Analyzing How Armand Membou Fits Into The NY Jets Offense

The 2025 NFL Draft got underway on Thursday, April 24th, and the New York Jets got their guy. Despite fans clamoring for Tyler Warren or Tetairoa McMillan, the Jets didn’t overthink things and decided to set up their offensive line for years to come. The Jets drafted Missouri’s Armand Membou with their seventh overall pick.

Membou is a three-year starter in the SEC. He is also known as one of the most consistent linemen in the entire college football landscape. He’s expected to make a splash right with the Jets at right tackle opposite another young gun in Olu Fashanu. This is a pair who could anchor the team’s offensive line for the next decade.

For the longest time, it appeared that the Jets were on the fence about who to draft. Ultimately, their top two choices came down to Membou or Penn State’s star tight end, Tyle Warren. The Jets chose to address their offensive line issues instead of adding perhaps the best pass catcher in the draft to their roster. However, this was a good choice for the Jets, and here’s how Membou fits into the Jets offense.

Analyzing How Armand Membou Fits Into The NY Jets Offense

After the Jets lost Morgan Moses in free agency, they brought in veteran Chukwuma Okorafor for some help. However, Membou represents the long-term solution that the Jets desperately need. This pick indicated one thing for the Jets: identity. Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey decided to build through the trenches and solidify their offensive line while protecting their new quarterback, Justin Fields. This pick also adds some more stability up front.

While Membou could be viewed as a boring pick for the Jets, he is truly a home-run pick that the Jets desperately needed. Yes, he’s not Tyler Warren or Tet McMillan, he won’t be catching balls or be a big playmaker on offense. However, it’s important to remember that the best draft picks are the ones that solve today’s problems without creating new ones tomorrow. This is exactly what Membou brings to the Jets. He’s a solution for the team’s glaring vacancy at right tackle, as well as a long-term investment in the foundation of the offense.

The Jets were looking for their plug-and-play starter on the right side with Fashanu anchoring the left side. Membou was one of the fastest risers in the class after an impressive NFL Combine showing, and he fits this bill as good as anyone. The offensive line is no longer one of the weakest links of the organization, and this is something I can’t believe I said as it’s been arguably the biggest glaring issue for the past few years.

Olu Fashanu, Joe Tippmann, John Simpson, and Alijah Vera-Tucker round out the offensive line with the newly added Membou. What makes this even more impressive is that this core group is all under the age of 28. This means that they all could have many years in front of them left in the league. This pick gives the Jets some continuity and youth up front which is something only a few teams can claim. Membou slides into the one remaining hole to complete the group.

However, both Simpson and Vera-Tucker are set to hit free agency after the 2025 season. It’s unlikely the Jets will be able to keep both. Membou’s experience and skillset offers a flexibility for the future. While Membou is obviously a tackle first, his frame and athletic ability could allow him to move inside if needed. Some teams even believed, while watching him at the NFL Combine, that his best fit in the NFL could come at the offensive guard spot.

Drafting a player like Warren or McMillan would have been a move which could create more flashiness. However, it’s important to consider how Justin Fields can struggle a great deal when pressured. The Jets adding Membou could help to address to Field’s biggest weakness, while also improving a dire need of theirs.

Perhaps most importantly, the views that this new regime values is seen first-handedly with Membou. For a team who is trying to protect a newly acquired, and still young, quarterback in Justin Fields, while finding their new identity under head coach Glenn, Membou represents a pick that is equal parts of safe, but yet a little bit ambitious.

It also is very similar to an approach taken by Glenn’s former team, the Detroit Lions. That new regime made a similar move in 2021 drafting Oregon’s Penei Sewell to solidify the right side of their line. We saw how well that worked out. That pick helped lay out the new foundation of what has since become arguably the NFL’s best offensive line. It can also be viewed as a cornerstone of Detroit’s turnaround. The Jets are hoping that Membou can be their Sewell and help them establish a similar identity.

Now whether or not Membou could live up to his massive hype he has coming out of college is a complete other question. However, this is a risk that’s taken by any team drafting any player in any NFL Draft, it’s never a surefire thing. However, the Jets commitment to building Fields a tremendous and young offensive line could be what ends up turning them into a team who can compete for their first playoff berth in over 10 years.

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