The New York Jets knew they had a pair of young, defensive stars on the team, and the whole league knows it too.

Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner were selected to the Pro Bowl for the second consecutive season.

"That's what I'm here for. I'm trying to make history, trying to make history every year," Gardner said of his latest stake in franchise history. "I know at the beginning of the season I was saying MVP, but I was just trolling, saying stuff like that. Reaching for the stars will make stuff like this happen … two-time Pro Bowler."

"Right now I'm kind of shocked," Williams said after finding out Wednesday. "It's just pretty cool, man, to be around a bunch of great guys, great athletes from around the world. Year in and year out, you just work your tail off to win football games and do what you've got to do, so none of these accolades come to mind throughout the whole year because all you want to do is put your hard work in to help your team win football games. To be able to get recognized for my hard work is super dope."

While both players certainly deserved a Pro Bowl invite, neither really have big stats that usually come with a Pro Bowl selection. Sauce Gardner does not have a single interception on the year and Quinnen Williams only has three and a half sacks on the season which is tied for fifth best on the team.

The Pro Bowl voting process is broken up into thirds with fans, players, and coaches all getting a say in who makes it in. The fact that they were both selected without big stats and without being a top fan vote shows how respected both are around the league.

"It's a blessing to be able to play this game I love and a blessing to be in the Pro Bowl," Gardner said. "I know I wasn't No. 1 probably, I wasn't in the top five or top 10 in the fan voting. But to be recognized by the players and coaches, that let's me know everybody knows what I do."

Besides Williams and Gardner, the Jets had six other players who finished strongly enough in the balloting to be named alternates at their positions. Kicker Greg Zuerlein and punter Thomas Morstead were named first alternates. MLB C.J. Mosley, who represented the Jets at last year's Pro Bowl, is a third alternate. RB Breece Hall, LB Quincy Williams and LB Jermaine Johnson are fifth alternates.

While it is hard to say a team that currently sits at 6-10 had snubs from the Pro Bowl, there were two names on the list that jumped out to me as deserving on an invite that didn’t receive one, and they are both on the alternates list.

Show me a punter that had more of an impact on the team than Thomas Morestead. While AJ Cole from the Las Vegas Raiders got the nod over Morestead, I would argue that Morestead was easily the best punter in the game this year.

The other name that is far too far down the alternates list is the other Williams brother, Quincy. Quincy has been a game wrecker for a Jets defense that ranks in the top of almost every category. Quincy has 131 tackles, 101 solo tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles, and an interception.

Quincy knows he got snubbed and tweeted out that he plans to make sure this is corrected next year with a three-word tweet.

2024: Leave No Doubt

— Quincy Williams (@quincywilliams_) January 4, 2024

A lot can happen between now and when the players take the field in Orlando for the Pro Bowl games, but at least for the now, the New York Jets will be adequately represented.

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