Mekhi Becton‘s run with the Jets did not go according to plan, and to no surprise his free agent value was not high. The former first-round pick inked a one-year, $2.75MM deal with the Eagles this offseason. 
Becton dealt with injuries which limited him to a single game between the 2021 and ’22 campaigns. He managed to return to the fold last year, serving primarily as the team’s blindside blocker. In spite of that, it came as no surprise that the Jets elected to move in a different direction at both tackle spots (trading for Morgan Moses and signing Tyron Smith before drafting Olu Fashanu).
As a result, Becton is set to take part in a ‘prove it’ season with Philadelphia in 2024. His future will depend in large part on his level of play when on the field, but regardless of what happens in that respect the 25-year-old is hoping to remain with the Eagles for the foreseeable future. When speaking about his situation, Becton made it clear he hopes to avoid another free agent move next offseason.
“I want it to be long term” the Louisville alum said of his Eagles tenure, via PHLY’s Zach Berman. “I love this city of Philly. I love the people here, I love the fans. I hope it’s long term.”
Becton’s NFL career has not yet consisted of work at guard, but that could change with his new team. The Eagles (set at both tackle spots with Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson) have been using him at guard in addition to taking tackle reps, Johnson recently noted (via NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Dave Zangaro). Becton has even seen some first-team reps along the interior, as detailed by The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane.
The Eagles have Landon Dickerson attached to the league’s most lucrative guard deal (four years, $84MM) after he signed an extension this offseason. The right guard spot is currently open with Cam Jurgens sliding over to center, but Tyler Steen is currently the favorite to win that position. Philadelphia added experienced guard depth recently with the signing of Max Scharping.
Becton will be a member of that group as the RG competition continues through the summer. Especially if he were to carve out a notable role, he could see significant playing time in Philadelphia. That would increase the chances of the team being willing to meet his desire for a long-term relationship.
What a player states they want to stay long-term with a team, loves the fans, etc. but has yet to play a game with the team in that city, they’re just fishing for those guaranteed dollars, especially given his history of injuries. Eagles are smart with the contract they gave him, but he’s probably best served as a reserve who learns the guard position and can sub for others who become injured or need a rest.
He played well as a rookie and he certainly has rare physical traits, so dropping him with Stoutland has upside, but he needs his health and conditioning to stop working against him.
True, but Stoutland can’t make miracles happen if you can’t stay healthy or have no heart (Andre Dillard), so time will tell.
Totally. But Andre Dillard looked dreadful with the benefit of Stoutland and Becton at least briefly looked good without, so there’s at least more curiosity left in the tank.
The guy was a first round pick so he’ll probably be able to bounce around the league on these one year prove it deals for a decade…lol. Ereck Flowers 2.0?
I’m not sure you can count on a guy who hasn’t taken full advantage of his opportunities. There is enough film to see someone’s performance stand out, even on bad teams. Offensive line requires good communication and a lot of sacrifice for the betterment of the offense. Someone with the reputation of lacking in effort most likely will not succeed. Winning does have a way of making people play better, and he has never experienced that, but it seems without a major readjustment of attitude, he probably won’t be around for much longer.
I think a lot of scouts, GMs and coaches rely too heavily on analytics today but analytics are a poor metric for measuring things like attitude and willingness to sacrifice.
I forget the story of the military guy that basically created an analytics system used for being able to measure those traits and qualities. It was a pretty interesting story.
If it intrigues anyone I suggest looking it up. I’m not sure if teams still employ this guy, or whatever happened to him, but it was a pretty cool story I vaguely remember hearing about.
Most people are aware that the military explored the potential of “mind control” by using LSD on it’s soldiers during the Vietnam era. Teams no doubt have tests to “profile” college prospects but you have to wonder how effective these analytics are when these guys are getting arrested for domestic violence, sexual abuse and a vast assortment of other crimes.
Looks like a mountain, plays like a molehill.
He will be complaining about not playing tackle by week 5 and end up on the injured list by week 7. Rinse and repeat
No, I’m talking about the former veteran that created a database on how to measure the “unmeasurable” traits for prospects.
I can’t find the story, but I remember seeing a mini doc about it, and it was pretty cool. I Google’d the heck out of every word combinations and phrases I could think of to help find it, but no dice…
Google sucks.
Also, the scary part most people aren’t aware of is the fact the U.S. Government also tested LSD on random, unknowing civilians back in the day through Project “Midnight Climax.”
For what it is worth, thays also an interesting read. It has absolutely nothing to do with football, but with what crosseyedlemon brought up earlier I just figured I’d mention it for anyone curious.
So the dude comes from VA, and went to school in Kentucky, but loves Philly? A good follow-up question would’ve been “have you ever been to Philly?