The Jets’ 17-0 preseason win over the Steelers gave a few fringe players a real chance to move the needle, and three guys made the most of it on Friday night.
Andre Cisco, Jelani Woods and Malik McClain all flashed in ways that matter this time of year, when every snap can tilt a roster battle.
Cisco was the biggest defensive bright spot among the bunch. For a moment, it looked like Dane Belton was pulling away in the race for the Jets’ No. 2 safety job, but Cisco changed that conversation with a timely interception in the first half.
He jumped a route as Pittsburgh moved the ball down the field and picked off the Jets’ first in-game interception since their preseason finale last year, Aug. 22, 2025.
It was a clean, efficient outing from Cisco across 21 snaps: two tackles, two stops and the interception. Belton started at safety and had a productive night too, so this is still a live competition, but Cisco gave himself exactly the kind of tape he needed.
The fit matters here, too. Belton has been described as more of a strong safety, while Cisco looks more like a natural center fielder, which is why Friday’s showing carried extra weight.
Cisco has had his share of frustration with Jets fans, but he’s also shown in the past that he can hunt the football. From 2022-23, the Syracuse product ranked fourth among safeties in interceptions with seven.
He also posted a 2:3 TD: INT ratio in 2022 and a 2:4 ratio in 2023, so the ball skills are real. Friday was a step in the right direction at a time when he badly needed one.
Woods kept pushing his case as well. Fighting for a roster spot in a tight end room that already includes Mason Taylor, Kenyon Sadiq and Jeremy Ruckert, he made his lone catch count: Geno Smith’s 13-yard touchdown pass to open the game. That was just the latest example of a strong summer for Woods, who has consistently flashed despite the crowded depth chart.
There’s a reason the Jets keep giving him a look. At 6-foot-7 and 253 pounds with a perfect 10.0 RAS, Woods has the kind of physical profile teams can’t manufacture.
Injuries have slowed him down badly, though. Since his rookie year in 2022, he has appeared in only four regular-season games, all with the Jets in 2025, and he finished that stretch with one catch on three targets.
Still, the upside is obvious. He can create problems for defenses in a way most end-of-roster tight ends simply can’t, and his summer has made it easier to imagine the Jets carrying four tight ends.
McClain also helped himself. The undrafted rookie wideout caught both of his targets for 25 yards and showed good awareness on special teams, even if a forced-fumble recovery was ruled Pittsburgh’s ball because neither of his feet got in bounds. It didn’t count, but it was the kind of smart, alert play that coaches notice.
McClain’s athletic numbers jump off the page: 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, a 4.47 40-yard dash, a 40-inch vertical and a 9.92 RAS. The production at the college level never matched the traits, though.
Over five seasons, three schools and 57 games, he finished with 993 yards and eight touchdowns on 72 catches, averaging 13.8 yards per reception. His best single-season yardage total came at Arizona State in 2025, when he had 441 yards.
That kind of résumé is why he went undrafted, and with the Jets’ receiver room as crowded as it is, a 53-man roster spot still looks like a long shot. But if he finishes the preseason well next Friday, a priority practice squad spot is very much in play.
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