Jets establishing their identity under Aaron Glenn with Armand Membou selection in 2025 NFL Draft

Membou may not have been the sexy pick, but he was the smart one

4/25/2025, 2:24 AM

They didn’t need him. Not really. You can mask a weakness on an offensive line if it’s at one spot. The collective is better than the individual – any coach will tell you that. So the Jets could have easily signed a veteran right tackle after the draft. They could have selected someone in the middle rounds. They would have been fine.

Darren Mougey and Aaron Glenn knew that. They also knew they’d give themselves the potential for the best offensive line in the NFL if they selected Armand Membou.

They didn’t wait long before turning in their draft card with the Missouri tackle’s name written on it.

Glenn served as the Lions defensive coordinator the last two years. He went daily against Ben Johnson’s offense. The unit was loaded. Jared Goff at quarterback. A two-headed backfield of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams at receiver. Sam LaPorta at tight end. Star overload. They made their offense so explosive. But the offense wouldn’t have worked if it wasn’t for Detroit’s offensive line.

They gave Goff time. That allowed him to find St. Brown, Williams and LaPorta. They opened the holes for Gibbs and Montgomery. They didn’t always get the attention or headlines, but they were at the center of Detroit’s success.

The Jets can recreate the Motor City in the Big Apple.

There were other options for New York. They would have filled far greater needs. Tyler Warren (Penn State tight end) and Tet McMillan (Arizona receiver) would have given the Jets a much-needed complement to Garrett Wilson. That would have been the sexy pick.

Membou isn’t the sexy pick. He’s the smart, safe one.

Olu Fashanu, John Simpson, Joe Tippmann, Alijah Vera-Tucker and Membou make up the front five now. Fashanu, Vera-Tucker, and Membou are first-round picks. Tippmann a second. Simpson was a priority free-agent signing a year ago. They have to gel, yes. They need to stay healthy, yes. But they have the potential to be as good as any front in the league.

Long the offseason champs, the Jets enjoyed a quiet few months leading into Thursday’s first round. Their biggest signing was quarterback Justin Fields. It’s noteworthy anytime you add a quarterback, but he’s more of a lottery ticket than an undeniable solution. It was unclear what Mougey and Glenn’s Jets would look like as they made depth signings and stop-gaps, instead of splashing.

This was the first look at what the Jets want to be. They are still building, sure, but they clearly want to be a team that establishes their presence up front. Asserts their dominance. They’re going to run Breece Hall, Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis. They want to wear you down. Now they can do it behind this offensive line.

The Jets have said all the right things as it pertains to Fields. They’re going to give him every opportunity to be the guy. If he is: Great. If it’s not, the Jets will be all-in on a quarterback class in 2026 that is believed to be far superior than this one.

And they’ll put that rookie behind this offensive line.

Not a bad spot to be.

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