Jamien Sherwood's Jets Rise with New Talent

0:00On April 29, Jameen Sherwood's stock is rising again with the New York Jets. Last season, the veteran linebacker led the team with 154 tackles, but a weak aid benching by a defensive coordinator, Aaron Glinn. Should things up, that move came during a wild 39-38 win over the Bengals, and it dented his leadership role. Now, heading into next year, new draft picks have everyone, including Sherwood, looking sharper on defense. The Jets grab edge-resher David Bailey at number two overall, a guy who's already turning heads with his past rush. They also snag corner-back D'Angelo Ponds in the second round, who's jumping straight into starting talks. These additions should fix some of the coverage issues that dragged the unit down last year, where Sherwood often had to clean up mistakes from the front. Fans and players felt the benching hard. It undermined Sherwood's locker-room cred after years of building it up. Glinn even called him out publicly, saying he needed to step up like everyone else. Sherwood's coverage grade sat at just 40.3 before that game,

1:02and he never quite bounced back fully under the old setup. Fast forward to this off-season, Sherwood locked in a three-year, $45 million extension back in March, and the Jets didn't trade him. Away, they passed on several linebacker prospects in a deep class, like Texas Tech's Jacob Rodriguez, who went right before they traded back in the second. All this lines up perfect for Sherwood in 2026. With better talent around him, he's trusting his prep and technique more than ever, ready to lead their revamped defense to new heights.