Nearly five months ago, many fans and media members clamored for New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas to select Georgia tight end Brock Bowers in the first round of the draft – if they were lucky enough to have him available to them with the 10th pick.
When Bowers fell to pick No. 10, Douglas was left with a decision: weapon or protection?
Visit our New York Jets News page to stay updated on the latest happenings.
Bowers, widely considered one of the best tight end prospects in recent memory, was an enticing option for a Jets team that could use as many weapons for Aaron Rodgers as possible. However, with Rodgers being a 40-year-old quarterback coming off an Achilles injury, it was arguably more important to protect him than to improve his weaponry.
Thus, Douglas passed on Bowers and elected to go with the safer, less sexy route by taking Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu (after trading down one spot).
One of the popular arguments against New York selecting a tackle was that the player would be a backup going into their rookie year. New York had already locked up its two starting tackles. Earlier in the offseason, the Jets signed Tyron Smith and traded for Morgan Moses, solidifying the left and right tackle spots, respectively.
So, it’s not as if the Jets were passing on Bowers for a penciled-in starting tackle. They passed on him for a backup tackle. Some argued this would be imprudent usage of a first-round pick for the win-now Jets.
As questionable as that decision might seem at first glance, it made perfect sense when looking at the situation realistically.
Smith and Moses are both 33 years old. Smith had missed at least 3 games in 8 consecutive seasons, with an average of 6 per year over that span. Moses was coming off a season in which he was limited to 69% of the Ravens’ offensive snaps, missing 3 games and exiting multiple others early. He underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason.
The unfortunate yet likely reality was that Smith and/or Moses were due to miss plenty of games in 2024. Based on Smith’s average of 6 missed games per year since 2016 and Moses missing 31% of the Ravens’ snaps in 2023 (equivalent to 5.3 games), it seemed very realistic that Fashanu could end up starting at least half of the Jets’ games in his rookie year.
Thus, even if Fashanu was a backup on the initial depth chart, he was poised to play a massive role for the Jets in their win-now 2024 season.
And here we are.
Only three weeks into the year, Fashanu’s name was called for the first time. Moses went down with a knee injury in the fourth quarter of New York’s Thursday night win over New England, hurling Fashanu into the Jets’ right tackle spot for the Jets’ final 13 offensive snaps of the game.
It remains to be seen how long Moses will be sidelined. Regardless, the Jets drafted Fashanu to prepare themselves for this exact situation.
We are only three weeks into the season, and one of the Jets’ bookend pass protectors for their prized veteran quarterback is already off the field. Most teams would have to turn to a run-of-the-mill backup at this point, but thanks to the Jets’ prudence in the draft, they can now turn to a highly talented top-11 draft pick instead. Jets fans don’t have to lose sleep over the likes of Max Mitchell being the next man up to protect Rodgers.
Meanwhile, Bowers is off to a hot start out in Las Vegas, catching 15 passes for 156 yards over his first two games. He is coming off a 98-yard performance in the Raiders’ Week 2 win over the Ravens.
It sure seems like Bowers is on his way to an excellent career – as it did going into the draft – but that does not change the fact that he would not carry as much value for this Jets team as Fashanu does. Last night, Tyler Conklin had a 93-yard game at the tight end position for the Jets. Aaron Rodgers doesn’t need a blue-chip tight end to get the job done. But he does need a reliable offensive line to stay on the football field.
As for Fashanu’s debut performance, it’s probably not worth analyzing too deeply, as he was thrust into action off the bench and only played a tiny sample of garbage time snaps. Still, there were some promising signs from the 21-year-old.
Fashanu actually played his first NFL offensive snap two quarters before Moses’ injury. He subbed in as a sixth offensive lineman for a goal-line run play in the second quarter. And what did he do? Throw the key block that paved the way for Breece Hall to score.
Before he came in for Moses late, Olu Fashanu played his first NFL offensive snap as an extra lineman on this goal line run
And he made the key block that Breece Hall followed right behind for the TD #Jets pic.twitter.com/uhuLAk3rBq
— Michael Nania (@Michael_Nania) September 20, 2024
Fashanu displayed flashes of his athleticism in the run game. There were two zone plays where Fashanu successfully sealed his man to the back side.
Couple of nice blocks on the back side from Olu Fashanu, getting around his man and pinning him to the back side #Jets pic.twitter.com/dGraWNWCRr
— Michael Nania (@Michael_Nania) September 20, 2024
We didn’t see enough of Fashanu in pass protection to draw any worthwhile conclusions (only 6 pass-blocking snaps), but it was promising to see Fashanu cleanly execute this stunt pickup with Alijah Vera-Tucker.
AVT and Olu cleanly handle the stunt #Jets pic.twitter.com/1FZrbyiu6J
— Michael Nania (@Michael_Nania) September 20, 2024
It always seemed likely that Fashanu would be tossed into action sooner than later. Nobody hoped that would happen, but that’s what history pointed to, and it’s why the Jets felt comfortable using a top-11 pick on him in a win-now season.
Now, the spotlight is on Fashanu to prove that he can be an instant-impact player for the Jets in his first season. His long-term position on the roster was always secure; Smith and Moses are both on one-year deals. Fashanu will likely start for the Jets in Week 1 of 2025, and regardless of how he performs this year, there will be room for him to take leaps in the future.
But is he capable of rising to the occasion in Year 1 as the Jets pursue lofty aspirations? Douglas drafted him because he believed the answer is “yes.” He knew that Fashanu was bound to play a large role behind two aging tackles, and with his job on the line, he would not have drafted a player who he did not think could help the Jets achieve their goals this year. We’re about to find out if he was right.
Hey, producing a touchdown on your very first NFL snap is a pretty good way to start.
