Mekhi Becton Hitting Expected Learning Curve Against Aggressive New York Jets Defense
Despite a hot start and initial glowing returns from the coaching staff and his teammates, the growth of Mekhi Becton won’t necessarily be measured in a straight trajectory. As to be expected, the New York Jets left tackle will go through the ups and downs of being a rookie in the NFL.
Becton, taken No. 11 overall by the Jets in April’s NFL Draft, started off training camp strong. But in recent days, head coach Adam Gase has said that the former All-ACC tackle has had some struggles as the defensive sets and stunts have become more intricate and intense.
“I think early, he kind of came out of the blocks great,” Gase said on Sunday following the Jets scrimmage at MetLife Stadium.
“I think we had a little dip when we really kind of started hammering some of the install, doing some of the things that were new, and then kind of getting used to when you start going against all of those exotic type things that our defense does, especially with we’ve worked a ton of third-down periods this training camp, obviously both sides of the ball we have different areas to improve on, but we really wanted to make that an emphasis.”
Becton, of course, is a physical specimen. In late February at the NFL Combine, he ran the 40 in 5.11 while measuring in at a massive 6-foot-7 and 364 pounds.
At Louisville last season, he was named the top blocker in the ACC.
Physically, he has the strength to play and dominate right now. But as he is understanding the NFL and the nuances of playing left tackle, there has understandably been a considerable learning curve. There was always the assessment that while he was going to be ready from a strength and agility perspective for the NFL, he was going to need help with technique as well as understanding the intricacies of left tackle at this level.
Projected as the starting left tackle, Becton is learning to protect quarterback Sam Darnold’s blindside against a pretty good defense. The exotic blitzes and movements deployed by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams have been part of the reason why the rookie’s experienced a learning curve the past few practices.
“So, I think once we got in some of those exotic fronts, then it kind of started getting cloudy for him. You have to make some decisions on your sets, whether you are front side or back side,” Gase said.
“But I think it was great for him to go through because he’s probably only going to see some of this stuff one or two times a year, so he got the full gamut thrown at him this training camp. I think now we’re kind of going back on the upward swing where now the terms are all hitting him the right way, he’s able to play faster and he’s showing improvement again.”
