The Jets viewed first-round draft pick Olu Fashanu as the ideal young player who wouldn't need to play much as a rookie and would have the luxury of breaking glass only in an emergency.
But emergencies happen often during the NFL season, and Fashanu will make his first start at right tackle in Sunday's game against the Broncos, replacing injured veteran Morgan Moses.
Fashanu, the 11th overall pick in the 2024 draft out of Penn State, played 14 times on offense after Moses suffered a knee injury in the third quarter of last Thursday night's win over the Patriots.
“Obviously it's unfortunate when a guy like Morgan gets injured, he's very important to this team, to our offense and our offensive line,” Fashanu said before Wednesday's practice at Florham Park, “but everybody's got to have that 'next man up' mentality. For me it's all about going out on the court and playing to the best of my ability.”
Coach Robert Saleh said the 33-year-old Moses, acquired in an offseason trade with the Ravens, will miss “a couple of games” with a sprained MCL and bone bruise in his knee, but “obviously it's not enough to put him on IR.”
The Jets also signed eight-time Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith in the offseason and had other needs they could have filled in the draft, but Saleh thinks the situation justifies his reasoning for selecting Fashanu.
“Obviously there’s a lot of noise outside the building; [general manager] Joe [Douglas] “For him and his staff and for us, it was going to be an offensive lineman, and when Orr went down, it was a pretty easy decision,” Saleh said. “He's been practicing a lot, we had him practice a lot on the right side late in camp.” [tackle]Obviously, as camp has gone on, he's gotten more comfortable, so we have a lot of confidence in Orr to go out there and perform.”
Fashanu, who was named All-American at left tackle for the Nittany Lions last season, acknowledged that accepting a reserve role at the start of the season was “definitely a little tough.”
But he believes the presence of two veterans higher than him on the Jets' depth chart helped him prepare for his first start.
“Every rookie is ready to wait and play, but I think for me it's a very unique situation,” Fashanu said. “I have not one, but two great tackles in my offensive line room, so for me it was all about getting the best out of them, getting their thoughts, asking as many questions as I could.”
“I've been practicing a lot during OTAs and camp, so I feel like I'm in pretty good shape right now.”
“Definitely, it's a big responsibility to guard a player like him,” the rookie acknowledged, but [quarterback] Aaron [Rodgers]The four-time league MVP said Fashanu in many ways reminds him of former Jets tackle Dobrikashaw Ferguson, a member of the franchise's Ring of Honor.
“I don't like to make too many comparisons, but I will in this one. From the get-go, I felt he reminded me a lot of DeBricka Shaw,” Rodgers said. “Personality-wise and just the consistency. Obviously I never played with Brick, but I know people who did and I watched him from afar. I felt he was very consistent every week. He didn't get beat a lot. He was in the right spots. He was good in the run game. He was good in the pass game.
“And it hasn't been too big for Orr. I feel like he's consistent every day. He doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't make the same mistakes. His demeanor is very quiet, just does his job. So I think he's in a good spot. Obviously, he's played left tackle a lot, but he's played right tackle in training camp and with the team.” [scout] He was with the team the first three weeks, so I have a lot of confidence in Orr.”
