The New York Jets took Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu in the first round with the 11th overall pick after they traded back one spot with the Minnesota Vikings.
There was tons of speculation about what the front office might do with their most important pick of the NFL draft as they could have added another playmaker for Aaron Rodgers like many people wanted, or they could have gotten more offensive line help.
However, it was revealed that the Jets might have gone with a different approach had one of their top targets still been available by the time they were picking. But that wasn’t the case, and they ultimately trusted their board with the Fashanu selection.
But, what would have happened if the talented offensive tackle was also off their board?
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported they had two players as their next options.
“[Troy] Fautanu would’ve been one fallback plan in the unlikely event neither Fashanu or Odunze made it to 10; Georgia’s Brock Bowers would’ve been another,” he wrote.
Brock Bowers was a name that had been linked to New York throughout the entirety of the draft process as many people expected the top three receivers to be taken by the time the Jets’ pick rolled around.
Viewed as the fourth-best receiving option, he was a player New York could have selected if they felt pressure to get Aaron Rodgers another weapon.
Bowers eventually was selected No. 13 overall by the Las Vegas Raiders, giving them another highly-regarded tight end coming out of college after their selection of Michael Mayer in the second round of the 2023 NFL draft.
It would have been interesting to see what the Jets decided to do in this scenario because Troy Fautanu rocketed up boards following his showing at the NFL combine. He fell a bit based on projections when he was taken 20th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Maybe New York still would have decided to take a lineman instead of drafting an offensive weapon so high, or maybe they would have thought Bowers was too good to pass up.
Either way, it doesn’t matter as they were able to take the top option on their board in Fashanu.
