Becton is the size of a dump truck, he'll get a better deal from a man blocking team and he'll be a better fit there because we keep handcuffing ourselves to the WCO scheme.
That's a great point. There are too many reasons to not resign him (not that I think he'd want to be back here anyway). I think the case for OT in the 1st is getting stronger by the week. Better hit on this one Joe...
I've also been concerned about Becton's not fitting the zone scheme. That's why I'm skeptical about taking an oversized lineman like Latham (Evan Neal redux?) in the draft. That being said, maybe Becton can lose a few more pounds and move better with another year removed from his knee surgery? He seems pretty bonded with Aaron Rodgers.
Kaleb Mcgary is a similar lineman and career path to Becton. Massive dude, 1st round pick the year before. Struggles with pass protection and staying healthy. The Falcons declined his 5th year option too but they resigned him last year at 3 years / $34 Million. That's around what you can expect it would take for Becton to be back. Although he may ask for more since he is a left tackle and Mcgary is a right tackle. Is that what we want to do? Give Becton around 11 or 12 million a year. Idk about that... I wish we could have a different GM, with better eyes than Joe Douglas making that decision.
I think it's his height as well as his bulk that hurts him in the ZBS. I think if they could trade him for a decent return and upgrade both tackles it's be a better move.
I wonder how many times Hackett has changed blocking schemes and why. Maybe the LaFleur influence? Because he was following Marrone around from Buffalo to Jacksonville and you know that meathead was running man blocking schemes.
I can't remember the last time I saw some mid-season aggressive scheme change by a Jets coaching staff during my adult life. Bonus points if it worked.
You just know that Rodgers' friend Bakhtiari is going to be the Day 1 starter at LT next year no chance he lasts all 17 games but he will be the big offseason acquisition
Here is a great article on Becton, citing multiple analytics publications and film: https://jetsxfactor.com/2023/12/12/ny-jets-mekhi-becton-re-sign/ This is what some of us have been saying for a while. Becton is below average, possibly bottom 3d player this season. Still injury risk even if he lasts this year. The reality that he is arguably our best OLineman is an indictment on how bad of a job JD has done building the unit. We cannot go into the season with him as a projected starter. We need to get two other starting caliber tackles. If Becton takes under 10 mil to stay also, that would not be the worst move as he could complete for a starting spot, but we need to add two strong tackles to the current unit instead of Max and Billy.
Heard Conor Rodgers this morning talk about how Becton a little. I was thinking a 10m bridge deal could be fine, but he was at half that for 1 year and let him prove it/build his value up. A good year at LT for the Jets and Rodgers could bolster his value quite a bit, but I could totally see someone else throw multiple years at him since he is so big and still young. The main concern with Becton is that he is awful vs speed pass rushers which you can live with if he is mauling people in the run game. He isn't even doing that.
Becton still looks a little out of shape to me. He throws his hands out at people instead of engaging. He's got some big azz mitts but you'd love to see all his power thrown at the defender than a hand or two. His legs are behind his head/arms
I think Becton gets more on the open market than that which is unfortunate for us because as below average as I think he’s been, he’s the best we got. The tackle market is pretty thin behind Williams. I can see him getting a Jack Conklin type 3/$42-$48 million.
God that's a scary contract and I'm probably out on that deal. Andrus Peat is someone who I think could be a solid option. Going into 2024 with LT - ? LG - Laken C - Tipp RG - AVT RT - ? Rookie + Jonah Williams/Andrus Peat could work.
I hope we keep Becton. We need to be adding pieces not discarding them. He's serviceable. More than I can say for others.
With all the work to do on the OL, I'm accepting that Laken might not be the biggest of our problems. Especially with cap restructuring to help that huge number he has. Ideally I'd like two new starting OTs too - 1st rounder at LT then a FA at RT. Somebody mentioned in another thread David Bahktiari following Rodgers here in 2024. Could definitely see that. Great player, but older and when was the last time he stayed healthy?
And that's the biggest indictment on JD. A strong argument can be made Becton in aggregate for the year has been the best Olineman for us, though Tipp albeit inconsistent particularly in the running game, is an ascending player. And Becton, while is not terrible like a lot of others, is still below average/bottom 3d. I mean with Becton's injury history we are lucky he is even playing, even though he is below average. JD actually had Duane and Max projected to start who are awful when healthy. Basically, JD conditioned us to look at mediocre to bottom feeder OLineman and hope we overpay and keep them because others we've had are even worse! This is just wrong on many levels.
The Jets will save $8mill on the cap if Laken Tomlinson is cut prior to June 1st. Otherwise he will make nearly $19 million next season
Just think it might be to much work to replace 3 starters with Laken. The only guy to remain healthy all year as well. I think you leave that spot unfortunately. Hopefully an improvement at LT and Tippman taking another leap will help Laken.
