Why the Jets passed on TE Brock Bowers in the 2024 NFL Draft

Many expected the Jets to take dynamic tight end Brock Bowers in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Mock drafts and reports all connected New York to Bowers for the weeks leading up to the draft.

Instead, the Jets traded back one pick and selected Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu with the No. 11 pick. It was a sensible pick for New York, and one general manager Joe Douglas explained was more about getting ahead of potential pitfalls for the 2024 season than not liking Bowers as a player. 

“What are the problems that could really sidetrack the team moving forward?” Douglas said on ESPN New York’s DiPietro & Rothenberg radio show this week. “It became really clear — like we’re going to get a player in Olu [Fashanu] that is highly productive, is our type of guy, plays with our type of mentality — toughness, effort, grit — and it just was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.”

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What Douglas implied with that statement is that the Jets know they have a very old and injury-prone offensive line with Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses at the tackle spots. If either of them misses time, the Jets will be in the same position they were in 2023 and put the soon-to-be-40-year-old Aaron Rodgers in jeopardy once more. Good, quality depth was needed for the Jets to insulate themselves from repeating the disasters of the past few seasons.

Fashanu isn’t a sexy pick, but the decision to take him over the shiny offensive weapon in Bowers shows the Jets are thinking more prudently rather than going for the big shots. Douglas made a point to explain that Bowers would be a great player (he went to the Raiders at No. 13), but that the Jets needed to focus on solidifying the team and not just add weapons. Fashanu does that for them, and Rodgers himself endorsed the pick.

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Douglas didn’t leave the draft without an offensive playmaker, though. He traded up in the third round to take Western Kentucky wide receiver Malachi Corley with the No. 65 pick. Some believe the Jets are a perfect destination for the self-proclaimed “YAC King.”

So now, the Jets had a key depth piece for their offensive line and a solid pass-catcher to add to their wide receiver room. Even though New York passed on the opportunity for a George Kittle-esque player in Bowers, the reasoning and the results make sense for what the Jets are trying to accomplish in 2024 and beyond.

Author(s)

Tyler Greenawalt is a contributing writer for The Sporting News after stops at Yahoo Sports, USA Today Sports and Turner Sports.