Taking a look at the Jets’ new right tackle
The Jets drafted former Missouri Tigers offensive tackle Armand Membou with the 7th pick of the first round in the 2025 NFL draft. Today we break Membou down in detail.
The 21-year old Membou is listed at 6’4” and 332 pounds. He was a second team all-SEC selection in 2024. He started 29 games in his college career, including 25 in a row.
Background
Membou was a late developer who, by his own admission, was “terrible” at football and almost quit the game altogether as a high school sophomore. However, a late growth spurt compelled him to work on his body and technique and he started to take the game more seriously.
He developed into a four-star recruit according to 247 sports, although he wasn’t heavily recruited and didn’t show much interest in shopping himself around. He was happy to accept a scholarship to Missouri, where he would start four games and play just under 400 snaps in his freshman year in 2022.
In 2023, he became the starting right tackle and started every game for the next two years, apart from the Music City Bowl at the end of last season, which he opted out of to prepare for the draft. He was voted as an all-SEC second-teamer at the end of last season.
Membou was invited to the Senior Bowl and the scouting combine, although he missed the Senior Bowl. He put on a show at the combine though, solidifying himself as a likely top-10 pick.
Let’s move on to some more in-depth analysis of what Membou brings to the table as a player, based on extensive research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
There are some minor concerns around Membou’s frame. His height and arm length are both slightly below average, leading some people to suggest he might be forced to move inside at the NFL level. His wingspan is about average for the position though, so he has a wide torso and a powerful build.
He put on an impressive display at the scouting combine as he ran 4.91 in the 40-yard dash, posted 31 bench press reps and also had excellent explosiveness numbers. It’s no surprise that Membou – who can also squat 600 pounds – was included on Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks List” during his college career.
He did not perform the agility drills at the combine or his pro day workout, but he shows some good lateral agility and an ability to recover on film.
Usage
Membou only played right tackle at the college level, although he would occasionally line up as a tight end in unbalanced line formations, including sometimes on the left side of the formation.
He was initially recruited as a guard, and the original plan before the 2023 season had been for him to start at right guard, but in the end he won the right tackle job instead. He played one snap at left guard.
Pass Blocking
Membou’s highlights as a pass protector are impressive. Clearly he moves his feet well, holds his man at bay with good power and upper body strength and can quickly re-anchor when bull-rushed.
However, what he is capable of doing is one thing and being able to do that on a consistent basis at the NFL level is another, so a deeper look is required to determine how likely he is to be able to hold his own from day one in pass protection.
After giving up three sacks and a low pressure rate in his first two seasons, Membou took his game up a notch in 2024 and managed to go through the whole season without giving up a sack and also reduced his pressure rate further.
It’s worth reflecting on some of the times he did get beaten, though, to really zero in on where he still has some room for growth. Two of the sacks he gave up came because he was beaten cleanly on an inside move.
He also had a similar play where he was beaten on the inside and the pressure led to an interception. Clearly he needs to be wary of over-stepping as he drops back into his stance and having his weight shifted too far over to the outside so he struggles to recover to inside quickness.
When it comes to dealing with speed rushers off the edge, he has had good success. Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer got around him and sacked the quarterback on one play but he made him go the long round and it was arguably more of a coverage sack caused by interior pressure. Other than that, it was extremely rare for Membou to get beaten outside.
When battling in the trenches, he has shown an ability to repel moves and counters, and to re-anchor against a bull rush, even if initially moved off his spot.
Run Blocking
Membou had a big impact as a run blocker and flashes controlled dominance at the point of attack and on the move.
He obviously has good size and power, giving him the strength to drive his man off the line at the point of attack.
His athleticism stands out when he is blocking on the move, and he is under control and balanced as he seeks out and locks onto his target.
In terms of weaknesses, you will see him lose control of his block and lunge after his man at times. He also has an occasional tendency to overshoot his target, allowing his man to out-leverage him on the inside or go back door on him.
Short Yardage
The Tigers have had good success in short yardage situations, many of which saw them running behind Membou. However, he seems to have more success in sealing his man off than driving him off the line in these obvious rushing situations for whatever reason. Curiously, many of his most effective short yardage blocks came while he was lined up on the left side in unbalanced formations.
As he’s a little shorter than the average tackle, you’d think that pad level would be less of a concern for him but there were plays where his man got under his pads to stand him up or penetrate in such situations.
