With every training camp comes a multitude of tough decisions teams must make. The New York Jets are no different, as their current roster picture will undoubtedly look much different in advance of the regular season.
Early camp and preseason opportunities oftentimes lead to one or two unheralded players making their names known. This summer, one of New York’s standouts appears to be defensive tackle Payton Page.
Payton Page Listed as UDFA With Best Outlook for Jets’ Roster
In a story for Bleacher Report, Brent Sobleski listed one undrafted player from each team with the best chance to make the roster. Page made the cut for the Jets, with Sobleski’s logic being twofold.
First and foremost, the Jets simply don’t have a ton of elite depth behind Quinnen Williams and Derrick Nnadi. While Williams remains an elite building block and Nnadi can stuff the run, more is needed. That’s where Page could come in. Secondly, he’s just an exciting piece.
“Payton Page didn’t become a full-time starter along the Clemson defense until his final year on campus,” Sobleski wrote. “The Tigers are always loaded up front and even a highly regarded recruit of his caliber has to wait his turn. Page lacks length and is not overly powerful at the point of attack, but he does have excellent first-step quickness and burst to reset the line of scrimmage. If New York’s coaching staff uses him in the right way, he can plug a gap effectively and allow others to make plays.”
Just days after Sobleski’s hat-tip to Page, Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic followed suit. In an observation from July 28’s training camp practice, Rosenblatt broke down Page’s performance via a post on X.
“An under the radar guy that’s jumped out in camp so far: DT Payton Page, UDFA from Clemson,” Rosenblatt’s tweet began. “He’s made some plays in team drills against backups and has won some physical battles in OL vs DL drills today.”
It’s clear that Page is making an impact early and often. As he fights for the first big break of his professional career, everyone is noticing his effort.
Breaking Down New York’s 2025 Defensive Tackle Room
The aforementioned two players sort of speak for themselves. Williams is coming off his third straight Pro Bowl year and had 6 sacks in 2024. Nnadi’s 221 snaps last season were a career-low mark, which puts him at a crossroads of sorts entering his age-29 campaign. Still, though, he’s capable of occupying gaps in the run game.
Three options who shouldn’t be ignored are Byron Cowart, Leonard Taylor III and Jay Tufele. Cowart has 51 games of experience under his belt with multiple franchises. He set a career-high with 2.5 sacks last season. Taylor flashed as a UDFA last year and made the roster in Paul Esden Jr.’s projection for Heavy on Jets. Tufele is a former fourth-round pick with 34 games on the docket. Fatorma Mulbah and former second-round pick Phidarian Mathis deserve consideration, too. That’s a lot of names.
Then, of course, there’s Page. He appeared in 14 games during his final season at Clemson, recording 32 tackles (3 for loss) with an interception and a half a sack. His Pro Football Focus grades for overall defense (74.0), run defense (75.8) and pass rushing (67.2) were all very solid. Of 104 defensive tackles with 500-plus snaps last season, those respective figures ranked 26th, 32nd and 41st.
Page might end up making the Jets’ decision much harder if he keeps performing well at training camp.
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