Each offseason, it’s safe to expect the New York Jets to take a look at defensive players from the San Francisco 49ers. It’s hard to blame them — head coach Robert Saleh was formerly San Francisco’s defensive coordinator, and the Jets have mostly run the same system — and the 49ers are consistently one of the NFL’s best defenses to boot.
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Well, Saleh is getting another former Niner in free agency. This time: 2020 first-round pick Javon Kinlaw, a talented defensive tackle who should play a major role right away in the Jets’ rotation next to Quinnen Williams. Kinlaw is expected to sign a one-year deal.
Kinlaw is No. 85 in The Athletic’s Top 150 free agent rankings, with Randy Mueller writing that “he had some midseason struggles against the run but delivered in big moments” and that his “future looks bright.”
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How he fits: The Jets have a star at defensive tackle in Williams, who made back-to-back Pro Bowls and has established himself as one of the NFL’s best players at the position. Over the last few years, the Jets have shuffled through different players alongside him, typically a rotation of run-stop and pass-rush specialists. Kinlaw will get an opportunity to fill that pass-rushing role for the Jets, and it’s not difficult to see why they wanted to bring him in — especially considering his size (6-5, 319) and athletic traits.
Kinlaw’s talent has never been in question. In Dane Brugler’s 2020 draft guide, he compared him to Chiefs star Chris Jones, though he cautioned that Kinlaw “won’t live up to his draft spot if he doesn’t improve his consistency from a technical standpoint.” The consistency has not always been there, though, so Kinlaw never lived up to his draft status as the 14th pick. But there were flashes of talent — and in 2023, Kinlaw got through his first NFL season without missing games due to injury.
He finished with 3 1/2 sacks, six QB hits and 31 total pressures. PFF ranked him 35th in pass rushing and 88th in run defense of 92 defensive tackles to play at least 400 snaps. He was ranked 28th in pass-rush productivity too, which PFF categorizes as “a formula that combines sacks, hits and hurries relative to how many times they rush the passer.”
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2024 impact: The Jets had interest in bringing back veteran defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson after his solid 2023 season (six sacks). Kinlaw’s signing doesn’t bode well for his chances of returning, though, since Jefferson was the pass-rush specialist at defensive tackle last year. In Jefferson’s favor: He’s a more well-rounded player than Kinlaw. The Jets also could still bring back veteran Solomon Thomas — another former highly drafted 49ers defensive tackle — for depth.
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History: Kinlaw has been injury prone, missing 24 of 34 games in 2020 and 2021 combined, but he got through the 2023 season unscathed. He hasn’t been a particularly productive player considering his draft position: 70 tackles, five sacks and 11 QB hits in 41 career games. But Jets defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton has a history of getting the most out of his players, and that bodes well for Kinlaw, who has all the tools to become something even better in New York.
Outlook: Kinlaw’s arrival doesn’t really move the needle of feeling any better (or worse) about the Jets’ chances of competing in 2024. But it’s a low-risk, high-reward signing that could pay dividends for a defense looking to create pass-rushing pressure in 2024 — especially if the Jets are holding more leads with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback than they did without him in 2023. The Jets lost one of their best pass rushers when edge rusher Bryce Huff signed with the Eagles. Kinlaw doesn’t fill that void, but if he can stay healthy and build on what he showed in 2023, he can make an impact on an already loaded Jets defensive line.
(Photo: Loren Elliott / Getty Images)