NFL Draft: New York Jets draft Mekhi Becton, completing the offensive line rebuild
Rebuilding the offensive line dominated free agency for the New York Jets. It dominated the NFL Draft’s start for the Jets, who took Mekhi Becton No. 11 overall.
Becton, a multi-year starter at Louisville, was named the top blocker in the ACC a year ago. But it was at the NFL Combine where he really turned heads and made his case to be the first pick made in the career of general manager Joe Douglas.
He ran a 5.1 time in the 40 while measuring in at 6’7 and 346 pounds. He is a mountain of a man and a physical, tenacious blocker.
The concerns about Becton are two-fold. First is his weight, something Becton will not only need to control when he arrives at the Jets facility but he will have to slim down to be conditioned and ready for the regular season. In addition, there was an alleged flagged drug test at the Combine, an incident that likely caused him to slip down the draft several spots and fall to the Jets.
The Jets came into Thursday night’s first around at No. 11 with a couple areas of need, including left tackle, wide receiver, cornerback and defensive end.
The offensive line has been addressed by Douglas in bringing free agents George Fant (offensive tackle), Greg Van Roten (guard), Connor McGovern (center), Josh Andrews (guard) and re-signing Alex Lewis (guard). But missing was a left tackle, a true cornerstone of the line to protect the blindside.
In Becton, the Jets now have a building block pick after ignoring the offensive line for a decade. In 2010, Vlad Ducasse was the last offensive lineman taken by the organization in the first two rounds of the draft.
Ducasse was taken at No. 61 and was the highest offensive lineman taken by the Jets since 2006.
It was a somewhat unpredictable draft leading up to No. 11.
A likely Jets target, left tackle Andrew Thomas (Georgia) surprisingly went off the board at No. 4 to the New York Giants, well before many thought he would be taken. Same could be said of Jedrick Wills, a right tackle from Alabama, who went one pick before the Jets selection to the Cleveland Browns.
