Building A Jets Core 2023: Zonovan Knight

We have the 17th 2023 core member of the New York Jets, as voted by all of you. And the winner is: Zonovan Knight, Running Back! Zonovan Knight was signed by the Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2022. Knight spent the first 7 weeks of last season on the Jets practice squad before he was signed to the 53 man roster when Breece Hall was lost for the season. Knight saw his first game action in week 11 and quickly took over the lead role in the Jets backfield. Knight had an impressive start to his career, racking up 100+ yards from scrimmage in his first two games. However, Knight was largely ineffective thereafter, never exceeding 50 yards from scrimmage in his last four games. When and if Breece Hall comes back fully healthy from his knee surgery, Knight will likely be at best a solid backup for the Jets. With Knight taking the 17th spot, our crowd sourced Jets Core 2023 looks like this:

1. Sauce Gardner
2. Garrett Wilson
3. Quinnen Williams
4. Alijah Vera-Tucker
5. Breece Hall
6. D.J. Reed
7. Jermaine Johnson
8. Micheal Clemons
9. Michael Carter II
10. Elijah Moore
11. John Franklin-Myers
12. Max Mitchell
13. Bryce Huff
14. Mekhi Becton
15. Jeremy Ruckert
16. Michael Carter I
17. Zonovan Knight
18. ?

By 2024 many of today’s players will be gone as the Jets braintrust continues to build the roster (or a new braintrust is brought in). A core group of Jets will emerge who will form the backbone of the team Jets fans hope will soon return to the post-season. Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to think alongside the Jets’ staff and vote for who you think are the most likely players to form that core and still be here on opening day of the 2024 season. Nobody knows for sure how things will play out, and evaluating the chances of some of the younger players who have barely scratched the surface yet is tricky, but we know who the coaching staff is and what type of players might fit their system, so let’s give this a shot. Let’s crowd source a Jets Core 2023.

Through late February I’ll be putting up a daily poll asking GGN to vote on the most likely current Jets players to still be with the team in 2024. I’ll include some current Jets that are not under contract for the 2023 season and may leave in free agency this year, but I will not include any player in college, in the 2023 NFL draft, any player currently under contract with another team, or any free agent who wasn’t with the Jets at the end of 2022. The idea here is to build a list of the current Jets players you think will most likely make up a core group the team will build around to begin to construct a playoff contender.

We all have different views on various Jets players. What we’re looking for here is the community’s collective view of the players who might help lead the Jets out of the wilderness in the coming years.

So let’s get to it. Today we conclude this exercise with the 18th and final Jets core player. Who will it be? Vote early, vote often, and let’s hear who you think are the players that will be the Jets leaders of the future.