Mountainous Mekhi Becton the ‘Alpha’ the Giants need on the offensive line?

Offensive Line Scouting and Development Consultant Duke Manyweather has outsized expectations for Louisville offensive tackle Mekhi Becton, the largest offensive tackle here at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine.

“Remember when LeBron [James] came to the NBA people said he was too big?” Manyweather said. “Some players just transcend and set a new bar.

“He’s a new bar.”

Becton is a monstrous human being. He measured 6-foot-7 3/8, 364 pounds on Tuesday. He has 10 3/4-inch hands, the second-longest arms among offensive lineman at 35 5/8 inches (Matt Peart of UConn has ridiculous 36 5/8-inch arms) and an 83 1/4-inch wing span.

Becton is so big, and his glare so intent when he looks directly at you, that yours truly literally froze on Wednesday morning after asking Becton a question during his Combine media scrum — which, incidentally, was overrun with New York Giants writers.

“As you can see, he’s built different than anything we’ve seen,” said Manyweather, who works with OL Masterminds.

Umm, yes he is.

The Giants, as we know, have the fourth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. They, of course, have a glaring need at tackle and unless something strange happens it seems unlikely at this point that any offensive tackles will come off the board before the fourth pick.

So, could — or should — the Giants select Becton? In his recent mock draft, that’s exactly what NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah did for the Giants, writing “I’m not in the business of trading off freaks at a need position. He’s a left tackle.”

Manyweather agreed.

“He 100 percent should be the first [offensive tackle] off the board,” Manyweather said.

Becton wasn’t shy about expressing his desire to be the first offensive tackle selected.

“It’s real important. Because I put the work in. I didn’t put the work in for nothing,” Becton said. “I feel I’m the most dominant tackle in this draft. You wouldn’t go wrong picking me.

“The tape shows it. It shows that I finish almost every play. It’s as simple as that.”

Becton does stuff like this to defenders:

And he enjoys it. Admittedly.

“It’s just fun seeing a man on the ground every play and then going to jump on him,” Becton said. “That’s what I love about the game.”

Manyweather said simply “He’s a dominant Alpha in every sense.”

New York “griminess”

Becton said Wednesday that while he wants to be the first offensive lineman selected “It don’t matter to me where I go. I just want to perform for whoever picks me up.”

He does, though, seem to have an affinity for New York.

“I just like how grimy you guys are. I love the New York griminess,” Becton said. “Just the state, you know what I mean. New York just tough. I love New York.”

Ready to put on a show

Offensive linemen will bench press on Thursday and then go through on-field drills on Friday. Manyweather just laughed when I asked him if he expected Becton to do anything special on Friday.

Becton is raising the bar for what to expect all by himself.

“I feel like I’m going to shock a lot of people at these testings,” he said. “They don’t expect me to do the things I’m going to do.”

The drills happen to be in prime time this year, and that has Becton excited.

“I feel I can show the world what I can do,” he said.

About his weight

Becton knows that he isn’t an average-sized human.

“I love being the biggest offensive lineman. I love intimidating guys,” Becton said. “I was always the biggest on my team.”

Along with that, though, will always come the question of whether or not Becton will be able to control his weight as his NFL career progresses. He said he was happy with weighing in at 364, though he played last season for Louisville at 352 and several NFL teams would like to see him get his weight back into the 350s.

Becton knows staying on top of his weight will be a priority.

“Just keep my body at the top. Just make sure I look at my body first,” he said. “Make sure I treat my body well. I feel that is what I have to work on.”

The fact that his mother is a caterer and “can make anything and everything” is “why I’m so big,” Becton said.

His favorite dish?

“My momma’s soul food. Everything, pretty much. I don’t really have a set meal. She makes everything good. … Mac and cheese. Fried chicken. Collared greens. That’s a good plate right there. You have your starch and greens,” Becton said.

Draft night

Becton said he will be in Las Vegas, where the draft will be held, for draft night. Things could get interesting because when players are selected they will be delivered to the stage via boat.

“They need an extra large one for me,” Becton said, drawing laughs.

Even more interesting is this next nugget from Becton.

“I don’t know how to swim. I’m used to standing up in the water. So, I never really had to swim. I hope that water is not deep so I have to swim.”

The big offensive tackle isn’t expecting to have to wait very long for his trip across the water to the draft stage.

“I don’t expect to stay there long,” he said.

Could that boat to the draft night stage be delivering this mountain of a man to the New York Giants?

Perhaps.