A Q&A with Mekhi Becton

Mekhi Becton has turned his career around since signing with the Eagles in April.

The former No. 11 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft of the Jets played 28 games at left tackle and two at right tackle in four years in New York.

Since joining Philadelphia, Becton was extremely coachable, worked his way through the offseason, and made the transition to guard with the help of Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland and the rest of the Eagles’ staff.

Now, the Highland Springs, Virginia native has started in every game he’s played this season (13) and has performed well, ranking 16th in the league for guards with a grade of 77.1, according to Pro Football Focus.

Becton spoke with PhiladelphiaEagles.com for an exclusive Q&A to learn more about the former Louisville product on and off the field.

Liam Wichser: I wanted to ask about your painting and cooking hobbies. How did you get into those?

Mekhi Becton: “I would say my painting came from my childhood. I’m still not really good at it, but it’s something I liked to do when I was a child and just made me happy. So, I just try to rekindle to that, and reinvent myself, and just try to find ways to make myself happy.

“And then cooking, that’s another thing that makes me happy. I got my cooking from my mom (Semone). She is a very good chef, and then she ended up going to school and got her culinary degree. So, I just been following her footsteps. And now I watch a lot of cooking shows as well, so I’ll be trying to pick up off that.”

LW: Do you have a favorite meal that you make?

MB: “Either risotto or Marry Me Chicken.”

LW: Your former coach at Louisville, Bobby Petrino, wanted to offer you a scholarship immediately after seeing you do a reverse dunk on your highlight reel. When did you first start being able to dunk?

MB: “My first dunk was in eighth grade. Then by 10th grade, that’s when I started to experiment and throw it off of the backboard and throw alley-oops to myself and stuff like that.”