Joe Douglas has tried, tried again and tried some more.
When the Jets hired Douglas as their general manager five years ago, he came with a reputation as an elite evaluator of offensive linemen. That was supposed to be his forte, his expertise, his sweet spot.
Jets fans have been starved for two things — a playoff berth and a franchise quarterback — in no particular order. But they figured the one thing Douglas was going to get right was building sound, productive and consistent offensive lines.
And yet, other than his stark failure to draft and develop a quarterback, Douglas’ rampant misses on offensive linemen has been his most eye-opening downfall to date.
“Definitely the last two years have been a revolving door of offensive linemen,’’ Douglas said Thursday night.
Douglas has whiffed on drafting, signing and finding offensive lineman at a consistent and alarming rate.
And yet in Thursday night’s NFL draft first round, Douglas took yet another big swing at finding an offensive lineman when he selected Penn State left tackle Olu Fashanu.
The 21-year-old, who allowed just one sack in his 21 collegiate starts, encompassing some 700 pass plays, may turn out to be a terrific player. Hopefully he does.
But it was a curious pick for Douglas because the Jets are in a go-for-broke, win-now mode with quarterback Aaron Rodgers on borrowed time. And Fashanu is not a likely Week 1 starter able to help Rodgers immediately.
The pick, too, was a potentially dangerous one for Douglas, who carries a 27-56 record as general manager into a season in which the Jets absolutely must win in order for him to retain his job.
Team owner Woody Johnson has grown increasingly impatient with his losing franchise that last made the playoffs after the 2010 season.
Though he’s been careful not to lay down a public playoffs-or-else edict, it’s difficult to imagine, with the investment Johnson made in Rodgers, who’s 40 years old and coming back from a ruptured Achilles tendon, that a failure to at least make the playoffs this season won’t cost Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh their jobs.
Which brings us to the Fashanu pick. It’s a pick that would make a lot more sense for a regime that’s not general-managing and coaching for job survival, because it’s a pick designed more for the future.
And let’s be honest: The futures of Douglas and Saleh are, at the very least, hanging in the balance based on how the 2024 season turns out.
So, in a way, you have to respect Douglas for making a pick that was for the betterment of the franchise in a big-picture manner rather than chasing a player who could help the team more immediately.
There had been heavy speculation that the Jets were targeting Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, who had a highly productive career for one of the nation’s best schools playing in the best conference.
The 6-4, 230-pound Bowers caught 275 passes for 2,548 yards and scored 31 touchdowns from scrimmage (26 receiving) in three years for the Bulldogs.
The way the draft board unfolded, Bowers was there for the Jets when their No. 10 pick arrived. It looked like a no-brainer to take Bowers. He would be a prime target for Rodgers, who would undoubtedly make him a star.
In fact, even after Douglas made a smart trade with the Vikings so Minnesota move from No. 11 to No. 10 and land Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy (the Jets acquired Minnesota’s 129th pick in the fourth round and 157th in the fifth round), it still felt like Bowers.
Until it wasn’t.
Now Douglas desperately needs Fashanu to turn into an elite tackle the way none of his other tries at the position have, and he has to hope against hope that Bowers doesn’t become the next Travis Kelce, George Kittle or Sam LaPorta.
The Jets have been offensively challenged for far too long. In 11 of the past 12 seasons, they’ve been ranked 23rd or worst in points scored.
With due respect to Fashanu, who very well may turn out to be a really good tackle, he’s not likely to help those offensive rankings in 2024. Bowers, who was drafted 13th overall by the Raiders, might have.
“He was obviously a consideration throughout the process,’’ Douglas said of Bowers. “One of the best players in the country, one of the best players in the draft. It’s was a tough choice, but we felt like Olu was the right choice for us.’’
He’d better be.
“We feel like he can really develop and become an impact blocker for us moving forward,’’ Douglas said.
Maybe after five-plus years of trying and trying and trying, Douglas finally hit on an offensive lineman.
For the sake of Jets fans who deserve more, let’s hope so.
