Twenty-one NFL linebackers have made at least 100 tackles in each of the past two seasons. Only two did so as teammates, and the New York Jets will have C.J. Mosley and Quincy Williams back to go after a third straight season of triple-digit stops.

Mosley and Williams are former Alabama prep stars – Mosley at Theodore and Williams at Wenonah.

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After Williams made 110 tackles in 2021 and 106 in 2022, the Jets kept him out of free agency with a three-year, $18 million contract extension that included a $4.5 million signing bonus and $9 million in guaranteed money.

“Last year, I thought he had a good year,” New York coach Robert Saleh said during an interview at the NFL’s annual meeting last week. “I think he can be a heck of a lot better. His kind of length, speed and violence, I think he’s top five in those three in regards to speed as a linebacker and the way he hits. It’s like a freight train when he hits people.

“And so there’s stuff he has to improve on, but he erases a lot of issues because he’s got so much speed and length and violence to his game, so we’re excited to get him back, excited to continue to work with him and excited to get him to hone in on his skills, and he’s only going to get better.”

Williams joined the Jets as a waiver claim on Sept. 1, 2021. A safety at Murray State, Williams entered the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars as the 98th selection in the 2019 draft.

In each of his first two seasons, Williams had surgery during training camp – for a torn meniscus in 2019 and a core-muscle injury in 2020. Despite the first setback, Williams started eight games for Jacksonville as a rookie. But in 2020, Williams played only 89 defensive snaps.

At the end of the preseason for the 2021 campaign, the Jaguars put him on waivers, and Williams landed with New York.

The Jets obtained Mosley in a contrasting way. After four Pro Bowl selections in five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, the former Alabama All-America came to New York in free agency for a five-year, $85 million contract.

Mosley recorded 168 tackles in 2021 and 158 in 2022. He received Pro Bowl recognition again last season.

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“C.J., I can’t speak enough about him,” Saleh said. “To get back to the Pro Bowl, and I’ve said it before — he did it differently because he didn’t win the fan vote. He got to the Pro Bowl and was a starter at the Pro Bowl because of his peers, which is ultimate accolade in my mind.

“When you draw up middle linebacker and you think of guys like him and Fred Warner and Bobby Wagner and all the great ones that we’ve had – Paul Posluszny – he fits right in that mold. An unbelievable locker-room character. Loves football. Works his tail off. The ultimate teammate. We’re very fortunate to have him.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.