Over the last few months, we’ve been breaking down all undrafted free agents signed by the Jets. We continue today with former West Virginia and Colorado State linebacker Chase Wilson.
The 25-year old Wilson is listed at 6’1” and 230 pounds and was a two-time all-Mountain West conference second-teamer in college. The Jets signed him after originally inviting him to their rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.
Background
Wilson was a three-star high school recruit, who headed to Colorado State in 2020. However,
he didn’t record any stats in his first two seasons, as he played just two games in his freshman season and then redshirted the following year after suffering a season-ending injury in the third game.
He finally got a chance to contribute in 2022, recording 29 tackles, 2.5 sacks and two pass breakups in a reserve role.
In 2023 and 2024, Wilson was a starter and was named as a second-team all-Mountain West Conference selection in each season. He had 107 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and three passes defensed in 2023, each of which represented a career-high. He wasn’t quite as productive in 2024 but did have the first two interceptions of his career as he racked up another 98 tackles.
Ahead of the 2025 season, Wilson opted to enter the transfer portal and enrolled at West Virginia. He started every game, albeit not in a full-time role with his tackle count dropping to 46. However, he did have three sacks and two more interceptions.
Wilson was not invited to the scouting combine and wasn’t considered likely to be drafted. Having been unable to secure an undrafted free agent contract, he attended the Jets’ rookie minicamp on a tryout basis but the Jets signed him after that.
Let’s move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Wilson brings to the table, based on in-depth research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Wilson has average size but his athletic numbers are solid across the board. He ran a 4.68 in the 40-yard dash and posted good explosiveness and agility numbers.
However, he only managed 18 bench press numbers, which is slightly lower than you’d typically expect for an NFL linebacker.
Usage
Wilson played in an off-ball role throughout his career, often matching up with players in the slot or following them when they motioned out wide. He was primarily the middle linebacker.
His role didn’t change in terms of his alignment but he blitzed a lot more often at West Virginia than he had while with the Rams.
Run defense
Wilson’s run defense production and grades were solid throughout his career. He is aggressive coming downhill and can cover a lot of ground from sideline-to-sideline.
He is good at reading the game and plays with patience and discipline, but is decisive once he goes after the ball carrier.
He can be over-aggressive and run himself out of plays or over-pursue from time to time.
Coverage skills
Wilson held his own in coverage, although he was exploited at times. For his career, he gave up a 73 percent catch rate and 9.6 yards per catch, along with four touchdowns.
He wasn’t exposed in deep coverages, with the only 30-yard play he gave up in coverage during his career coming on a short pass.
While Wilson’s on-ball production was low because he never exceeded three pass breakups in a season, he showed some playmaking ability with four interceptions over the past two years.
He shows good positioning, timing and tenaciousness to disrupt this pass at the catch-point.
Tackling
Wilson was a productive tackler, whose tackle efficiency improved over the course of his college career. He had 18 missed tackles in his first season as a full-time starter, but less than half that amount in his final season.
He officially had just one forced fumble in his career, with none in any of his three seasons as a starter.
Blitzing
Wilson had nine sacks in his career, with a good pressure rate when blitzing. However, that pressure rate dropped in his final season which saw him rushing more often.
A lot of his production came from spying the quarterback and then chasing him down when he stepped up or escaped the pocket.
Special teams
Wilson got plenty of experience on special teams during his college career, seeing action on every unit apart from the placekicking unit.
He had four tackles in kick coverage and two penalties during his college career.
Physicality
Wilson plays with an aggressive downhill style and is known for his hard nosed toughness.
He only had four penalties in his college career, including none in his final season. One was an unnecessary roughness call.
Instincts/Intelligence
Wilson is described as a player with a high football IQ, who plays with good discipline and a “do your job” mentality. He impressed coaches at West Virginia with how quickly he learned their system and makes good reads in the running game and in coverage.
In zone coverage, there were times where a receiver was able to leak into an area behind him and he was susceptible to misdirection and playfakes at times.
He was an academic all-Big 12 selection last season.
Attitude
Wilson took on a leadership role at West Virginia as one of their oldest and most experienced players, having been granted an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic. He acknowledged that he had “made mistakes” early in his career and was keen to provide guidance to his younger teammates to help them avoid the same issues.
He was also a team captain for the Rams in 2024, in his final year of high school and for two games last season.
Injuries
Wilson missed most of the 2021 due to a season-ending injury but the nature of this was not disclosed publicly.
He also missed one game due to a leg injury last season but was pretty durable overall as he played in 53 games, starting the last 36 of those.
Scheme Fit
Both defenses Wilson played on during his time as a starter were described as 4-2-5 defenses with an attacking mindset. The Jets certainly used a similar approach for most of last season.
The Mountaineers’ defense that Wilson played in last season was more multiple, which the Jets’ 2026 defense also promises to be, so that could help Wilson’s comfort levels.
The fact that Wilson played the game with a disciplined “do your job” mentality presumably appeals to Aaron Glenn, who was constantly talking about the need to do that during the Jets’ poor start last season.
Conclusions
In April, the Jets only signed one undrafted free agent linebacker, Kendrick Blackshire, but they have since let Blackshire go while giving contracts to Wilson and another undrafted rookie linebacker, Jaden Keller. That suggests that Wilson must have impressed the team and that they view him as a good fit.
While Demario Davis and Jamien Sherwood should both play full-time roles if healthy, the depth behind those two isn’t much to write home about so there will be a competition to be the next man up.
A guy like Wilson would probably need to excel on special teams to have a shot at making the roster, but he has a reasonable chance to stick around and develop on the practice squad and should get plenty of chances to play during preseason. He may even wear the headset at middle linebacker on the third unit.
