The emergence of Will McDonald IV is coming at an optimal time for the Jets.
To say the least.
The second-year defensive end delivered 2.5 more sacks in Thursday night’s 24-3 win over the Patriots at MetLife Stadium, leading a season-best defensive effort by the 2-1 Jets.
McDonald, 25, now boasts a team-high 5.5 sacks through three games — a red-hot start that included a three-sack effort in Sunday’s 24-17 win over the Titans in Nashville.
Those are gaudy statistics regardless of circumstance, but the beleaguered state of the Jets’ once-vaunted pass rush has made McDonald’s early-season breakout all the more crucial.
The Jets were already playing short due to the ongoing contract holdout of Pro Bowl linebacker Haason Reddick, whom they traded for in the spring but remain at a standstill with.
They then lost fellow linebacker Jermaine Johnson, a first-time Pro Bowler last year, to an Achilles tear in Week 2.
Enter McDonald.
McDonald finished with four quarterback hits Thursday, fueling a night in which the Jets racked up seven sacks and 15 quarterback hits.
McDonald’s half-sack came on 3rd & 7 on the Patriots’ second drive when he met Micheal Clemons in the backfield to bring down quarterback Jacoby Brissett.
His first solo sack disrupted the Patriots’ only scoring drive. With New England trailing, 14-0, at the 6:03 mark in the second quarter, McDonald brought down Brissett for a nine-yard loss on a 1st down play that started on the Jets’ 25-yard line. The Patriots ultimately settled for a field goal.
After both plays, McDonald mimicked wielding a hammer in a nod to Johnson’s sack celebration.
McDonald capped his night with a sack of rookie Drake Maye, who entered in garbage time for New England’s final drive.
McDonald’s performance proved pivotal on a night the Jets’ defense as a whole — considered among the NFL’s best coming into the season — bounced back after an uneven start to the year.
The 49ers rushed for 190 yards and two touchdowns on 38 carries in their 32-19 win over the Jets in Week 1, with Jordan Mason — an undrafted, third-year running back filling in for Christian McCaffrey — exploded for 147 yards and a score.
The Titans ran for 130 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries in Week 2.
In both games, the Jets failed to generate regular pressure on passing downs, though McDonald’s final sack against Tennessee served as the dagger in that victory.
Thursday was a different story.
The 1-2 Patriots, who entered with the NFL’s fifth-best rushing attack at 177.5 yards per game, managed 78 yards on 15 carries against an active Jets front.
New England running back Rhamondre Stevenson rushed for just 23 yards on six carries with a fumble after running for 201 yards and a touchdown through the first two games.
With the Jets jumping out to an early lead, the Patriots abandoned the run early.
The Jets’ stout performance came on a night they were without middle linebacker C.J. Mosley, their leading tackler in each of the past three seasons, who missed his first game since 2021 with a toe injury.
And while the Patriots’ offense — with a shaky offensive line, placeholder at quarterback and scarcity of weapons — is far from elite, it was certainly a night the Jets defense could feel good about.
At the center of those good feelings was McDonald, whom the Jets drafted 15th overall in the 2023 draft out of Iowa State, despite a pressing need for help along the offensive line.
McDonald did not play much as a rookie — he finished the year with 14 tackles and 3.0 sacks — but was pressed into duty this season even before Johnson’s injury.
Bryce Huff, who led the Jets with 10.0 sacks last season, signed with the Eagles during free agency. Defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson, who had 6.0 sacks, signed with the Browns, while John Franklin-Myers, who had 3.5, got traded to the Broncos.
Reddick, who owns four consecutive seasons with double-digit sacks, was supposed to make up for much of that lost production, but without a new deal, the disgruntled defender requested a trade last month.
Reddick, 29, was due to make $14.25 million this year, but he forfeits nearly $800,000 with every game he misses.
Unless they can come to an agreement with Reddick, the Jets will likely need team efforts like Thursday’s to create a consistent pass rush.
Chuck Clark recorded a sack on a well-designed safety blitz. Javon Kinlaw and Takk McKinley added sacks as well.
For the second week in a row, no one loomed larger than McDonald.
