New York Jets: 3 Players with rising stock after Week 4

1. Kony Ealy

The Jets are counting on Ealy to help fill the void left along the defensive line when Sheldon Richardson was traded to Seattle. He came through with flying colors against the Jaguars. The University of Missouri product was in the face of Blake Bortles all game long, deflecting four of his pass attempts. He was the main reason the Jaguars signal-caller completed just 15 of 35 passes (42.9 percent) in the overtime thriller.

The defensive highlight of the game came when Ealy tipped a pass intended for Allen Hurns, intercepted it and returned it nine yards to the Jacksonville seven. That helped set up Chandler Catanzaro’s 26-yard field goal that gave Gang Green a 20-10 advantage with 34 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Ealy’s career highlight came in Super Bowl 50 when he recorded three sacks, an interception and a forced fumble in just 23 snaps for the Carolina Panthers. In doing so, Ealy became the first player in Super Bowl history to have multiple sacks and an interception in the same contest. It was one of the greatest defensive performances in Super Bowl history.

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Is he still that player? Time will tell, but he has 14 career sacks and is still just 25 years old, so he is in his prime. Ealy is a disrupter, someone who gets in the quarterback’s face, blocks passes and makes him move out of the pocket. He makes the opposing quarterback uncomfortable. He doesn’t have any sacks yet as a Jet but he has only played in four games for the green and white. They will come. Ealy’s stock is going up — way up.