The New York Jets continue to add some much-needed support to their interior defensive line position, reportedly agreeing to terms with Leki Fotu, according to Connor Hughes.
Of the Jets’ top four defensive tackles from the 2023 season in terms of snaps played, only Quinnen Williams is under contract for the upcoming season, with Solomon Thomas, Quinton Jefferson, and Al Woods all free agents.
Williams is, of course, a three down presence who can impact both the run and passing games. The addition of Javon Kinlaw, who spent his first four seasons in San Francisco, provides more of a pass rush presence.
However, given how the roster is currently constructed, what the Jets didn’t have was a run-stuffing presence. This is a role that Fotu can potentially fill.
At 6’5” – 334 pounds, Fotu is a former fourth round pick by Arizona in the 2020 NFL Draft. His primary role has come as an early-down space eater, tasked with taking on blockers to free up others and bottling up the middle of the field against the run.
Fotu appeared in 11 games in 2023, totaled 24 tackles and 14 stops, or plays that constitute as “failure” for an offense, as PFF describes it. Fotu has been fairly durable throughout his career, appearing in all 17 games during the 2021 and 2022 seasons with the Cardinals.
It comes with the territory for Fotu given the role he is often asked to fill, but his presence often won’t be felt on the stat sheet and he frequently won’t show up as a pass rusher either.
In four seasons, Fotu has totaled just 23 pressures and four sacks. If you go look up where his stats compare to other interior defenders, you won’t see Fotu at the top of the list, and often not even close to it. To a degree, that’s part of the gig as a nose tackle.
Instead, Fotu’s presence is felt by his teammates, by helping to create opportunities for them to make plays with the attention he can draw from blockers and the space he takes up, forcing running backs to search for rushing lanes elsewhere.
“Yeah, but I love it,” said Fotu about playing nose tackle. “In general, our job is kind of like the O-line. All the mess starts right there with us, up front. But the life is a nose guard, for me, it’s more of a hybrid thing because I’m moving around.
“But speaking for a nose guard, you’ve just got to have that nasty mentality knowing you have to be the anchor of the defense up front. It starts with you, and it sets the tone for the rest of the line and everybody else to follow. That’s a huge part of our team.”
This is a needed depth signing along the interior defensive line for the Jets. This is a heavily rotated position, one where four or even five players see snaps each week, and the Jets are working on filling out that rotation.
Fotu helps create competition within that position group and fills a very specific and needed role for the Jets. This is not a move, however, that should preclude the Jets from further adding to this unit, whether that be continuing to do so through free agency or in the draft.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, this is a one-year deal for Fotu that comes with a base salary of $2.5 million with the opportunity to earn up to $4 million through incentives. The cap hit for this move will be a relatively inexpensive one.