Five Winners From the Jets Preseason Opener

Let’s take a look at some of the players who impressed in Saturday night’s win against the Giants.

CJ Mosley: Mosley is coming back after essentially missing two seasons. There have to be questions about whether his skills have diminished and whether or not any rust will show. It didn’t look that way at all on Saturday night. Mosley rarely took false steps and found the ball against the run and the pass. He broke up a pass and was in the middle of a couple of rushes. The contract is a sunk cost. The deal will never be worth it for the Jets. The question now is simply whether the team can get any value from Mosley. There’s obviously a long way to go, but this was a first step.

Denzel Mims: There might not have been a player on the roster who needed a good night quite like Mims. Plenty of rumors have been going around questioning his status on the roster. Given the fact he was playing with backups into the second half of the first preseason game, there does seem to be some fire with this smoke. Mims responded with a team leading 3 catches and 51 yards. He created a lot of that yardage with the ball in his hands, including a bruising run to convert a 3rd and 18. It’s easy to dismiss Mims’ performance because it came against backups, but I’d argue this is unfair. If somebody is going to be a quality starter, you want to see him destroy backups. Two years ago I remember thinking Jachai Polite was in trouble because he looked lost against backups in the second half of preseason games.

You also have to think an attitude like this is going to impress the coaches.

Vyncint Smith: The Jets have a crowded receiver room. There might not be room for Smith, but there’s not much more he could do to stake a claim for a role. Not only did he tie Mims for the team lead with 3 receptions, he made an impressive special teams play as a gunner helping the Jets down a punt deep in Giants territory. The last few spots on the roster tend to go to players who help on special teams. That might be Smith’s best bet.

Bryce Huff: There is playing time up for grabs for edge rushers. Huff made his case on Saturday night, registering a pair of sacks.

Hamsah Nasirildeen: Your typical late round pick is merely fighting for a spot on the roster. I don’t get the feeling Nasrildeen is your typical late round pick. It seems like the Jets see big things for him. It’s not hard to see why after Saturday night where he forced a fumble and chipped in a special teams tackle.