Jets Studs & Duds Scorecard: Week 6

Following each Jets game this season, I’ll be participating in the post-game tradition of listing out the studs and duds of the Jets’ previous game — but with a new twist.

Each player listed, whether they were a stud or a dud, is capable of earning up to five points positively or negatively, depending on how good or bad their performance was. In total, the scores of each player listed will add up to match the Jets’ scoring margin from their game that week. This past Sunday, the Jets beat the Cowboys by two points, so the combined point total of every player listed below will add up to 2.

At the end of the season, I’m hoping this scorecard system will help us get a good look at which players had the biggest impacts on the team, both positive and negative.

As an added note, no coaches (or general managers) will be involved in these lists.

The studs earn the privileges of having some nice colors attached to their name, while the duds merely get tagged with various levels of badness.

• Studs: Gotham Green (5 points), Platinum (4), Gold (3), Silver (2), Bronze (1)
• Duds: Level 5 (-5 points), Level 4 (-4), etc.

Here are my studs and duds from the Jets’ Week 6 victory.

Studs

Sam Darnold - Gotham Green (5 points)

23 for 32, 338 yards, two touchdowns, 113.8 passer rating, and career-bests of 10.6 yards per attempt and 9.6 net yards per attempt (pass yardage plus sack yardage). Darnold was phenomenal, lifting up a dormant franchise entirely on his own.

(Super specific criteria warning!) Sunday’s game was Darnold’s third career performance with a 100.0+ passer rating, 9.0+ yards per attempt, and 2+ passing touchdowns on at least 30 pass attempts. He joined Tony Romo, Patrick Mahomes, and Kurt Warner as the only quarterbacks to do that three times within their first 16 career starts.

Jamal Adams - Gold (3 points)

A great game for Adams, highlighted by his game-winning blitz pressure on Dallas’ late two-point try. He was everywhere, making plays in coverage, against the run, and as a blitzer.

Marcus Maye - Gold (3 points)

The win over Dallas was a demonstration of what the Jets front office was probably dreaming of when they decided to draft Adams and Maye back-to-back in 2017. While Adams roamed the field making noise, Maye hung back and was always there to clean up somebody else’s mess. He made some impressive open-field tackles to prevent potentially game-breaking plays.

On Dallas’ final offensive play, Adams and Maye paired up to win the game, as Maye had the coverage on Jason Witten behind Adams’ clutch pressure.

Robby Anderson - Gold (3 points)

92 yards!!!!!!!!!

The Darnold-to-Anderson 92-yard bomb incited one of my loudest reactions ever while watching a Jets game. Anderson proved that his abilities never waned, and all he needed was a quarterback to get him the ball. In addition to the touchdown, Anderson grabbed two other first down receptions, including a nifty back-shoulder play. He finished with five grabs for 125 yards.

Jamison Crowder - Silver (2 points)

Crowder caught six passes for 98 yards and four first downs, clearly showing off the chemistry with Darnold that was hyped up throughout the offseason.

In two games with Darnold, Crowder has averaged 10.0 receptions on 13.0 targets for 98.5 yards and 5.0 first downs. For reference, Michael Thomas currently ranks second in the NFL with 5.0 first down receptions per game.

The only big knock on Crowder’s performance was a miscommunication with Darnold leading to an interception, which pushes him down one rung from gold to silver here.

Folorunso Fatukasi - Bronze (1 point)

Fatukasi created a lot of havoc, consistently creating penetration with good snap timing. His performance was reminiscent of the impressive moments he showcased in the preseason.

Jordan Jenkins - Bronze (1 point)

Jenkins led the Jets with five pressures and picked up their only sack. He seemed to help the edge rush make a leap back towards legitimacy, playing a big role in the Jets make Dak Prescott the most pressured quarterback of Week 6 in terms of pressure rate.

Leonard Williams - Bronze (1 point)

Leo had four pressures and played the run well. He had some really good reps against Travis Frederick. A solid bounceback game.

Alex Lewis - Bronze (1 point)

Lewis was credited with allowing just one pressure, his only one surrendered in two starts. I only saw him make one key mistake as a run blocker - for two weeks in a row, he has looked like the best run blocking lineman on the team, and perhaps the only competent one.

Kyle Phillips - Bronze (1 point)

Phillips was in on five run tackles for a gain of one yard or less, tied for the most among defensive linemen in Week 6 (with the man directly below).

Quinnen Williams - Bronze (1 point)

Williams did a great job against the run, highlighted by some strong reps against top-tier right guard Zack Martin.

Brian Winters - Bronze (1 point)

I liked Winters’ performance in this game. He only allowed one pressure and I only saw him take one significant loss as a run blocker. Sometimes his tenacity outweighs his deficiencies and leads to positive results. This game seemed to be an example.

