Why Quinnen Williams would be perfect pick for Jets on NFL draft night

There is every likelihood that Mike Maccagnan will be choosing between Best Player and Best Pass Rusher with the third pick of Thursday night’s NFL draft.

And everyone from here to New England knows the Jets haven’t rushed the passer in forever.

If Maccagnan cannot find a dance partner and trade down, if Kyler Murray goes No. 1 to the Cardinals and Nick Bosa No. 2 to the 49ers, then the names staring back at him from his draft board figure to be Quinnen Williams, Ed Oliver and Josh Allen.

Allen is Best Pass Rusher.

Williams is Best Player.

Maccagnan should pick Williams.

New defensive coordinator Gregg Williams will figure out how to deploy him.

You want disruption? Quinnen Williams (19.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks) is a disrupter.

He is one of those rare players who makes everyone around him better.

If you have a gaping hole at a particular position, you will draft for need. You can draft for need if you have players rated similarly. Maccagnan won’t let me see his draft board, or mock draft.

I do know this much: Williams was virtually unblockable this season for Nick Saban.

Warren Sapp rushed the passer and he wasn’t coming from the edge. Same with John Randle. Same with Geno Atkins. The name Aaron Donald ring a bell? Think Tom Brady likes pressure up the middle?

Leonard Williams worked out in California with Quinnen Williams in February.

“He’s a stud,” L. Williams said. “But at the same time, he’s a kid — in a good way, I say that. He doesn’t feel like he knows everything. He’s still just like lighthearted. When he saw me for the first time he acted like a fan and it was pretty funny to me. He was just training really hard and was asking me questions. It seems like he’s just really trying to be a sponge and learn as much as possible.

“I feel he’s gonna be great.”

L. Williams tweeted at the time: “Respect bro! Come to NY and get some of these double teams off me.”

Former NFL scout and current Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy cast his vote Tuesday for Q. Williams on WNSP radio in Alabama:

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“He has a really hard skill set to find. I think Josh Allen from Kentucky is the best edge rusher, but it’s a lot harder to find guys on the interior defensive line who can put pressure on the passer.

“What Quinnen did last year as a first-year starter with Alabama was awesome. I think he’s just scratching the surface. He’s really a hard guy to block. He’s so powerful. He’s so slippery. Usually guys are one or the other, but he’s kind of both.”

If the 49ers surprise and opt for Williams, even though they are already loaded on the interior, Bosa would be Next Best Player.

Don’t get hung up on G. Williams’ 3-4, either.

“There’s a lot of different things we’re gonna do from a defensive-front standpoint that it may not be a traditional 3-4, Bill Parcells-just-line-up-in-the-old-school 3-4. There’s lots of different types of 3-4,” Maccagnan said. “Heck, we play 60-some percent nickel and dime packages now anyway it seems like, so we usually play with an even front.”

Imagine if George Young had decided against drafting Lawrence Taylor in 1981 because he already had Harry Carson, Brad Van Pelt, Brian Kelley and Dan Lloyd. Young took outside linebacker Carl Banks with the third-overall pick in 1984 at a time when the Giants needed offensive line help — which he secured late in the first round with William Roberts.

Ernie Accorsi made defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka the 32nd and last pick of the 2006 first round at a time when Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck populated the defensive line. Dave Gettleman drafted defensive tackle Kawann Short in the second round in Carolina after selecting Star Lotulelei in the first round in 2013.

Nagy believes in taking the best player.

“I’ve been a part of too many teams where we drafted for need and we’ve swung and missed,” he said.

Long way to go to topple the Patriots. In the meantime, leading the league in Williamses isn’t a bad way to proceed.

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