Mekhi Becton and George Fant are set to do battle for the New York Jets’ left tackle job
The New York Jets‘ offseason has only just begun, but the first shocking bit of news has already hit the masses.
According to head coach Robert Saleh, Mekhi Becton will not step back into his role at left tackle unchallenged. Instead, he and George Fant will compete for the starting job.
Fant, Becton’s replacement on the blind-side after Becton went down with a knee injury in Week 1, enjoyed the best season of his career in Becton’s absence. Even more impressive, Fant thrived on the left side after spending all of the summer competing with Morgan Moses for the right tackle position, seemingly improving after switching sides.
Despite Fant’s success, the Jets never hinted at Becton’s job being in jeopardy during the season, which makes the timing of the announcement interesting.
Becton’s injury was initially expected to sideline him for roughly eight weeks. It was expected that Becton would reclaim his role upon returning while Fant would return to right tackle.
Instead, Becton’s knee injury lingered long enough to sideline him the rest of the year, opening the door for Fant.
If Becton’s knee did heal properly and he returned mid-season, it’s unlikely he would’ve had to compete for his job. Clearly, something unknown to the public has changed the Jets’ opinions on Becton enough to warrant the competition.
What could have happened to alter the Jets’ stance on Becton? Does Fant truly have a chance to steal Becton’s left tackle spot?
The Oklahoma Drill Podcast is back to break down the Jets’ upcoming left tackle battle, as well as what New York can learn from this year’s Super Bowl teams. Listen in as the crew lays out all the possible answers for the unsuspected competition, from the likely to the potentially absurd.
With the Jets out of the playoffs, not many expected them to make headlines two weeks ahead of the Super Bowl. But as fans of Gang Green have come to learn time and time again over the years, there’s never a dull moment in the city that never sleeps.
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I think the current Jets’ coaching staff has felt this way about Becton since they arrived. LaFleur made a point to say “he’s going through some things” and clearly they didn’t like that he came to OTA’s so out of shape. I’ve have NO idea why the injury took so long but the reason isn’t important, it was to be a 4-8 week injury so something tells me Becton didn’t do everything possible to get back on the field. This is a clear motivational tactic by Saleh and good for him. He wants to see how Becton takes the challenge. Becton is more talented than Fant and should be able to beat him out for the starting spot. If Becton doesn’t do that then we know all we need to know about him. He may still be a solid player at another position but he won’t be someone they rely on for the long term. I love the move, and can’t wait to see how it works out.
You need two tackles and alot if teams actually throw their best pass rusher on the Right anyway. I think Becton is a Rt
With any luck Becton will permanently lose starting LT duties to Ikem Ekwonu.