EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - NOVEMBER 06: Mekhi Becton #77 of the New York Jets warms up before the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at MetLife Stadium on November 06, 2023 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Going into camp, the most intriguing battle was who would become the starting Right Guard. Tyler Steen vs Mekhi Becton. The 2nd year guy who was drafted for this purpose last season, vs the former 11th overall pick who signed with the Eagles in the offseason.
Turns out it was not much of a battle at all. The Eagles have made no official call, but we can tell by the way they use both of them that they seem to have made their mind up. While Becton sat out the second Pre-Season game with the starters, Steen played until he had to leave with an ankle injury. The battle is over, Becton won, and he won it before Steen aggravated that injury.
But how did he win the job so quickly when everyone we talked to before the Pre-Season said Tyler Steen was the favorite? A lot of people acknowledged Becton was an interesting candidate, but in the same breath, they still predicted it would eventually be Tyler Steen. He trained there all last season and even started a game there. Becton was completely new to playing Guard.
What Makes Mekhi Becton Such A Good Fit At RG?
(Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
What happened in camp that turned things around so quickly that before the 2nd game, a decision had already been made? Well someone who knows a thing or two about playing Offensive Line, Barrett Brooks, joined The Best Show Ever on Monday. He shared his thoughts on the battle, and why he thinks Becton ran away with it.
“He’s just a bigger guy. It is harder to run around him. And when you’re in that Guard position, you need a guy in there that can virtually stop right there… I say it all the time. You’re fighting in a phone booth at the Guard position because it is the fast way to the quarterback. He’s big enough that he has that size to stop guys at the line of scrimmage.
You could tell he’s made that transition into from being a tackle, where you set back farther to being a guard and you set in the line of scrimmage. You can do that at Tackle. You can back up a little bit and then get the battle going. At Guard, you have got to fight right then and there, and I think he’s done a great job with being that guy to come in and learn.”
He went on to explain that he doesnt think Steen has quite learned how to be a guard yet. Barret told us that he is still setting like a tackle, and doesn’t yet have the core strength to be a guard.
Steen hasn’t neccesarilly struggled. Even with the ankle injury, he did some impressive things. In that 1st game we specifically saw him make some good run blocks. But pass rush is a different beast, and as Barrett Brooks explained, Mekhi Becton is just better equipped to be a great pass blocker. He is bigger, stronger, and faster.
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Becton is a guy that was supposed to be an elite tackle. That never worked out. His Jets career was marred by injuries. He played only 48 snaps between 2021 and 2022. Last year he played 985 and struggled. But in his rookie season, he was tremdous. He allowed only 23 total pressures, and 7 sacks, in 412 pass block snaps.
Now he gets to play for the best Offensive Line Coach, Jeff Stoutland, in the league, and gets to play next to one of the best Tackles in the league, Lane Johnson. The traits that made him so highly regharded coming into the NFL are still there. Maybe a change of scenery, and a move inside will finally unlock them.
The Eagles seem to think so. They have pretty clearly signaled that he is going to be the starter week 1. His teammates along the line have had nothing for praiose with how quickly he has picked up playing guard.
In terms of talent and skill, Becton is one of the 5 best Offensive Linemen on this team. That is why many reporters thought he had a chance to win the job back at the start of camp, and it is why he won it only a few weeks into camp.
Dylan MacKinnon is The Digital Content Coordinator For 97.5 The Fanatic. he has been an Eagles, Flyers, Sixers, and Flyers fan his whole life. He graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelors in Journalism. Dylan has worked at the Fanatic since 2016, starting as an Intern, moving to the Street team, and eventually was hired as an Associate Producer before settling into his current role in the Digital Department. You may hear him referred to on-air as "The D-Train."
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