Jets Completed Offensive Line with Armand Membou

Edition #853

☀️ Good Morning ☕

No surprises. The first round of the NFL draft is in the books and the Jets did exactly what many thought the Jets would do, they completed their offensive line by selecting Missouri tackle Armand Membou. It’s the second time they’ve taken a player from Missouri in the first round (Sheldon Richardson) and the 4th time they’ve taken an offensive lineman in the first round since 2020.

I know some people may be disappointed with the Jets going offensive lineman again, but I’m looking to judge this draft as a whole and there are still an absolute ton of playmakers available for the Jets.

I wrote quite a long piece on Armand Membou back in March, so now is the time to head on over and check that out if you’re a new subscribers or if you want a reminder of what the Jets are getting:

Focusing on: Armand Membou

What did the powers that be have to say about the selection of Membou:

Darren Mougey - "We feel really good about the way the board fell, We always admired him on film, we knew he'd be a physical fit. He was here on his 21st birthday [last month] and last week we had a few really good phone calls. And he's a kid who's comfortable in his own skin, he's got a good personality. All of it was just a natural fit for us."

Aaron Glenn - "Athletically, he's off the charts. He's mean, tough, nasty. He really fits what we're trying to do on offense. It was really a no-brainer. Once he was there for our pick, this was the guy."

Armand Membou - "It's just a big relief and definitely a blessing. I guess God told me, plus the Jets have a really young, promising team. I thought that would be a good fit for me, too." and "I'm not just fast, I'm strong, too. Very explosive, strong, can make any block in the game."

I’m not going to spend too much time talking about Membou today as I’ve done a lot of that over the last few weeks. I will be writing a full feature on him at some point in the coming weeks, as I will with all draft picks.

But just as a quick recap. Membou is coming off one of the most dominant seasons for an offensive tackle in college football. PFF handed him an 87.6 run-block grade and he allowed 8 pressures and 0 sacks across 411 pass snaps.

He’s a two-year starter who also played over 300 snaps in 2022. He’s played exclusively right tackle over his three years in Missouri and so is a natural fit on that side, there won’t be any adjustment needed for the 2025 season.

His athletic profile is off the charts, he became just the 5th player since 2003 to run a sub 5.0 forty at 330+ lbs. His 10-yard split of 1.74 was also an elite number that is rare for a man his size, and when he says he’s strong he’s not lying, 31 bench reps.

All of this comes across in his game-film and the Jets should now have their bookend tackles for the next decade having taken Olu Fashnu #11 overall last season. Membou completes a stellar offensive line that also includes John Simpson, Joe Tippmann and Alijah-Vera-Tucker. That line can dominate in both facets of the game, but the true benefit should be felt on the ground where Breece Hall and Justin Fields should eat.

Just a quick note on Breece Hall. Yesterday Josina Anderson posted that she’d heard trade rumblings. Mougey snipped those in the bud straight away by confirming that he has had zero trade discussions about Breece Hall with any team. Which to me is the right way to go about things.

There are a load of instant draft grades for those first round picks, but they’re completely pointless. We won’t know who “won” or who “lost”, who “reached” or who got the “steal” for years, those are just buzz words used to fill column inches and grab clicks for advertising. We don’t do advertising here.

The first pick went as many expected and for me it’s a great start. Offensive lineman are never sexy picks, but when you look at that projected starting offensive line for the Jets, it’s hard not to be excited.

But, there’s only so much an offensive line can do. You need to have weapons to exploit the talent on the offensive line and day two is absolutely packed full of weapons that will instantly made the team better.

The Jets have two picks today (#42 and #73) and I imagine there are a number of players both Mougey and Glenn are very excited about. Here is a list of some of the names to watch out for in relation to the Jets.

Safety - Nick Emmanwori

A lot of people had him going in the first round and he’s the kind of player that Aaron Glenn would love to have. I can see him being the pick if he lasts to #42, but I would be amazed if he lasted until then.

Cornerback - Will Johnson

Johnson is one of those big corners that Glenn seems to covet and it wasn’t that long ago that people were linking him with the Jets at #7. He’s not a huge man cover guy but this goes back to what system we’ll be playing.

Quarterback - Shedeur Sanders

All that hype at the start of the process about him going #1 overall and he doesn’t even go in the first round. Sanders does have talent, but he’s undersized, takes too many sacks and comes with a headache (Deion). In the 2nd round he may be worth the risk though if he’s sitting there, I wouldn’t, Jets might.

Edge - Mike Green

Here’s another player who was being touted as being a top-15 selection but here he is sitting in the 2nd round. He’s highly disruptive and is coming off an incredibly productive year at Marshall. He may be too hard to turn down at #42.

Tight End - Mason Taylor

This was my preferred pick for the Jets at #42 in my mock draft. Only a few people had Loveland going ahead of Warren, and most have Taylor as the next cab off the rank. For me he’s extremely talented and if he’s there at #42, he’s the pick.

Wide Receiver - Luther Burden III

Another player who was tipped to go in the first round, Luther Burden III has 21 touchdowns in three years and was a college teammate of Membou, could we become Missouri east if we pick him?

The second round pick is going to be interesting because of the talent still available at non offensive positions. I do think that Green and Emmanwori may be too hard to turn down if they’re there at #42, which may be hard to swallow for all those looking for offensive playmakers.

But look at the receivers who are still available, some of these guys are going to drop. Luther Burden is the #1 guy on many board, then you have Jayden Higgins there, Jaylin Noel, Jack Bech, Kyle Williams, Tre Harris, Tory Horton, Tai Felton, Jalen Royals, Isaac TeSlaa. All of those guys are top 100 players in this draft, and I do feel as though the Jets will land one of those guys on that list. My preference is Jack Bech, but I’d be happy with pretty much all of those guys.

Then if you look at the TE position you have Mason Taylor as the next guy who you’d need to take at #42. Then you have Arroyo, Ferguson, Helm, Fannin Jr. If it’s not Taylor then I want it to be Ferguson.