{"id":219206,"date":"2025-07-19T10:27:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T10:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/219206\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T10:27:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T10:27:16","slug":"new-york-jets-roster-bubble-preview-the-gauntlet-match-with-micheal-clemons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/219206\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Jets roster bubble preview: The gauntlet match with Micheal Clemons"},"content":{"rendered":"

The time for talk is over.\u00a0\u00a0It’s time to put up or shut up for certain players who are on the roster bubble as New York Jets<\/a> players report for training camp and the start of the preseason soon.\u00a0\u00a0Rookies report on July 18 while the veterans arrive on July 22.<\/p>\n

While we are aware of who the locks are to make the final roster, there are plenty of players fighting for a prominent role or just fighting to keep their tenuous spot on the roster.\u00a0\u00a0As Aaron Glenn said during the team\u2019s first rookie mini-camp, \u201cIf you\u2019re here, you have a shot!<\/p>\n

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Jets Wire<\/a> will take a look at some key training camp battles with a little bit of a twist. For those of you who are fans of professional wrestling, each battle has a specific type of themed match to it. After the book is closed on the preseason, we’ll see who will make the final roster and who will be turning in their playbook before the start of the regular season September 7 against the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For our first training camp battle, we have a gauntlet match featuring a Jets player with his roster spot on the line against a group that has plenty to prove to the head coach:<\/p>\n

Micheal Clemons vs. The Field\"Dec<\/p>\n

Dec 29, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; New York Jets defensive end Micheal Clemons (72) on the sideline in the fourth quarter game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Clemons has been a frustrating player on the Jets since being selected in the fourth round of the 2022 draft.\u00a0\u00a0He has the physique, the attitude and the size at 6\/5, 263 lbs.\u00a0\u00a0But, he plays with zero killer instinct, struggles to shed blockers, and easily bites on fakes instead of maintaining his position on the outside. While he finished with almost five sacks last year, there were plenty of moments he crushed the Jets with his poor play and his undisciplined attitude.<\/p>\n

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As if his play on the field wasn’t bad enough, Clemons also had a run-in with Bills<\/a> offensive tackle Dion Dawkins in the tunnel of Highmark Stadium after a loss in Buffalo and was also caught on camera using profanity towards Browns<\/a> fans during a brutal loss in Cleveland.\u00a0\u00a0He was expected to be released to save some money under the salary cap, but in a surprising move, new head coach Aaron Glenn opted to keep Clemons in hopes a new voice can get him focused on football.<\/p>\n

Clemons does not have great speed to be a pass rusher and is not big enough to be on the defensive line as he only weighs 263 lbs.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s tough to gauge where Glenn thinks he could fit on this defense and Clemons has made little to no impact in the three years he\u2019s been with the team.<\/p>\n

Who Represents The Field?\"EAST<\/p>\n

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – JANUARY 05: Quinnen Williams #95 of the New York Jets takes the field before the game against the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium on January 05, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Luke Hales\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Clemons is probably not competing for a spot next to Quinnen Williams on the defensive line as the Jets added some depth pieces with the signings of Byron Cowart, Jay Tufele and Derrick Nnadi.\u00a0\u00a0Clemons could land a role as a situational pass rusher, similar to how he was used last year. He has no chance to beat out Will McDonald or Jermaine Johnson, but, he may have an advantage over the rest of the depth chart at the position.<\/p>\n

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The Jets signed former Titans<\/a> defensive end Rashad Weaver as a free agent and selected University of Miami pass rusher Tyler Baron in last April\u2019s draft.\u00a0\u00a0Baron is not ready for a major role yet on this defense and outside of one season where he finished with five sacks, Weaver has been mostly unimpressive in his three years in Tennessee. Also in the mix are two players the team brought in last year as undrafted free agents, Eric Watts and Braiden McGregor.\u00a0\u00a0Both saw very limited playing time and neither stood out as a potential building block for the defense.<\/p>\n

And the Winner of this Gauntlet Match is? The Field\"Jun<\/p>\n

Jun 10, 2025; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets defensive tackle Jay Tufele (97) speaks at a press conference during minicamp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Clemons finished last season with a PFF pass rush grade of 55.2, ranking him 149th\u00a0out of 211 defensive ends.\u00a0\u00a0He was terrible against the run, finishing with a PFF grade of 46.6, ranking him 187th. Awful numbers for a player whose been in the league for three years and was coached by two strong defensive coordinators in Saleh and Ulbrich.<\/p>\n

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Clemons hasn’t practiced much during OTA’s, which is already a bad sign, and he doesn\u2019t fit the culture change that Glenn is trying to establish for the team.\u00a0\u00a0If he\u2019s cut, the Jets would save about three million dollars on the cap and only incur a hit of about $200,000. Glenn and Wilks have brought in some young players they want to get a look at and Clemons feels more like an extra body in camp than a potential solution on defense.<\/p>\n

There are other options as well still available in free agency the Jets could explore. Z’Darius Smith, who played for Glenn in Detroit last season, is still on the market. They can also look to the waiver wire once all teams make their final cuts to improve the position. Unless he truly stands out over the entire preseason, Clemons will be a final cut and fail to successfully run the gauntlet for a spot on the Jets roster.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: Can Michael Clemons Overcome Some Competition To Make the Jets Roster?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The time for talk is over.\u00a0\u00a0It’s time to put up or shut up for certain players who are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[1585,25590,86,6739,85,21126,146,13664,25589,7,6738,8142,226,36373,1917,255,2321,2097,6,57,6736,21096,526,796,8896,2293],"class_list":{"0":"post-219206","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-aaron-glenn","9":"tag-braiden-mcgregor","10":"tag-browns","11":"tag-byron-cowart","12":"tag-cleveland","13":"tag-derrick-nnadi","14":"tag-detroit","15":"tag-dion-dawkins","16":"tag-eric-watts","17":"tag-football","18":"tag-jay-tufele","19":"tag-jermaine-johnson","20":"tag-jets","21":"tag-micheal-clemons","22":"tag-new-york","23":"tag-new-york-jets","24":"tag-newyork","25":"tag-newyorkjets","26":"tag-nfl","27":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","28":"tag-quinnen-williams","29":"tag-rashad-weaver","30":"tag-tennessee","31":"tag-the-jets","32":"tag-training-camp","33":"tag-tyler-baron"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114879426976401340","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}