Is Quinnen Williams ready to surpass Aaron Donald as the NFL’s best D-lineman? Jets teammate thinks so

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FLORHAM PARK, NJ John Franklin-Myers began his playing career with arguably the best defensive lineman in football. He might do it again this year, too.

The Jets veteran said Sunday that he thinks teammate Quinnen Williams is poised to surpass Aaron Donald as the generally accepted top talent at the position.

Quinnen is the new regime, Franklin-Myers said. For me, big picture-wise, Quinnen has the ability and eventually this year, next year, he will overcome AD and [Kansas City’s] Chris Jones.

Franklin-Myers was a fourth-round pick of the Rams in 2018 and suddenly found himself a protege on a deep defensive line with Donald, Ndamukong Suhand Dante Fowler. He was waived by the Rams the following preseason and claimed by the Jets in 2019, just in time for Williams’ rookie season.

The main difference between the two players, Franklin-Myers said, is Williams’ ability to move laterally.

The difference is Quinnen dominates the run and pass and AD dominates every pass and has his tackles for a loss on the run, he said. That’s what works [Donald]a dominant force. Quinnen dominates when you run at him or run away. You see him running after the stack. To me, that’s just as important as those TFLs. You see a guy who, if I shoot the field, he wraps around me and goes and runs down the play on the other sideline. Something that no one else does. You can’t look at any other tackle in the NFL [and see that].

Before training camp, Williams signed a four-year contract extension with the Jets worth $96 million with $66 million guaranteed. Making him the second highest paid player in the league at his position behind Donald.

Franklin-Myers said she wasn’t the only one who saw an impending change in the ranks. He said Williams spoke about it and was urged to top the list.

He has the mindset to say, Look, I’m going through my stuff, he said. They all talk about this guy being better than you and you being the third-best or fourth-best D-tackle. Nah, he was like, I’m about to be the first best. To hear what he said, I was surprised. Not everyone expects him to be the best defensive tackle, but he will show it.

Brown approaches

Veteran left tackle Duane Brown was working on a side field Sunday. The Jets placed him on the PUP list as he continues his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery, but Jets coach Robert Saleh said Brown will be ready for Week 1.

He’s still working on the surgeries he had this offseason, Saleh said. But not worried about his availability for this season. I don’t want to put an exact timetable on it, but it should be sooner rather than later.

With Al Iannazzone

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He was previously Newsday’s Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.

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