Report: New York Jets have identified offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga as a draft day target

Will the big Oregon State tackle become a Jet on draft day?

One of the things that became extremely clear during the course of the 2023 NFL season was the New York Jets offensive line was not up to par. They seemingly struggled from week 1 through week 18, with few bright spots showing up during that time.

It doesn’t take too large of a mental leap to think that the New York Jets would be interested in an offensive tackle with their first round pick in the 2024 NFL draft. Taking it a step further, some rumors are already making the rounds that the Jets have already identified which guy they want if he’s available. Specifically, New York Jets beat reporter for ESPN Rich Cimini tweeted the following:

Building on that, NFL insider Tony Pauline has followed up that report by writing the following:

There is chatter that the New York Jets are already targeting Oregon State offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga with the 10th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. Rich Cimini of ESPN tweeted, “GM Joe Douglas has an affinity for Oregon State OT Taliese Fuaga, according to buzz in scouting circles. Has been eyeing him for months, I’m told.”

I’ve had Fuaga as a mid-first-round pick in the three mock drafts I’ve done this year at Sportskeeda, but the 10th pick of the draft? That seems a bit early for my liking, so I reached out and asked several people who attended practice Thursday what they thought.

The belief was unanimous; if the Jets don’t take Fuaga with the 10th pick, he won’t be available much longer. Scouts on hand believe only a few offensive tackles possess the combination of size, power, and athleticism Fuaga brings to the field. Couple in the fact the Oregon State senior has shown consistent development in his game, and it adds up to a top-15 selection.

A word to the wise — the last time the Jets fell in love with a player during the college season and made up their minds early in the scouting process to draft him? None other than Zach Wilson.

It’s still pretty early for draft season since we’re only in early February. However, the Jets have been pretty transparent about who they were targeting over the past few years. This might be a report to keep in mind over the next few months.