Braiden McGregor entered the season as one of the Jets’ quieter roster bets. By the time Week 1 was over, he had turned himself into one of the most useful defenders on the field.
That’s quite a leap for a former undrafted free agent who has been with New York since 2024. During camp, much of the attention on the edge went to Nate Lynn, the former Lions defender who flashed with three sacks in two preseason games and looked like a legitimate candidate to make the 53-man roster. Lynn ultimately got waived and later landed on the practice squad, while McGregor, against the odds, survived the cuts and kept his place in the rotation.
It didn’t look like a headline move at the time. After Sunday, it looks a lot smarter.
McGregor was a real factor in the Jets’ season-opening win over the Tennessee Titans, and the advanced numbers back up what showed up on tape. The Jet Press’s Justin Fried pointed to McGregor’s Pro Football Focus grades from the game, noting that the former Michigan standout posted a 75.1 PFF grade, the second-highest single-game mark of his NFL career.
"Under-the-radar shoutout to Braiden McGregor. His 75.1 PFF grade in Week 1 was the second-highest single-game grade of his NFL career," wrote Fried in a post on X. "Meanwhile, his 77.2 PFF run defense grade was the highest single-game grade of his NFL career."
McGregor also came through cleanly in the fundamentals: zero missed tackles and one run stop. He was on the field for just 17 defensive snaps, but that still topped the workload of interior defensive tackles T’Vondre Sweat and Jowon Briggs.
The Jets needed that kind of edge help. Joseph Ossai, the team’s big free-agent addition, was inactive while recovering from injury, and run defense is his calling card. With Will McDonald and David Bailey better suited to pass-rush roles, Kingsley Enagbare and McGregor became especially important in containing Tennessee on the ground.
That job got done. Tony Pollard was held to 35 yards on seven carries, and Tyjae Spears managed only 12 yards on three carries.
Whether Ossai is ready for Week 2 remains to be seen. If he isn’t, McGregor figures to be back in a bigger role again. And if Sunday was any indication, the Jets may have found a defender they can trust more than they expected.
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There was still some give-and-take in the performance, with Parham allowing four pressures, but the overall impact was hard to miss. For a player whose arrival came with some concern about whether he could stabilize the unit, the opener suggested the Jets may have found a real piece in front of their offense, even if the bigger test is still ahead. [Read more 🡒]