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Granted, there are no pads in the spring practices, so you can’t go crazy evaluating line play, but it occurred to me, thinking back over the spring practices (open to the media), I don’t think I saw one issue off the left edge when Olu Fashanu was out there at left tackle.
And remember, as Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon pointed out last week, defensive linemen have the advantage in the spring practices, because, without pads, offensive linemen have nothing to grab.
Look, there is no tape to go back over for the media after these practices (unlike ater games), so I could have missed something, but I don’t remember one problem over there on Fashanu’s side.
This guy has the potential to be elite.
Remember, over his last two seasons at Penn State, Fashanu didn’t allow a sack.
The only concern, if there was one about this prospect, was his hand size, 8.5 inches the smallest ever measured for an NFL offensive tackle prospect in the modern era.
But that certainly hasn’t been a problem with the Jets so far, last season, or this spring.
And his technique continues to improve with his impressive work ethic. Additionally, the three-time Penn State Dean’s List honoree is a fast learner, picking up schemes very quickly.
This player looks like a keeper, and Fashanu’s consistency protecting the QB’s back will likely give QB Justin Fields more piece of mind about his blindside than he had in his first four years in the league, three in Chicago and one in Pittsburgh. These teams didn’t have a left tackle of Fashanu’s ilk.
I’m not making excuses for Fields, but one glaring criticism of the Bears brass during his time there was not addressing the offensive line enough, and the left tackle in Chicago during a big chunk of the quarterbacks time in the Windy City was Braxton Jones, was 2022 fifth-round pick out of the University of Southern Utah.
As for rookie right tackle Armand Membou, from what I recall, he had some issues early on with the edge speed of Will McDonald in the first OTA open to the media, but settled down in the later practices. Remember, one thing you always hear from the rookies about the biggest adjustment from college to the NFL, and they say it’s the “speed” of the pro game.
The Jets could have quite the bookend tackle combination for many years to come.
And as I mentioned last week, the Jets’ signing of veteran Chukwuma Okorafor to be the swing back is looking like a smart move.
He’s another guy, watching him this spring, it was pretty clean on the side he was protecting, and he can play left or right tackle.
The former Pittsburgh Steeler and New England Patriot, who has 60 career starts, looks the part at a sculpted 6-6, 320. A 2018 third-round pick of Pittsburgh out of Western Michigan, he actually did earn a second contract with the Steelers, so he was pretty good there.
It’s well-documented he retired last year in the middle of the season in New England, but clearly the Jets vetted what happened there with a very dysfunctional team at the time, and they are comfortable with the player.
While it’s early, the Jets’ plan at offensive tackle looks pretty good right now.
June 16, 2025
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