Armand Membou had a tall task facing T.J. Watt in his NFL debut, but the Jets’ rookie first-round pick handled the assignment with aplomb. In fact, Pro Football Focus deigned to award him its highest grade of all offensive linemen in Week 1. Although New York made considerable effort to aid Membou, one can’t escape the reality that he did his job.
Selected seventh overall out of Missouri, Armand Membou is part of a young Jets tandem with Olu Fashanu opposite him. The Jets’ young tackles, it’s fair to say, fared better than the Steelers’ own pair of first-round picks. New York made it work, even through obstacles, and not just facing Watt.
Leading up to the opener, the Jets lost RG Alijah Vera-Tucker to a season-ending injury. Vera-Tucker was going to be critical playing right next to Membou. Debuting without your guard against T.J. Watt, that could have been a daunting task.
But one has to acknowledge that the Jets heavily skewed their offense away from Watt. When not running in the opposite direction, the Jets often provided help for Membou, throwing in some chips, and sometimes some salsa as well.
At the same time, while Watt played well, he did not have the best game of his career. His pass rush was merely okay, generating a single pressure albeit on limited opportunities. He did take advantage of his backside opportunities and forced Membou to whiff at least once.
But the rookie just played well—especially when he got to go one-on-one against Isaiahh Loudermilk, not Watt. It sure would have been a lot more interesting had Derrick Harmon been available.
There is a reason Armand Membou went within the top 10 picks of the draft so it should hardly be surprising that he debuted well, even with T.J. Watt on the field. He is a very talented young man, and he showed it.
Of course, just because Pro Football Focus rated him the highest-graded lineman this week doesn’t mean he had the best game in the entire NFL. Even assuming the objectivity and accuracy of the grading—which it lacks in both qualities—it’s simply too limiting a measurement. And it doesn’t take into account the efforts the Jets made to limit Membou’s exposure to Watt.
After all, there have been plenty of veteran tackles who thought they had Watt all figured out—and then didn’t.
