Season’s Biggest Shock: Linebacker’s Rise Bolsters Jets’ Defensive Unit

The New York Jets had to call on an unexpected linebacker early in the season and he answered the ball with better play than anyone expected.

As Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus found each team’s most surprising player this season, Jamien Sherwood was the obvious choice for the Jets.

“New York’s defensive factory has another piece ready to fix the puzzle. Sherwood, who had only played 357 snaps in his first three years, has already experienced 544 snaps in 2024,” said Locker. “The results have been promising: his 76.9 overall grade ranks 12th among qualifying linebackers.”

Sherwood is a homegrown talent from the previous staff that seemingly turned out defensive talent after defensive talent. While most, if not all, of the people that led his development will be gone after this season, he was one of their successful experiments.

The Florida native played his college ball with the Auburn Tigers after building some hype in high school. He was a four-star safety and followed the normal in-state route of being a supreme athlete.

He was a defensive tool that was moved around for most of his time with the Tigers. He played the slot and free safety a fair amount, but spent a large majority of his time in the box.

His strength was his sure-tackling approach and he clearly struggled to keep up with shiftier players in coverage.

Given his playstyle, it is no surprise that he has become a linebacker at the next level. He’s always had the same build, actually being listed four pounds lighter with the Jets than he did with Auburn, but has finally come into his own with his new role.

Sherwood played small role in the New York defense over his first three seasons, mainly working in special teams.

Now, in a contract year, he was faced with a bigger role in the defense and has looked more than ready to step up.

An early injury to C.J. Mosley opened up a lot of playing time for Sherwood, even though the younger linebacker was already seeing increased snap counts.

Even though Mosley is coming back to full strength, Sherwood has been good enough to cause a conversation to be had about who to play.

The 24-year-old has a career-high 80 tackles so far, by far teh most on the team. He also has two sacks and a pass broken up.

Giving him a new contract has surprisingly become a top offseason priority for the Jets.