Jets Try out Former NFC Starting Guard, Project TE Prospect

Brandon Fusco Vikings

Getty Ex-Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Brandon Fusco making a play in the trenches.

It’s important to never be satisfied or complacent with what you have in life.

Luckily the New York Jets don’t have to worry about that problem because they’re 1-4 and are always looking to improve their situation.

With that mentality in mind, Jets general manager Joe Douglas continues to self-evaluate his roster to see if it needs any upgrades.

This week he worked out several players that could be a part of the 53-man roster or worst case the 16-man practice squad sooner rather than later.

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Joe Douglas Employing Another Unique Strategy

At Douglas’ introductory presser he said that any opportunity that presents itself he would investigate to improve the roster. In his long diatribe, Douglas mentioned the NFL draft, free agency, trade, and alternate football leagues as potential options.

Early in his tenure, Douglas went beyond those means by convincing a former All-Pro (Ryan Kalil) off his couch from retirement to the starting lineup. While that went horribly, you have to respect the creativity.

Once again he is going with an outside-the-box approach to address one of the Jets’ biggest areas of concern.

On Tuesday the Jets worked out Brandon Fusco, a former starting NFL guard. He hasn’t played since 2018 and according to NFL Insider Ian Rapoport “, he looked pretty good” during that workout.

The 33-year old was taken in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings. He spent the first six years of his career there.

On top of that Fusco also played for the Atlanta Falcons and the San Francisco 49ers. During that span, the veteran guard played in 90 games and started 87 of them.

At a minimum, he’d be a great depth piece and in the best-case scenario, he can immediately compete with underwhelming guard Greg Van Roten for the starting gig.


The Best of the Rest of the Workouts

Here are all the other players the Jets worked out on Tuesday, October 12:

Nick Eubanks, tight end

The tight end room has been one of the biggest misses by this regime this offseason. Now they have a chance to fix it with a super interesting prospect.

He has nice size at 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, and has a background as both a wide receiver and a tight end. That’s exactly the kind of juice the green and white need in their tight end room.

Dru Samia, offensive lineman

I’m never going to say no to dart throws on the offensive line. Dru Samia is 6-foot-5, 308 pounds, and was originally a fourth-round pick back in 2019 out of Oklahoma.

He also spent a few years with the Vikings, but for one reason or another it didn’t work out with the purple people eaters. He doesn’t have a ton of experience (has played in 15 games and has only started in four), but is still young (24) and has plenty of potential.

Jayson Stanley, defensive back

Finally, they also took a long look at Jayson Stanley. A long-traveled defensive back out of Georgia that has played for four different organizations since entering the league back in 2019.

After an array of injuries to the Gang Green secondary, it would behoove them to keep tabs on players that could be either plug-and-play options or developmental prospects for the future.


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