With a weak offensive line in front of Sam Darnold, the New York Jets keep on adding guys as this time they snag New England Patriots third-round offensive tackle Antonio Garcia off waivers.
The mad Florham Park scramble for able bodies to protect young Sam Darnold continues.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the New York Jets have claimed New England Patriots offensive tackle Antonio Garcia off waivers on Monday.
The #Jets have claimed former #Patriots OL Antonio Garcia, source said. He was waived with a non-football injury but said recently he was cleared.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 14, 2018
Garcia, 24, was a third-round choice by Bill Belichick during the 2017 NFL Draft and didn’t play a single snap this past season. In fact, the Pats traded up in that third round specifically for Garcia.
He didn’t play at all last August as he battled blood clots in his lungs. And the reason he didn’t play one snap in 2017 was due to his status on the Pats’ Reserve/Non-Football Injury list in September.
This past March, Garcia told the New England media he was fully cleared and ready to roll via the competition at left tackle with Nate Solder out of town (and in this town with the New York Giants).
Garcia, 6-foot-6 and 302 pounds, played collegiately at Troy. He will now be thrust into a weak offensive line with a team desperate to find bodies to compete with the standard starting five.
Sam Darnold’s future health depends on finding these players due to the fact Mike Maccagnan has now passed on selecting one offensive lineman over the last two drafts. Under Maccagnan’s reign, the Jets have only selected two offensive linemen in four drafts.
These big bodies will have eyes all over, hoping a couple emerge as candidates.
