How the hell am I supposed to know who this is? - Mory Bamba

by Site Admin

In an occasional feature, we briefly highlight any of the lesser-known players that make an unexpected impact during camp, preseason or the regular season.

Today, we focus on cornerback Mory Bamba:

What he did:

Bamba entered the game with the second unit and had an incredible four pass breakups in the second quarter alone. To put that into context, no NFL player has recorded eight passes defensed in an entire regular season game since 1999 when the stat was first officially tracked.

He ended the game with five tackles and also had a pressure on a blitz.

Playing exclusively on the outside, Bamba was arguably half-beaten a few times, but showed terrific competitiveness at the catch-point, including on one play where he ripped the ball away from a receiver in the end zone to deny a touchdown.

He didn't give up much in coverage, either, with some good tackling to limit yardage, including a third down stop to force a punt. He was involved in one play that went for 35 yards, but clearly passed that one off in zone coverage. It was at the end of that play where Bamba suffered a head injury which removed him from the game, but he did return.

Perhaps Bamba's most significant moment was a tackle in punt coverage. When the Jets added him, we noted that his athletic profile could mean he might be a promising gunner, even though he didn't get to do much of that in college.

Outlook:

Bamba has terrific measurables, as he is long, fast and explosive. However, he's extremely raw and doesn't have much in the way of production or experience at the college level as he was a backup for most of his career and never intercepted a pass.

However, we noted that his 2025 film was better than expected in light of this, and the Jets must have seen some potential in him.

If he can establish himself as a reliable gunner, that might be his best path to getting on the roster, although there are some established veterans ahead of him that might make it tough to crack the rotation at first barring injuries.

If Bamba can't replicate this performance, it wouldn't be the first time we've seen a player excel in the first preseason game only to fall back into the pack. In fact, just last year, Jay Tufele looked like prime Aaron Donald in the first game and then hardly ever did anything of note again in his Jets career.

It will be interesting to watch Bamba's progress in game two, and to see whether he gets to match up with some starters this week as a reward for his progress so far.

More on Bamba:

Here's our in-depth scouting report on Bamba.