The Jets, who had been in trade talk for the NFL Draft, finally executed the first trade of the night, swapping places with No. 11 Minnesota, and the Green & White moved up to No. 10 while the game was on. did.
And with the 11th overall selection, the Jets will compete for the starting job and help with the depth and quality of the offensive line to protect QB Aaron Rodgers and move head coach Robert Saleh’s offense down the field. selected Penn State tackle Olu Fashanu as a 2024 player. The season is approaching.
“We’re really excited to welcome big Ol to the Jets,” general manager Joe Douglas told reporters shortly after the trade and No. 11 pick was completed.
Fashanu played four years with the Nittany Lions, starting at left tackle for two years. After being named to the All-Big Ten Conference second team in the injury-shortened 2022 season, a focused and motivated Fashanu started 12 games last season and put it all together to end the year. He was selected as the following player by the Associated Press: He was selected to the All-American First Team and was named Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year. He was also a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, also known as the “Academic Heisman.”
When he started visiting NFL teams, he felt like he and the Jets were destined for each other.
“They definitely showed interest,” Fashanu told team media Thursday night. “I think they covered it up pretty well. It seemed no different than any other team that had expressed interest. But after that visit, after the combine, the Jets were the obvious place for me.”
“It was a very unique draft class at the tackle position,” Douglas said. “We really felt like we had some unbelievable players. Orr is a left tackle, a guy who plays in pass pro, has a very low pressure percentage and plays in one of the top conferences in the country. He’s a really talented pass protector, and I don’t think he gets enough credit for his run blocking, but he’s just a big guy and very tough and competitive. He is a young man.”
“You know me now: O-line, D-line, the more the merrier,” Saleh said. “No amount is enough.” The coach added that the recent acquisitions of veteran tackles Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses will help Fashanu with his transition to the pros. “They have a lot of experience, not only in technique, but also in how to become a professional and how to prepare at this level. This young man is only 21 years old. We have only scratched the surface.”
Fashanu believes there are many benefits to donning the green and white ahead of next week’s rookie minicamp. And three of those reasons are his three players he saw on video when he first started playing football in high school in Washington, D.C.: He was the quarterback, he was the quarterback, he was the tackle tackle Aaron Rodgers. My friends Tyrone Smith and Morgan Moses.
“Aaron Rodgers, I just grew up watching him and the great things he did throughout his career, so to have the opportunity to be on the same team and to have a little bit of a hint as to what made his career so successful. “It was a great opportunity to ask him for advice.”
“I feel like I’m living a fairy tale,” Fashanu said of Smith. “He was the first guy I started watching film as a tackle. He was the absolute standard for left tackles back then.” Same goes for Moses: “He’s a player I’ve watched a lot of film over the years. I’m really blessed to have the opportunity to learn under two veteran tackles.”
In addition to the No. 10 overall pick, the Jets also sent the No. 203 pick of the sixth round to the Vikings, in exchange for the Vikes’ No. 11 pick, a fourth-round pick (No. 129) and a fifth-round pick (No. 157th place). ).
“The added ammunition is great. It gives us more flexibility,” Douglas said. “We’re going to evaluate what the rest of this round is going to be and put the board together for tomorrow night, but there’s going to be five or six scenarios in terms of a move up, a move back. With those additional picks. , we have a lot of flexibility to do different things.”
The Jets have visited Happy Valley frequently over the years, and Fashanu is the 28th Nittany Lion drafted by the Green and White. Many of the Penn State Jets’ notable draft prospects started with LB Ralph Baker (43rd pick in 1964), DE John Ebersole (98th pick in 1970), LB Greg Battle (67th pick in 1976), Following LB Lance, he played on the defensive side. Mehl (69th in 1980), S Harry Hamilton (176th in 1984), DT Lou Benfatti (94th in 1994).
Recently, PSU’s offensive players have been dominant: TE Mickey Shuler (61st in 1978), RB Blair Thomas (2nd in 1990), OL Roger Duffy (196th in 1990), FB Richie Anderson (144th in 1993), TE Kyle Brady (9th in 1995), T Kareem McKenzie (79th in 2001), and most recently QB Christian Hackenberg (51st in 2016).
The Jets’ last tackle in the first round was Louisville’s Mekhi Becton, the No. 11 overall pick in the 2020 draft. The last time the Jets selected a tackle higher than No. 10 was in 2006 when they took Dobrika Shaw Ferguson from Virginia at No. 4. The other No. 4 overall tackles in Jets history were LT Chris Ward (Ohio State, 1978) and RT Marvin Powell (Southern University). Cal, 1977), and started 84 of 93 games as a bookend tackle for the Jets from 1978 to 1983.
Other Jets round 1 tackles who played for the team include Dave Cadigan (8th in 1988), Mike Haight (22nd in 1986), and AFL-era Dave Foley (26th in 1969). and William Yearby (13th place, 1966).
