His Goals for the Rest of the Summer: 'Get As Strong & Explosive As I can...Get Really Dialed In This Year'

Randy Lange

The Jets' offensive line is a good conversation starter for fans, not to mention a good drive starter for the offense. And as for individuals on that unit, second-year RTArmand Membou's name has been bandied about quite a bit by teammates.

HC Aaron Glenn acknowledges that there has "been some sense of urgency with him as far as, how do I take my game to the next level, what are the things I have to do to be able to be one of the top offensive linemen in this league?"

CJosh Myershad a bold take on his younger, bigger (6-4, 332) linemate, saying in his recent media session: "Membou has the ability to be, like, great, great great, one of the greats," adding that "there's a lot that needs to happen between now and then, but he's got the talent, he's got the mentality."

To all of this, Membou said Wednesday following the Jets' OTA practice that he appreciates the compliments but he's not a finished product.

"It means a lot for one of my teammates to think that highly of me," he said of Myers' remarks. "I just want to keep improving."

The seventh overall pick from Missouri hit the ground running last season and rarely stopped. One of his best traits was his availability. He started all 17 games (as did all the other four members of the starting OL), and he played 1,047 of the offense's 1,048 snaps. To put that in perspective, Membou was the first Jets rookie with 1,000 scrimmage plays since CB Sauce Gardner (1,115 defensive snaps in 2022), the first Jets offensive rookie with 1,000 snaps since Alijah Vera-Tucker (1,026 snaps in 2021), and unofficially the first Jets rookie tackle with 1,000 snaps since D'Brickashaw Ferguson (1,013 in 2006).

One more element of Membou's game that's trending up is his run-blocking. Exploding out of his RT stance, he helped pave the way forBreece Hall's first 1,000-yard rushing season and a team total of 2,096 rushing yards that was tied for 10th in the NFL. Hall and the Jets backs, according to NFLGSIS Statistics, averaged 5.64 yards/carry off right tackle, fifth in the league, and 5.38 yards/carry around right end.

Membou's pass protection was good but he's working as hard as he can during no-contact OTA practices on improving in front of new starterGeno Smithand the QBs after unofficially yielding 4.5 sacks as a rookie. But he was flagged only twice for holding, with just one being assessed a respectable number for a 17-game tackle starter and was called for no holds in the last 11 games. He committed 11 total penalties (8 marked off), tied for most on the Jets with G John Simpson, although most of Membou's infractions were false starts.

"For me, I'm just trying to be explosive because I'm already pretty strong," Membou said of his offseason goals, adding: "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."

Glenn is optimistic that Membou will answer the call.

"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," Glenn said of his talented young tackle, "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."

"I'm not there right now," Membou said of the state of his game in June of the second offseason of his pro career. "I'm just trying to have successful OTAs, trying to finish off this next week right, and then once we get into training camp, get better so we can have a good year."