Last season the Jets had one of the youngest rosters in the NFL, and as HC Aaron Glenn has said many times “it’s a young man’s game.” That, however, did not dissuade GM Darren Mougey and Glenn from adding key veterans like QB Geno Smith, LB Demario Davis S Minkah Fitzpatrick, DT David Onyemata and others.
One of the interesting quirks of this year’s roster as the Green & White prepare for the final two preseason games and their Week 1 opener at Tennessee is the status of young veteran LB Jamien Sherwood. At 25 years old, Sherwood is about to embark on his sixth season with the team, which makes him the second-longest tenured player after long snapper Thomas Hennessy’s soon-to-be 10th season.
“Sometimes I think about it,” Sherwood said this week. “It’s a blessing just to be here that long, to be one of the longest guys, but you know I intend to stay here as long as possible.”
The Jets selected Sherwood, a safety at Auburn, in the fifth round (No. 146 overall) in the 2021 NFL Draft. He made the transition to linebacker, and after injury limited him to 5 games in his rookie season, Sherwood came into his own in 2024 when he recorded 158 total tackles and led the league with 98 solo efforts. He followed that with 154 last season.
“When I first got here, I was very quiet,” he said. “I didn’t talk to many people, and then, maybe in my third year, one of my best friends on the team happened to have an injury, and he had to be let go. So that forced me to start branching out to other people, making more friends. I started getting more comfortable. At one point I was the youngest guy in the linebacker room, probably for three years.
“So that fourth year, there were guys that would come in undrafted. I could teach them the defense. I would say as it evolved, I’ve just been friendlier, I guess, just more outgoing, willing to extend my hand and talk to people, ask people how their day is going and how practice is going and stuff like that.”
The ‘New’ Guy on the O-Line
Last season, the Jets’ offensive line earned the rare distinction of having started the same five guys — (left to right) Olu Fashanu, John Simpson,, Josh Myers, Joe Tippmann and rookie Armand Membou — in all 17 games. Simpson left in free agency, returning to Baltimore, and has been replaced by Dylan Parham who signed in free agency after four seasons with Las Vegas.
“Dylan’s awesome,” said left tackle Olu Fashanu, who sets up next to Parham at guard. “I mean, first thing off the bat, he’s a super smart guy. I’ve said this multiple times, but we’re at the point where when we’re out on the field, we don’t even need to communicate with each other. We’re automatically in the same headspace. We both know what the other guy has, and it’s really good to have a guy like that. Just because that just takes away one aspect of the game you don’t have to worry about.”
