Jets select Missouri offensive tackle Armand Membou with the No. 7 overall pick in NFL draft

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The New York Jets now have a pair of big, physical, first-round building blocks for their offensive line.

Missouri offensive tackle Armand Membou was taken by the Jets with the No. 7 overall pick in the NFL draft on Thursday night. The addition of Membou comes a year after New York drafted Olu Fashanu with the 11th overall pick.

“I think the Jets’ O-line has a good, young foundation,” Membou said during a video call a few minutes after he was drafted. “I feel like adding me to it, you know, the work I’m going to put in to this organization, we’ll be very good up in the trenches.”

With the Jets entering the draft with several needs, including at right tackle, new general manager Darren Mougey and coach Aaron Glenn opted to continue upgrading the offensive line.

“He’s mean, he’s nasty, he’s tough,” Glenn said of Membou. “What we’re trying to do on offense, he really fits what we’re trying to do, so it was a no-brainer. I mean, once the pick was there for us, man, it was like, this is the guy.”

Fashanu started at both offensive tackle spots last year, but played well late after he took over on the left side for the injured Tyron Smith. Fashanu will stay at left tackle and Mougey said Membou will compete to take over on the right side.

“I had a feeling this was going to be my home,” said Membou, who added he had good conversations with the Jets leading up to the draft.

New York has an opening at right tackle after Morgan Moses signed with New England as a free agent last month. New York also has Carter Warren, Max Mitchell and Chukwuma Okorafor who could play right tackle, but the 6-foot-4, 330-pound Membou could be a plug-in and play option.

Membou has terrific speed and body control and has been impressive as a pass blocker. He was a second-team All-SEC selection last season after starting 12 games at right tackle for Missouri. He also allowed no sacks last season as a junior and should help provide protection for new Jets quarterback Justin Fields.

“They’re getting a mauler, for sure,” Membou said. “A mauler in the run game and then in pass pro, I’m someone who’s very consistent. I’m going to make sure to keep my quarterback clean.”

Membou’s selection at No. 7 marked the first time the Jets have taken a player in that spot in the NFL draft.

“It’s definitely been long and was a little confusing at first because I wasn’t sure where I’d go,” Membou said of his journey to the draft. “I was still debating whether I was going to go back to school or not. But in my heart, I knew I was ready. I just knew it was my time to go and I’m glad I trusted my decision.”

Glenn has said he envisions an offense that includes a physical rushing attack behind the Jets’ trio of running backs with Breece Hall, Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis. And Membou thinks he’ll fit right in.

“Like I said, I’m a mauler,” he said. “So, whatever they need to do, it don’t matter — just run behind me, really.”

Glenn pointed out that teams in his previous stops as an assistant in New Orleans and Detroit were successful after building their offensive lines, something he and Mougey are trying to do in New York. Glenn also sees some resemblances in Membou to Lions two-time All-Pro offensive tackle Penei Sewell.

“The mentality and the demeanor of the player is exactly the same,” Glenn said. “That’s what attracted me to that player, first and foremost. And then you start seeing, athletically, how he moves, and then that attracts you. And then when you get a chance to talk to the player and get to know exactly who he is as a person, then that attracts you also.

“So it was like a perfect storm on that guy being a Jet.”

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