The New York Jets are gearing up for what they hope will be a triumphant season.
After missing the playoffs yet again, they traded for future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers while also bringing in two of his former wide receivers in Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, as well as his old offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett.
At age 39, Rodgers is perhaps in slow decline and isn’t as mobile as he used to be, which means giving him outstanding protection on the offensive line has to be a priority for New York.
They declined to pick up the fifth-year option on offensive tackle Mekhi Becton, and after he recently tweeted that he deserves to be the team’s starting left tackle, head coach Robert Saleh fired back.
“Go earn the left tackle,” Saleh said. “Competition.”
Saleh recently said that the starting tackle spots on both sides of the offensive line will be an open competition, which apparently led to Becton’s comment.
He was the No. 11 overall pick in 2020 when he started 13 of the 14 games he appeared in, but he missed almost all of the 2021 season and the entirety of 2022 with an injury to his knee cartilage and an avulsion fracture in his right kneecap, respectively.
Becton played three years of college football at the University of Louisville, and he earned a first-team All-ACC nod for the 2019 campaign.
The Jets will need to make sure their offensive line is solid, otherwise what looks to be a promising 2023 season could turn out to be a big disappointment.
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