New York Jets' smartest moves from NFL Cutdown Day

Anthony Fama

•
New York Jets' smartest moves from NFL Cutdown Day image

The New York Jets officially released their initial 53-man roster following Tuesday's NFL cutdown deadline.

Many players shined throughout this preseason for the Jets on both offense and defense, and it was always going to be interesting to see who they chose to keep. Jets' fans should be excited about who will be staying on the squad in 2024. 

Here are the most-notable decisions New York made while forming its initial 53-mn roster.

Jets’ Defensive Moves

The Jets’ staff did a great job searching for talent after the 2024 NFL Draft and it paid off, especially on the defense. Three UDFA defensive linemen in Leonard Taylor III, Eric Watts and Braiden McGregor made the initial 53-man roster. 

Across the league, only five rookie UDFA defensive lineman made their initial 53 and the Jets have three of them. 

This trio played fantastic throughout training camp and are all deserving of a roster spot.

The same can be said for former first-round pick Takkarist McKinley, who was a stud, especially in preseason game action. McKinley finished with 7 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, and 3 tackles for loss over the last three weeks. 

Head coach Robert Saleh and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich have done a great job developing talent in the secondary as well, highlighted by superstar Sauce Gardner and Michael Carter II. They may have found two new gems with CB rookie Qwan'tez Stiggers and second-year safety Jarrick Bernard-Converse. Bernard-Converse was the highest-graded defensive player on the Jets’ defense during the preseason with an overall grade of 92.4.

A somewhat surprise cut came earlier today with Mr. Irrelevant, safety Jalen Key. The last time a Mr. Irrelevant was cut prior to the first game of the regular season was in 2019. The Jets have a lot of safety depth in Chuck Clark, Tony Adams, and Ashtyn Davis so it’s understandable that Key was cut after a lackluster camp.

Jets’ Decisions on Offense

On the offensive side, the Jets are only keeping two QBs, Aaron Rodgers and Tyrod Taylor. Adrian Martinez and Andrew Peasley were both waived after taking most of the snaps during the preseason.

Fortunately, for two bubble players, the Jets kept both RB Izzy Abanikanda and WR Irv Charles, meaning they'll have four running backs and seven wide receivers on the active roster.

Abanikanda was a player to watch the entirety of training camp and with the additions of Isaiah Davis and Braelon Allen in the draft the writing had seemed on the wall for the second year back. There’s a lot of talent in Abanikanda with his speed being the strong suit. The former 5th-round pick in last year's draft now has a great chance to compete for regular season playing time in 2024. 

Overall, there should be a bunch of credit given to the Jets’ staff for how they’ve handled their training camp moves. 

More New York Jets News:

• Jets trade undrafted preseason standout to AFC East rival

• Jets' former starting quarterback landing on Bills' Practice Squad

• Highly-touted undrafted rookie earns preseason plaudits in Jets' roster bid

• Ex-Jets' franchise quarterback dominates in Denver's exhibition win

• Rodgers applauds $44 million WR's return to Green Bay roots

Anthony Fama

Anthony Fama Photo

Anthony Fama covers the New York Jets for The Sporting News. He is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland, where he covered Terrapins football and basketball for Inside the Black and Gold. He also produces and hosts his own talk show on Spotify called 914 Sports Talk covering all New York sports.