The New York Jets will complete their preseason this Thursday when they take on the Philadelphia Eagles in their final tune-up before the regular season begins on Sept. 8.
New York has gone 1-2 thus far in its exhibition games and has some high hopes heading into 2019, as a busy offseason in which the Jets landed big names such as Le'Veon Bell, and C.J. Mosley has the club hoping it can contend for a playoff spot.
So, with Week 1 right around the corner, here are three key players to watch in the Jets' preseason finale:
3. Jonotthan Harrison
The casual football fan probably won't even know who Jonotthan Harrison is, but he is currently the Jets' starting center.
He started eight games for New York in 2018 and seemed to be on track to start all 16 of them in 2019 before Ryan Kalil came out of retirement to sign with Gang Green at the beginning of the month.
Now, Harrison's benching seems almost to be an inevitable, as the Jets are acting as if Kalil will be the starter come Week 1 even though he has barely participated in training camp and hasn't even played a down in the preseason.
It doesn't look like Kalil will play on Thursday, either, which gives Harrison the opportunity to have a great showing and make the Jets think about who they should have snapping the ball to Sam Darnold in the season opener.
2. Ryan Griffin
With Chris Herndon set to be suspended for the first four games of the season after violating the NFL's PED policy, the Jets need a tight end to emerge in the preseason. Why not veteran Ryan Griffin?
New York signed Griffin late last month after the Houston Texans released him, and given the state of the rest of the Jets' tight ends, Griffin is easily the best available one for Week 1 right now.
He's not exactly Travis Kelce, but Griffin also isn't a complete bum, as he caught 24 passes for 305 yards in 2018 and has hauled in 136 receptions for 1,491 yards and seven touchdowns throughout his six-year NFL career.
The Jets were hoping that Herndon, who had an impressive rookie season last year, would be a big part of the offense heading into 2019, but now that he is out for the first quarter of the season, New York needs someone else to step up.
Griffin has yet to make an impact this preseason, but a strong showing on Thursday would go a long way in winning himself a roster spot.
New York drafted Quinnen Williams with the third overall pick back in April, so, obviously, it is expecting the defensive lineman to contribute right off the bat.
Williams is very versatile, capable of playing both inside and outside on the defensive line. He is also coming off of a sophomore campaign at Alabama in which he racked up 71 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks.
The kid has a lot of potential.
While Williams is assured of playing time no matter what, a strong finish to his preseason would be significant, as it would allow him to establish a rhythm going into the season opener.
Williams might be just what the Jets' defense, which ailed in 2018, needed, particularly in the trenches.
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