Two games into the season, the Jets’ most useful offseason pickup isn’t the flashy name many would have circled in August. It’s Kingsley Enagbare, the EDGE rusher who arrived as a depth signing and has already forced his way into a far bigger role.
With Joseph Ossai sidelined, Enagbare has stepped into the starting lineup and produced right away. He sits second on the Jets with six total pressures, behind only David Bailey’s eight, and he’s tied with Bailey for the team lead in sacks at 2.0. He also shares the club lead in stops with Azareye’h Thomas and Demario Davis at four.
That kind of production is especially notable given how Enagbare was brought in. The Jets signed him to a one-year, $10 million deal, expecting help in the rotation.
Instead, he’s already matching the sack total he posted in 2025, when he had 2.0 sacks and 24 total pressures across 17 games, including three starts. After two weeks this year, he’s already a quarter of the way to that pressure total.
The advanced numbers back up the strong start, too. Enagbare is tied for fifth among defensive linemen in total pass-rush wins with 10, according to ESPN.
He’s not the kind of edge rusher who’s ever been billed as a pure game-wrecker. What he has been, though, is steady. Over his first four seasons with the Green Bay Packers, Enagbare played 17 games in each year and finished with either 24 or 25 pressures every season.
That consistency is part of why the Jets wanted him. Enagbare has long been known more for his run-stopping than his splash plays, and that mattered for a team that had one of the league’s worst run-stuffing units off the edge in 2025.
He and Ossai were brought in to give New York two balanced edge options in a room that also includes Bailey and Will McDonald, who are more one-track pass rushers with limitations against the run. Ossai and Enagbare don’t bring the same burst getting after the quarterback, but they offer a sturdier blend of pressure and run defense.
That balance has mattered. Even with Ossai out, the Jets’ EDGE group has held together early, and Enagbare has been a big reason why.
Aaron Glenn’s work as the defensive play caller has helped, too. The Jets have used creative ways to get their defensive line into position to pressure quarterbacks, and Enagbare has taken advantage of the opportunities.
His ceiling as a pass rusher is what it is at this point, but paired with what he brings against the run, he’s already giving the Jets enough to matter. And perhaps most important, he has handled Ossai’s absence without the defense missing a beat. When Ossai comes back, Enagbare has made the case that he still belongs in a meaningful role.
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