Duds

Trumaine Johnson - Level 2

Johnson has played far worse games as a member of the Jets than the one he played against the Cowboys. He did make a few nice tackles underneath. However, Johnson allowed a few crucial first down catches due to soft coverage, continuing what has been a recurring issue since his first game as a Jet. He gave up two crucial third down conversions to Michael Gallup because of that soft approach, each one eventually leading to a Brett Maher field goal.

Chuma Edoga - None

*Edit - after initially listing him as a Level 1 dud, I decided to take Edoga off the dud list and give that one negative point to Johnson, bumping him down to a Level 2.

Edoga had a pretty impressive second start with the Jets, putting forth a bunch of good reps against DeMarcus Lawrence, who was kept quiet.

However, while his performance was usually promising, I do think Edoga lost a more-than-ideal number of battles against the Cowboys. He was credited with four pressures allowed (I found the same number re-watching), which is far from terrible, but again, more than you’d like.

Edoga kept his allowed pressures from resulting in catastrophe, as he did a good job pushing rushers up the field and away from the pocket, but ultimately it was Sam Darnold’s awareness that mitigated Edoga’s losses. If Darnold failed to step up one time, everyone would notice Edoga giving up a sack, changing the perception of his performance.

Things are looking up for Edoga, who had a strong preseason and has backed it up with some impressive flashes of potential in his first two starts. He has not been good yet, but for a rookie getting his first NFL action against two good front sevens after getting thrown into the lineup mid-season, he has looked promising. The Jets may have gotten their right tackle of the future out of Teddy Bridgewater.

Ryan Griffin - Level 2

Griffin did have a very impressive drive catching the football, grabbing two first downs and a touchdown on the Jets’ scoring drive to close the first half.

However, Griffin’s blocking in this game was just so bad that I had to list him on this end. I counted five instances in which Griffin blew a run block (second-most to Ryan Kalil’s seven), while he also added a holding call in the run game.

The return of Darnold allowed Griffin to showcase his abilities as a decent receiver, but blocking will always be a huge issue for him. With a shoddy offensive line, the Jets need as much blocking help as they can get from the skill positions. They haven’t been getting it from Griffin.

Chris Herndon should bring a huge blocking upgrade upon returning. Griffin’s blocking deficiencies can be minimized, and he can represent the back end of a strong 1-2 receiving punch with Herndon.

Darryl Roberts - Level 2

Roberts seemed to be in on a few mistakes in coverage, despite the Cowboys missing Amari Cooper and Randall Cobb.

Brandon Shell - Level 2

Shell struggled after replacing Kelvin Beachum at left tackle (who was playing decently). He seemed to blow an assignment that led to an unblocked sack on Darnold, and later had a hold that cancelled out a 24-yard Darnold run (although Shell’s man was probably going to sack Darnold if not for the hold).

Blake Cashman - Level 3

I’m not as high on Cashman as most. I like his potential, but to me, he definitely looks like a fifth-round rookie out there. He looks like a liability in the run game, consistently getting washed out of the play at the second level. In coverage, Cashman had a 24-yard pass interference call and missed a tackle underneath on Ezekiel Elliott that led to a first down.

Blake Cashman - Level 3

I’m not as high on Cashman as most. I like his potential, but to me, he definitely looks like a fifth-round rookie out there. He looks like a liability in the run game, consistently getting washed out of the play at the second level. In coverage, Cashman had a 24-yard pass interference call and missed a tackle underneath on Ezekiel Elliott that led to a first down.

Neville Hewitt - Level 3

Hewitt had a rough game, one in which he left for a short period due to injury. He gave up three first downs in coverage, two to Elliott and one to Blake Jarwin. Against the run, he was not as solid as usual.

Albert McClellan - Level 3

Replacing Hewitt during his brief absence was McClellan, who played 27 snaps. While the vet is a great special teams player, he is clearly not a guy you want playing on defense at this stage of his career. Most notably, he whiffed badly on what should’ve been an easy underneath stop on Tavon Austin, leading to a 23-yard pickup on 3rd & 8.

Ryan Kalil - Level 4

I thought Alex Lewis played well watching live, but I thought the rest of the group struggled. Looking back, Beachum and Brian Winters looked better than I thought.

The Jets’ good pass protection numbers (two sacks, zero hits, ten total pressures) were mostly due to a quick release passing game (2.24 average snap-to-throw, 2nd-quickest of W6), but both Beachum and Winters looked decent in the run game. Blowing up that facet seemed to be Edoga, Ryan Griffin (his poor blocking is why he is not a stud on here despite a TD and two more first downs), and Ryan Kalil.

Kalil just does not seem to have it anymore. The blown blocking assignments were not there against Dallas, but Kalil was still pushed around with ease in both phases. He also had a hold cancelling out a third down conversion, saving what probably would have been an allowed sack to Tyrone Crawford (who destroyed Kalil on the play).

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Here is a look at the Week 6 scorecard.

Here is a look at the scorecard throughout the season to date.