THE MIGHTY QUINNEN

WILLIAMS VOWS TO BE ‘UNSTOPPABLE’

THE FIRST thing you noticed about Quinnen Williams when the Jets drafted him with the third-overall pick last year was probably his toothy smile, accentuated by the sparkle of braces.

The smile was wide and white and perpetual — the kind you see people wear because they never have a bad day.

Then came Williams’ rookie season that didn’t turn out the way he expected, which is to say he didn’t dominate opposing offensive linemen the way he’d hoped.

Williams’ lack of production commensurate with his place in the draft slowly erased the smile from Williams’ face as the 2019 season wore on. The burden of outside expectation does that to the best of players.

But instead of brooding about it, blaming anyone or anything around him, Williams went to work this offseason, did a deep analytic dive into his rookie year and vowed to get better.

And Wednesday, after the Jets’ fourth training camp practice, Williams pronounced himself ready to dominate in 2020, going as far as to say, “I’m going to be unstoppable.’’

Sweet music to the ears of every Jets fan if that, indeed, comes to fruition.

“I’m feeling it, man,’’ the 22-year-old, second-year defensive tackle out of Alabama said. “I feel myself being that person that they drafted me to be. I feel like I’m coming into being that person to being a dominant defensive tackle in the NFL.’’

Williams wasn’t, by any means, a bust last season. He simply didn’t stand out. He didn’t dominate. He wasn’t the disruptive force he was in college.

Hampered late in the year by an ankle injury, Williams finished with 28 tackles, 2.5 sacks and a fumble recovery in 13 games.

Sounding highly bullish on himself, Williams spoke of much higher hopes and expectations.

“I’m in great shape, great condition, I got my body fat down, I’m rocking and rolling,’’ he said. “Last year, I was coming in and getting my feet wet. This year … I got my body right this offseason. I got my confidence back this offseason.’’

Williams said he spoke to defensive line coach Andre Carter, a former NFL defensive end who amassed 80.5 career sacks “every other week’’ during the offseason and asked him about what he went through his rookie year when he was playing.

“He told me the third year he tapped in and became a player, and I’m like, ‘Man, I can’t wait ’til my third year; I’ve got to do it now,’ ’’ Williams said. “I feel like I haven’t tapped into it yet and when I do, I’m going to be unstoppable.’’

The Jets need Williams to be unstoppable. They need him to be a force. Because they’re minus the two blue-chip players they expected to have on their defense this season — safety Jamal Adams and linebacker C.J. Mosley. Adams was traded after forcing his way out because of a contract dispute and Mosley opted out of the season with COVID-19 concerns.

That makes Williams the closest thing to a blue-chip player defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has on his defense. If Williams can become a disruptive force that opposing offenses fear every week, he can make up for the absences of Adams and Mosley.

“The biggest thing I keep looking for with him is how disruptive can he be?’’ head coach Adam Gase said.

Williams sounded like he’s already there. He sounded like the season opener in Buffalo in less than a month cannot come quickly enough.

“My confidence is through the roof now, man,’’ he said. “I’ve been training for this all offseason, so the mistakes I made last year won’t be made this year. Of course, people who get drafted as high as I did want to do more. I didn’t have a horrible season. I just didn’t accomplish the goals I wanted to accomplish. I set myself to a higher standard. And my coaches set myself to a higher standard, because they know I can do it.’’

Williams credited Jets veteran defensive linemen Steve McLendon and Henry Anderson in particular for “pushing’’ him to be better.

“I talked to them all offseason,’’ Williams said. “I sent them videos of me working out night and day. They helped my confidence, helped me to me back to that animal person that I want to become. I want to let these guys who believe in me know I’m going to be the player I was supposed to be last year.’’

Minus the braces, which have been removed, the smile is back on Williams’ face.