Jets LB Look Ahead | C.J. Mosley and 'Backer Mates Want to Keep Building

Finished on Practice Squad: Surratt Finished on Practice Squad Injured Reserve: Harris Signed Reserve/Future Contract: Surratt No Longer with Team: Harris POTENTIAL FREE AGENTS IN '23 Unrestricted: Williams, Alexander '23: Mosley & Company C.J. Mosley remains the man in the middle of the defense. He may turn 31 in June and his cap figure may be rising. But he led the D again with 150-plus tackles, he's made his first Pro Bowl as a Jet, and his teammates and coaches gravitate to his on-field and off-field leadership, perhaps captured in the defensive captains' vision for the coming year at the end of the past season: "We proved to ourselves and to the league that we're capable of playing meaningful bigtime games. And now I think this is really a stepping point for us, to build off what we've done and just keep getting better." But who will surround Mosley at LB still has to develop. Both energetic young 'backer Quincy Williams and energetic veteran Kwon Alexander can become free agents. It could be a situation for '21 draftees Jamien Sherwood and Hamsah Nasirildeen to step up in their third year in HC Robert Saleh and DC Jeff Ulbrich's system.'22: Quick Look Back Saleh said at the start of training camp: "I'm really excited about that linebacker group and to see where it goes." It went well operating as the glue between the Jets' strong DL rotation and the talented and still young secondary. Mosley, before learning he had become a Pro Bowler for the fifth time in his career, piled up the tackles again. In the last two NFL seasons, he is No. 4 overall with 326 tackles and tied for second with 19 games of 10-plus tackles (eight last season). Williams again spent plenty of time playing at or behind the line of scrimmage, cleared 100 tackles for the second straight season, and posted a career-high three sacks. Alexander, whose attitude about the game of football is "I approach it like life, I just go out there and have fun," played in all 17 games and applied some of his trademark big hits against the Giants in preseason and on Kareem Hunt at Cleveland in Week 2. Sherwood and Nasirildeen had no starts and each played more than 90% of his snaps on special teams. LB Trivia Williams unofficially led the Jets in tackles for loss on runs and receptions for the second straight season. He had 10.5 tackles for loss in '21 and 10.5 as well this past season. He's the first defender to lead the Jets in TFLs in two consecutive seasons since Bart Scott had nine tackles for loss in 2009 and 7.5 (tied with David Harris for the team lead) in '10.

Jets LB Look Ahead | C.J. Mosley and 'Backer Mates Want to Keep Building

Leader in the Middle Is Coming Off Second Straight 150-Tackle Season and Return to Pro Bowl Status