Carl Lawson having his way with Mekhi Becton at Jets training camp

Carl Lawson is getting the better of Mekhi Becton

Two of the New York Jets‘ most talented players have been competing head-to-head on a daily basis.

Carl Lawson – who primarily plays the right defensive end position, where he faces off against the opponent’s left tackle – has been drawing plenty of duels with left tackle Mekhi Becton throughout the early goings of training camp.

So far, Lawson has had the upper hand. Lawson has reportedly been “frequently” defeating Becton over the last two days.

Carl Lawson is welcoming Zach Wilson to practice with a ton of pressure. He’s already sacked him once and nearly got to him a second time, forcing a bad throw. Lawson winning the battle with Becton frequently these past two days. #jets

— Andy Vasquez (@andy_vasquez) July 30, 2021

No need to panic – iron sharpens iron

As the old saying goes: iron sharpens iron.

With every positive play on the practice field comes an equal and opposite negative play by the player who was beaten. It is difficult for a play to transpire in which no member of the team had a bad rep. Such is the nature of practices in a team sport – but that’s the beauty of training camp. It gives teammates an opportunity to make each other better.

For Becton, getting consistently dominated by a star-caliber pass rusher early in training camp can only be a positive thing as he attempts to achieve superstardom in his second season. Becton will gain significantly more valuable information from losing reps to a talented rusher like Lawson than he would from beating up on mediocre rushers, such as Henry Anderson and Frankie Luvu on last year’s roster.

In this way, adding Lawson aids the Jets not only through the tangible impact he will provide in-game but also through the day-to-day challenges he will provide on the practice field for one of the team’s highest-upside young players. Becton now has to deal with an elite talent every single day after facing subpar talent in practice last year.

Former Jets right tackle Damien Woody echoes the sentiment that Becton will benefit from his losses to Lawson. Woody also points out that things should change drastically once padded practices arrive – the brand of football that takes place in padless practices (like the ones we are seeing now) just isn’t close to the real thing.

Two things….pads aren’t on yet which will make a difference & this is great for him! Iron sharpens iron

— Damien Woody (@damienwoody) July 30, 2021

It seems that Lawson has embraced his leadership role and is using his success against Becton as a teaching tool. He was seen talking about technique with Becton at Thursday’s practice.

Morgan Moses talking to John Franklin-Myers on the sideline. Looks like they’re going over moves with each other. Same with Mekhi Becton and Carl Lawson.

— Ethan Greenberg (@EGreenbergJets) July 29, 2021

Lawson ranked fourth among edge rushers with 64 pressures in 2020, according to PFF. Becton finished his rookie year showing elite potential at just 21 years old, ranking top 10 among left tackles in both PFF’s pass-blocking grade and PFF’s run-blocking grade over the final seven weeks of the season.

It’s been a while since the Jets have had such a marquee offensive lineman-versus-defensive lineman matchup on the practice field. Becton and Lawson will only benefit from their intense bouts.