Jets Targeting Insurance Policy for Aging Offensive Tackles?
It's a rarity when an NFL team uses the same starting five offensive linemen for all 17 regular season games.
With a naturally high injury rate at the position, offensive lines are usually only as good as their second-stringers. There may be no better example than 2023 New York Jets, who used 12 different starting five combinations over a 17-game regular season schedule. New York started six different players at right guard and five at right tackle.
Although five starters appear in place on the Jets' refurbished offensive line, general manager Joe Douglas's work is not done when it comes to ensuring protection for 40-year-old field general Aaron Rodgers. New York has room to add a battle-tested tackle to back up the team's two accomplished, aging bookends.
Left tackle Tyron Smith and right tackle Morgan Moses are both 33 years old and neither played a full 17 games last year.
Smith, an eight-time Pro Bowl honoree, has struggled to remain available, missing 37 total games over the last four years. After logging eight straight full seasons, Moses, who spent the 2021 campaign as a Jet before moving onto Baltimore, missed three games in 2023.
Prior to the Smith addition, all signs pointed toward the Jets using their first-round draft pick on a top-tier offensive tackle prospect. Even with Douglas choosing not to wait until the draft to acquire two starting bookends, offensive line is still a somewhat likely possibility at No. 10 overall.
If Notre Dame's Joe Alt or Penn State's Olu Fashanu falls to the Jets on draft night, it would be difficult to pass on the chance to secure a future franchise building block who can contribute immediately in a backup/swing tackle role. According to reports, Oregon State right tackle Taliese Fuaga impressed the Jets during Reese's Senior Bowl Week in February.
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Should New York go in a different direction on draft night, and perhaps add an offensive weapon instead, then a veteran free agent could be the answer to the backup tackle problem.
Former All-Pro David Bakhtiari, who is a friend of Rodgers, was recently released by the Green Bay Packers. The 32-year-old has made only 13 of a possible 51 appearances over the past three seasons due to chronic knee problems but may be adequate in a secondary role.
Should the Jets stand pat, backup tackle duties will fall upon former fourth-round draft picks Max Mitchell and Carter Warren. Both players made starts at right tackle in 2023.