Screen Blocking
Missouri’s screen game over the past few years has mainly revolved around wide receiver Luther Burden, which means that there weren’t necessarily many conventional screen passes on which Membou could have leaked out in front to showcase his athleticism. Perhaps for this reason, he had mixed results when called upon to do this.
At least on this one, he did hustle out to his mark well, and completed his block, but the play got blown up anyway by a fast-reacting edge defender.
This would hopefully be an area where Membou has a lot of potential to excel with the Jets.
Footwork/Technique
Membou’s technical foundation is excellent. He has quick feet and good balance. As a general rule he seems under control and rarely panics. With that said, there have been some analysts who have cautioned that he’s not the finished article yet and there is some rawness to his game, and this seems fair based on his film.
His hand strikes are effective and powerful, but he could stand to be more consistently accurate with his hand placement and timing. His hands were too slow on this rep, allowing his man to gain an early leverage advantage and convert this into being able to work around him.
Membou’s raw tools and natural athleticism give him plenty to work with though. He is fast out of the blocks to engage his man with impetus and then settle into controlling the block.
He also shows good technique on this drive block, as he keeps his feet moving and resets his angle to maintain control. It’s when his technique gets sloppy and he lunges after his man rather than keeping his feet under him that he can lose that control.
Penalties
Membou only had 11 penalties in his career, with just four last season. Two of those four were for holding, including one which negated a 20-yard touchdown run. He only had one personal foul in his college career.
Special Teams
Membou’s only special teams experience has been as a blocker on the placekicking unit. He did not have any penalties or negative plays within that role. He lined up both as a tackle and on the outside in this role, including on the left side at times.
Instincts/Intelligence
Membou is regarded as a smart player, and you can see he is comfortable moving from one assignment to another if he’s climbing to the second level or dealing with a delayed rush.
In situations where the defense tries to run stunts and games, his awareness is good and he doesn’t panic, usually handling such situations with an effortless lack of drama.
He had issues with false starts in 2023 as he was flagged four times, but seemed to have fixed this in 2024, as he didn’t have any.
Attitude
Membou is the son of Cameroonian immigrants who instilled discipline, determination and a hard-working attitude into him.
He reportedly has a confident, positive and personable character but is able to flip a switch on the field where he can display nastiness and aggression.
He needs to be wary of not taking things too far, though. Displaying dominance can set the tone, but if you take a guy to the ground or chirp in his face, that could potentially give rise to a penalty. As noted earlier, his on-field discipline isn’t too bad, but he was ejected for fighting once.
One nitpick from Membou’s film is that once he makes his initial block, he often stops working, assuming his job is done. There were incidences of a player cutting back or otherwise extending a play and ending up getting tackled by a player Membou would easily have been able to block if he continued to play to the whistle.
He was reportedly a hard-worker in the meeting room, weight room and on the practice field in college.
Injuries
Membou has good toughness and had good durability in college, where his only missed start once he became a full-time starter was the voluntary bowl game opt-out. He missed the Senior Bowl due to stomach flu, though.
Scheme Fit
Membou’s athleticism should make him an asset in what promises to be a diverse rushing attack from the Jets in their new system. Missouri used zone blocking in the running game about 60 percent of the time, but he is clearly capable of excelling in different blocking schemes.
One of his teammates in college was quarterback Brady Cook, who is reportedly one of the Jets’ undrafted free agent signings.
Conclusions
Mekhi Becton and Olu Fashanu were both selected 11th overall and had shown plenty of promise by the end of their rookie season. With Membou having been selected four spots higher than that, expectations will be high that he can look good even sooner, and that his ceiling is higher than either.
Everything he brings to the table in terms of his athletic profile, attitude and mentality provides a lot of confidence that the high-ceiling aspect of this expectation is achievable.
It’s not a lock that he will immediately step in and start looking like a 10-year pro, but again, the improvements he showed in his final season at Missouri and his work habits and determination to keep improving are hopefully a strong sign that he’s headed in the right direction.
In many ways, the fact it’s a brand new system for everyone might help Membou because everyone will be starting from square one rather than him having to play catch-up on the fly. The Jets have a good chance to mold Membou into the perfect right tackle for their scheme from day one. They should make this a top organizational priority.