The 2022 NFL season has begun, with rookies already in house and vets only a few away. The biggest story is that both Mehki Becton and George Fant the would-be starters at that position both were placed on the physically unabe to perform list or PUP. Ayway to slice this is not ideal. Can’t who had a career year ended up with a season-ending injury late in the season and Becton only played one game. Clearly this would indicate to the front office that in the offseason there should be a fortification of hat position but that never happened.
Let’s be clear, beginning on the PUP list doesn’t doom a player’s season but it does slow a player’s progress because while your entire team is going full bore you have to be managed slower to make sure you are in top form. Every second in an offseason carries significant weight in the growth of a team and any disturbance of the small variables that exist in this space could upset the entirety of this team. Additionally, this would be Mehki’s second season experiencing this system but he only played one game. His teammates are far ahead and an additional slowing of his intro to this would further exaggerated the issue. Given all of this why wasn’t tackle a priority in free agency or the draft? Why wasn’t bringing depth pieces behind the already compromised starters not considered? The only depth player with experience is Chuma Edoga who has shown some promise but not enough to be completely trusted. Behind and him stand a mixture of unproven talent. Just not enough.
Let’s go through the draft pick by pick and weigh whether tackle would have been The better pick. Let’s start with pick number four, arguably the best corner in the draft was picked here and we can make a case that that position suffered the most last year and badly needed an upgrade but after signing Dj Reed was it still such a priority? Next up at pick number ten, was picking Garrett Wilson a must here?Zack Wilson needs all the help he can get talent-wise on offense given the numerous times the vast difference in talent rared its ugly head. Trading up for Jermaine Johnson was a must given the long-vacant history of outstanding talent at edge rusher. Next up would be trading up for Breece Hall. This would be the first position that an argument could have been made for the tackle. Yes adding extraordinary playmaking to anywhere on that offense is a no-brainer but teams have been picking running back later in the draft like the Jets did last year and still ended up getting high-end talent. Breece Hall is an extraordinary talent but he would have to perform at an peak level to justify that pick. Picking another tight end in Jeremy Ruckert after picking up two in free agency is questionable also.
This draft has been gained as franchise changing but did it miss out on a critical part of this team that was in distress? We can defend Joe Douglas by pointing out that Rome wasn’t built in a day and the influx of talent is beyond what we as Jets fans saw coming but if this front office knowingly missed out on an integral part of what would complete a flawless offseason it can be just another failed attempt at a rebuild of this team by an untimely blunder. Another preseason of crossed fingers and prayers has begun don’t let me down fellow Jets fans.