Jets Benching Quincy Williams for No Clear Reason

By Matt Schauf | Updated on Sun, Nov 9 2025 5:02 PM UTC

Jets LB Quincy Williams announced earlier this week that the team was demoting him, and that's holding for today's game against the Browns -- despite rookie LB Kiko Mauigoa being inactive. The Jets are instead starting veteran journeyman Mykal Walker next to lead LB Jamien Sherwood.

What They're Saying

ESPN's Rich Cimini: "Replacing the demoted Quincy Williams is veteran Mykal Walker, not Kiko Mauigoa, who is inactive."

2025 Fantasy Football Impact

Williams spent a while on IR earlier this year, and he must've spent that time stealing toilet paper from team facilities or dousing jockstraps with Icy Hot.

Because it's tough to make sense of this move unless benching Williams is more personal than tactical.

Walker's 28, a 2020 fourth-round pick of the Falcons who didn't finish his rookie contract there and has since started seven total games for three other teams. Walker has 7 total tackles (1 solo) for this year's Jets.

Williams is ... better.

Starting Mauigoa when he's healthy would be easier to justify as a forward-looking move, with Williams' contract set to expire at the end of this season.

We'll see where this goes. In the meantime, Sherwood's the only usable Jets LB in your IDP league.

Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.