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The 2026 offseason has officially begun and the New York Jets will to improve on a disastrous 3-14 season in Aaron Glenn's first year as head coach. Glenn recently overhauled his coaching staff and now it's time to overhaul the roster as he'll need to show massive improvement in 2026 if he wants to have a job in 2027.
Jets Wire will break down each position on the roster to see if improvements are needed and the possible solutions to fix what is broken. For our next position breakdown, we look at the linebackers, a spot that often gets overlooked but is arguably one of the more valuable positions on the defense.
Linebacker Depth Chart
Jamien Sherwood, Quincy Williams, Marcellino McCrary-Ball, Kiko Mauigoa
2025 Review
There were some high expectations from this unit since they were returning two of their top players on the defense and even locked up Sherwood, a team captain, to a three-year, $45 million extension in free agency. But, like many on the Jets roster, the linebackers were a major disappointment.
Sherwood looked lost for most of the season, had difficulty tackling and was not good in coverage. While he was fifth overall in tackles with 108, opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating of 119.7 against him.
Williams had a terrible season and even found himself benched for a few games due to poor play. He wasn’t the same after the Jets traded his brother, Quinnen Williams, to the Cowboys. He did get his starting job back, but he was mostly ineffective in a contract year.
Mauigoa was drafted in the fifth round last year and had some moments, but didn’t produce any noteworthy stats. He only played 12 games before he was lost for the season. McCrary-Ball was a walking personal foul penalty all season and is probably better suited for special teams.
How Can The Jets Improve This Position?
Free Agency
The free agent class at linebacker is very strong with plenty of players that could easily make the Jets defense better. Among the players possibly looking for new homes include Kansas City’s Leo Chenal, Philadelphia’s Nakobe Dean and Jacksonville’s Devin Lloyd.
Lloyd was terrific for the Jaguars last season, finishing with a PFF grade of 89.1, ranking him third among 88 linebackers. He was excellent in coverage as opposing quarterbacks had a combined passer rating of only 69.2. He had 25 quarterback pressures, ranking him third.
Chenal had three sacks last season to go along with 11 quarterback pressures. He finished with an overall PFF grade of 75.1 (18th out of 88 linebackers) and would contribute to the culture change the Jets are trying to instill thanks to his two super bowl rings.
One player that is endlessly been linked to the Jets is Alex Anzalone, who played for Glenn while with the Detroit Lions. Anzalone is on the older side (31 years old) and his numbers aren’t exactly eye-popping, but he knows Glenn’s system and could provide the veteran leadership this team desperately needs.
The 2026 Draft
Like free agency, the 2026 linebacker class is very strong. Ohio State’s Arvell Reese and Texas Tech’s David Bailey are two of the top players in the entire draft and could both be selected with one of the first five picks. Both can line up as an outside linebacker as well as a defensive end should Aaron Glenn want to show a 4-3 look.
Reese’s teammate, Sonny Styles, is shooting up draft boards and could also be a Top-10 pick. He’s excellent as a coverage linebacker allowing a passer rating to opposing quarterbacks of 75.8. Other linebackers that could be available on Day 2 or Day 3 include Anthony Hill Jr. from Texas and Georgia’s CJ Allen.
Way Too Early 2026 Prediction
Last season proved the linebacker position is often under appreciated, and they are basically the quarterbacks of the defense. This was supposed to be one of the stronger areas on the Jets defense and they badly underachieved. Sherwood took the money and played poorly for a good portion of the season. He struggled in coverage, his tackling was poor and he didn’t show any of the leadership skills a team captain should have, even in the midst of a miserable season.
Quincy Williams was also supposed to be a constant on this defense and was so bad that Glenn had to bench at one point during the season. If one of your better players is getting benched on a defense that more times than not didn’t show up to play, that’s a bad look.
There is speculation that the Jets could be shopping Sherwood to get out from under his contract, but we won’t know for certain until the start of the new league year if that is truly the case. Despite his bad play, he’s still a defensive captain and the Jets should bring him back next season. Quincy is good as gone as he’ll be an unrestricted free agent. That seemed to be his destiny when the Jets elected not to give him an extension before the season.
Mauigoa showed some good things and will probably get an extended look in training camp. The Jets will have their choice of either Reese or David Bailey with the second overall pick in the draft and Glenn will try to find a way to bring in one of his former players in Anzalone. They could throw a ton of money at a player like Devin Lloyd and pair him with Sherwood in the middle, which would be a solid move.
When all is said and done, they will add a veteran or two as well as a rookie in the draft as they rebuild this position for 2026.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: New York Jets 2026 position breakdown: Linebackers