The Las Vegas Raiders nearly upset the Kansas City Chiefs on Black Friday, falling by a score of 19-17 after botching their chance to attempt a game-winning field goal near the end of regulation.
Las Vegas’ valiant effort was primarily led by rookie tight end Brock Bowers, who caught 10 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown. As of this writing, Bowers leads the NFL with 84 receptions, adding 884 yards and four touchdowns.
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Bowers’ dominant outing on national television stirred up speculation online about whether the New York Jets made the wrong choice by passing on him in the 2024 NFL draft. This speculation was sparked by Peter Schrager, a senior national writer for Fox Sports. Schrager posted on X that he “can’t help but wonder what could have been had the Jets took Bowers at [pick] 11.”
Bowers was available when New York came onto the clock at No. 11 overall, and many fans clamored for him to be the pick. Instead, then-Jets general manager Joe Douglas opted for Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu. Bowers went to the Raiders two picks later.
Jets fans replying to Schrager’s tweet valiantly defended New York’s choice, arguing that the 2024 season would have played out no differently.
As pointed out by most of the Jets fans replying to Schrager, New York’s season likely would not have played out much differently if the team opted for Bowers over Fashanu.
Passing on Fashanu probably would have resulted in either Max Mitchell or Carter Warren being the Jets’ backup tackle behind Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses, two aging veterans with injury concerns. That would have been daunting for a team attempting to make a serious title run with a 40-year-old quarterback. The Jets largely selected Fashanu because it was likely that their starting tackles would miss a significant amount of time in 2024, so they needed a talented backup to maximize their short-term outlook.
As expected, Fashanu has already been called upon to play 42% of the Jets’ offensive snaps over the season’s first 11 weeks. While Fashanu has undergone rookie growing pains, he is undoubtedly more competent than the likes of Mitchell and Warren, who contributed heavily to the Jets’ woeful pass protection in 2023.
If the Jets selected Bowers, they would have had to deal with extensive playing time from the combination of Mitchell and Warren by now. If you already think Aaron Rodgers is banged up, it likely would have been much worse without Fashanu.
Relative to their positions, Bowers has undoubtedly been a better player than Fashanu so far. Bowers already has a case to be one of the best tight ends in the NFL, while Fashanu has performed at a below-average level at tackle thus far. Nonetheless, the Jets arguably made the right pick for their team’s immediate needs. As great as Bowers is, he probably would not have altered the team’s fortunes in 2024. Skill-position talent is the least of New York’s problems. It is difficult to see how he would have added any more victories to this 3-win squad when considering his presence would come at the cost of significantly worse offensive line play.
In the long term, this decision needs a few more years before it can be properly judged. Three years from now, if Fashanu remains below-average while Bowers is on a Hall-of-Fame trajectory, then, yes, perhaps Jets fans can be a little more regretful of the selection.
For the time being, though, Fashanu deserves time to develop and justify his status as the 11th overall pick. Offensive tackle is a far more valuable position than tight end, so if Fashanu can grow into a quality starter for the Jets down the line, the decision will be worthwhile, serving as a final parting gift from Douglas to his former team.
