikanda before the draft, and it’s well worth taking a read to get to know the Jets RB a little better.

📈 Here is a really interesting graph from Tej Seth about which players really impacted the defence when they were on the field. If you follow basketball then you’ll know all about on/off numbers, well this is the NFL equivalent. What do you know, Kwon Alexander made a big impact with the Jets last season.

🚨 NFL.com predicted every team non-QB MVP for the 2023 season and for the Jets they had Quinnen: If Williams, who is set to play on the fifth-year option in 2023, doesn't receive a contract extension prior to the start of this season, the price tag for the Jets might go up. He doubled his sack production last season (12.0) from 2021 (6.0) and more than doubled his QB hits (28) from the year before (12). What's most impressive is how Williams did that last season without a ton around him. The Jets have added more bodies inside this year, and they spent a first-round pick on pass rusher Will McDonald IV. In theory, that should help free Williams up even more -- with or without a new deal.

💲 PFF also did a 3-year analysis of the salary cap of each team, and the Jets came in 3rd in terms of overall cap health. A huge testament to the job that Joe Douglas has done. I imagine if you were to look at a table like this back in 2020 it would have looked a lot different than it does right now.

📸 According to ESPN, Dalvin Cook can also count the Patriots as a potential destination with New England showing some interest. It’s looking increasingly likely that if he’s not playing for the Jets next year, hell be facing off against them. Miami has been considered the favourites to land Cook throughout the process.

Thank you to JetOrange for giving me the idea for today’s post. Five USFL players who could be of interest to the Jets this off-season.

I’ll be honest and say I only watch bits and pieces of the USFL, there is just something about spring football that doesn’t sit well.

I respect them for giving it a go, but according to reports they lost $60 million in 2023. Despite optimism by those involved, I expect it to go the same way as most spring football leagues.

But, it does give certain players an opportunity to showcase their talent. Players who may not have got another look-in. The 2023 season finished with the Birmingham Stallions being crowned champions.