Jamien Sherwood

A fifth-round safety in 2021 — in 2024 he became the NFL’s 4th-leading LB tackler.

The 2021 5th-round pick (Auburn safety) played behind C.J. Mosley for three years — just 68 total tackles across his first three seasons. The position switch to off-ball LB unlocked everything: 143 tackles in 2024 and 151 in 2025.

The two-year total of 294 tackles ranks 3rd among all NFL linebackers over that span, behind only Jordyn Brooks (311) and Jack Campbell (295).

Two-thirds of his career tackles came in the last 24 months — a true late-bloomer.

81% of his career tackles have come in the last 34 games — the years after his S→LB conversion. That kind of role-change leap is rare; most defenders peak in years 3–4, not in years 4–5.

The 2024–2025 per-game pace of 8.65 tackles per game would have put him in the All-Pro conversation if not for the volume leaders in front of him.

First Jets player to lead the team in tackles in back-to-back years since C.J. Mosley’s three-peat.

Mosley led the Jets in tackles three straight years (2021–2023). Sherwood has now matched that streak’s start — he’s the first NYJ player since Mosley to win the team tackle title in consecutive seasons, and his 151 tackles in 2025 is the highest single-season total any Jets defender has posted in the database’s window (since 2015).

Among NFL LBs over the last two years, his 294 tackles trails only Brooks and Campbell.

All three at the top — Brooks, Campbell, Sherwood — played all 34 regular-season games. The gap from Sherwood to Wagner (4th to 5th) is 13 tackles; the gap from #1 to #3 is just 17 tackles.

The more impressive context: Brooks is a 7th-year LB, Campbell a former first-rounder. Sherwood was a position-converted 5th-round safety taken on Day 3 of the 2021 draft.

His 17-tackle Week 10 game in 2024 is the highest single-game total of any Jets defender in the database.

Five career games with 13+ tackles, all in his last two seasons. The 17-tackle Arizona game (Week 10, 2024) had 10 assists — the fingerprint of a downhill LB chasing every play to the ball.

He’s a tackle machine but also leads NYJ LBs in pass-defense plays.

His 2024–2025 sample shows the rare LB pattern of producing more disruption stats in the second half — 75% of his career sacks and 64% of his pass break-ups happen after halftime.

First-half Sherwood is a tackle robot; second-half Sherwood becomes a hybrid coverage/blitz piece. The 8 pass break-ups in 2025 are a career-best and tied for top-3 among true off-ball LBs.