Position Overview: Offensive Tackles

Edition #1114: Let's take a look at the offensive tackle situation as we head into camp, plus a couple of other news and notes.

Good Morning ☕

Patrick Mahomes took a step back last year, a 62% completion with 22 TDs to 11 INTs is slightly above average QB play.

His passing TD production has steadily declined for four straight years. 41 in 2022, 27 in 2023, 26 in 2024 and 22 in 2025.

The Chiefs are betting that their 3x Super Bowl winning QB can get back to his best handing him a reworked contract that keeps him in Kansas City through 2033 at a value of $504.75 million. Good money if you can get it.

It’s worth remembering that Mike Maccagnan passed on Mahomes because we already had Hackenberg in the building. One of the biggest draft mistakes in NFL history and unfortunately not the only mistake the Jets have made.

Would the Jets have experienced the same level of success had Maccagnan made a different decision that night? Probably not. But you never know.

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NEWS & NOTES 🗞️

• Former Jets first-round pick Darron Lee was indicted on a murder charge last night and prosecutors are pushing for a first-degree murder charge. A decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made in the coming weeks. I don’t really want to talk about this but you can read more HERE.

• According to Rich Cimini, Rex Ryan is hoping to visit camp as an observer on Tuesday. This week it was Mike Westhoff, next week it’s Rex Ryan, maybe the week after we can get recently retired Mike Pettine in too.

• Armand Membou has been a popular subject this off-season and he was asked about his focus this off-season:

  • “For me, I’m just trying to be explosive because I’m already pretty strong. I just want to get my body back right, get as strong and explosive as I can, master this new playbook [courtesy of new OC Frank Reich] and get really dialed in this year.”

• Aaron Glenn believes that Membou is ready to take his game to the next level after a solid rookie season:

  • “A lot of it has to do with the technique part of it, and he’s really getting that from his coach,” Glenn said, referring to O-line coach Steve Heiden. “A lot of it has to do with the mentality part of it, Every day, man, I’m chopping wood to be the best I can be. Then physically, making sure he’s in shape, he’s strong and he’s conditioned to be able to play a number of plays”

  • “He’s keeping everything in perspective, though, to make sure that, Man, this is a team game and I want to be good, not just for myself but I want to be good for the team. If that makes sense.”

• NFL.com ranked the divisions by QB talent and the AFC East was placed towards the bottom with only the AFC South and NFC South being rated lower:

  • “Then, there are the other two teams. In a funny twist, Geno Smith’s career journey has led him back to where it started, with the QB welcomed back to the Jets like a returning long-lost king. That shows how desperate Gang Green is for stability under center. There’s no guarantee it will work, but if the Jets can protect Smith better than the Raiders’ leaky offensive line did last year, he’ll find success.”

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Offensive Tackles: Preview 🟢⚪🗽

For the sake of this preview I’m only going to include players who are listed as tackles on the official depth chart.

There is a lot of positional flexibility on the offensive line, we know that Max Mitchell can play inside and arguably he’s better suited there as well. There are guys like Liam Fornadel on the roster, listed as a guard but spent his entire college career as a tackle at James Maddison.

I considered doing the offensive line as a whole, but 15 players is a lot to cover especially when we have a lot of time until we have some game action to talk about. So instead we’re going to break it down into interior and exterior.

Starters: Olu Fashanu (LT), Armand Membou (RT)

Sometimes I think we get a little ahead of ourselves when we talk about the tackle situation in New York.

Fashanu and Membou have phenomenal potential. If they continue their development arc and hit their potential, they could be two of the best tackles in the NFL. I don’t have much doubt about that.

But there’s that word. Potential. It’s a dangerous word if you’re the Jets. It’s one that often in retrospect gets elongated to “unfulfilled potential”