Mekhi Becton (born April 18, 1999) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

and was selected by the Jets in the first round of the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

Early life and high school career

Becton attended

Highland Springs High School Highland Springs High School is a public high school located in the East End of Henrico County, Virginia. It was one of the first high schools established in the Greater Richmond Region. Replacement school After 70 years in its Oak Avenue fac ...

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. He was regarded as a three-star prospect, ranked as the No. 43 offensive tackle and No. 405 overall recruit in the

247Sports Composite 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite be ...

. Becton was recruited by 31 schools to play football, but by February 1, 2017,

National Signing Day National Signing Day has traditionally been the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent for a collegiate sport with a school that is a member of the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association ( ...

, he had narrowed the choice to five schools:

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. While he had been heavily recruited by Virginia, he ultimately chose Louisville on signing day.

College career

Becton played as a freshman in the 2017 season. During his freshman year, Becton played in 13 games and started 11 for the Cardinals at the tackle position. During the first 4 games of the season, Becton was the highest rated freshman in the country by

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

, and during the 7 he was the best pass-blocker in the ACC, allowing only 6 pressures in 312 snaps. Becton was named a starting tackle for the 2018 season and started every game, bringing his total number of games started to 23 by the end of the season. Becton was again named a starting tackle for the 2019 season. He received first team All-ACC honors after the conclusion of the regular season. Becton decided to forgo his senior season and sit out Louisville's bowl game, and declared for the

Professional career

Becton was selected in the first round with the 11th overall pick by the

in the

. On September 12, 2021, Becton suffered an apparent knee injury and was carted off the field. It was revealed that Becton had suffered cartilage damage, which required surgery, putting him out for 4–6 weeks. He was placed on injured reserve on September 14, 2021. On July 27, 2022, after

George Fant George Fant (born Georg Fredrik Mikael Fant; 11 July 1916 – 21 February 1998) was a Swedish actor, director and theater manager. He appeared in 50 films between 1936 and 1995. Fant was the son of Captain Tore Fant and Stina Fant (née Gu ...

was moved to left tackle, Becton was shifted to right tackle. On August 8, during training camp, Becton was diagnosed with an avulsion fracture of his right kneecap. Eight days later, the Jets placed him on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

, and he missed the entire season.

References

External links

New York Jets bio

Louisville Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Becton, Mekhi 1999 births Living people People from Highland Springs, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia American football offensive tackles Louisville Cardinals football players New York Jets players