As part of The Post’s 2021 NFL preview, we look at what the planes could do at each position. Sunday: Offensive line
The Jets are about to draft another first-round defender in BYU’s Zach Wilson. Will they do a better job protecting him than they did with Sam Darnold? This is now the question hovering over this franchise.
The Jets feel they are fine with Mekhi Becton and George Fant and have been encouraged by the way Connor McGovern center has finished the season. They feel like they should upgrade the guard and have failed to do so in the free agency.
One of the next few picks the Jets have after Wilson took No. 2 should generally be used as a goalie. USC’s Alijah Vera-Tucker is the highest-ranked goalkeeper in this draft, but could disappear until the Jets are at no. 23. Landon Dickerson and Alex Leatherwood of Alabama are chances in the second round, as are Ohio State Wyatt Davis and Michigan’s Jalen Mayfield.
The Jets could also design a center and move it to temporarily guard or drive McGovern to guard. The top centers in this project are Creed Humphrey of Oklahoma, Josh Myers of Ohio and Quinn Meinerz of Wisconsin-Whitewater. All of this should be a Day 2 election.
Meinerz has Joe Douglas’s player written everywhere. A player from Division III, stole the show at the Senior Bowl and showed that he can compete with the top competition. Team captain at Whitewater, he made sense in the 3rd round for the Jets.