NFL Draft

1/16/25

7 min read

2025 NFL Draft: Missouri's Armand Membou Could Be This Year's Best Offensive Tackle

By James Foster

NFL Analyst
Missouri Tigers offensive lineman Armand Membou (79) lines up against the Massachusetts Minutemen during the first half at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
Missouri Tigers offensive lineman Armand Membou (79) lines up against the Massachusetts Minutemen during the first half at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium. Eric Canha-Imagn Images.

Missouri right tackle Armand Membou entered the season as a potential Day 2 pick, but he’s vaulted himself into the first round, and at this point, it would surprise me if he made it out of the top 20.

Membou is my highest-graded tackle in the 2025 Draft class, my second-ranked offensive lineman, and my 13th-ranked player overall.

There’s some uncertainty about whether he ends up at tackle or guard, but he can play outside in the NFL. Of all the potential guard converts in this class, I feel the most confident in Membou thriving at tackle by a comfortable margin.

SIZE/ATHLETICISM

Membou has an unconventional build for an offensive tackle. As a true junior, we don’t have official measurements from the summer, but he’s listed at 6-foot-3, 325 pounds. I would estimate his arm length is between 34.5 and 35 inches.

Because most NFL tackles are tall, there’s a misconception that height is an important trait for that position, and many people will want Membou to move inside because he looks more like a guard. But nothing that an offensive tackle does requires being tall, and height is actually a limiting factor when it comes to anchoring and playing with proper leverage. If given the choice, I would prefer a tackle to be 6-foot-2 rather than 6-foot-8.

Membou is a very good athlete for his size and ranked 39th on Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List. According to Feldman, Membou runs a 1.63 10-yard split (99th percentile) and was clocked at 21.8 mph. He doesn’t appear quite that explosive on tape, but his acceleration, range, and fluidity are firmly above average for an offensive tackle.

STATISTICS

He allowed nine pressures and zero sacks in 2024 and ranked ninth in pressure rate among tackles in the 2025 Draft class.

PASS BLOCKING

Membou has impressive foot speed and pocket range for a player of his size. He has good burst into his pass sets and is able to expand his set point and gain depth later in the rep. His foot speed and arm length create a wide corner to cut off outside rushes.

He primarily uses an outside hand punch in pass protection, which can be a risky strategy as it leaves the tackle vulnerable to getting cornered if his hand gets swiped/chopped down. For the most part, Membou does a great job of timing his punch so it lands on the rusher’s frame when it’s most exposed.

He has outstanding strike power and grip strength, which results in some devastating finishes but also allows him to stay connected for the entire rep. Many tackles land their punch accurately but can't survive a swipe or cross-chop and end up losing the edge. Membou stabs and latches with enough power to withstand the rusher’s move and tie him up.

He flashed some advanced inside hand usage and can read moves and work both hands in unison. This rep against Nic Scourton is one of Membou’s best plays from the season.

He initially punched with the outside hand, anticipated the cross-chop, and then fired his inside hand with perfect timing to neutralize the move. At the exact moment Scourton lifts his right arm and exposes his frame, Membou stabs the armpit and completely locks him out:

He'll also use his inside hand to proactively counter certain moves while keeping his outside hand free to corral his opponent when they press the corner. On these reps, Membou swats down the rusher’s inside hand the moment they extend it to defend against a long-arm or cross-chop. His outside hand is unoccupied, so he can reload with a two-hand punch and finish the play.

Membou is sometimes too “heavy” with his outside hand strike and lunges into the defender, causing him to lose through the B-gap. This was an issue for him a couple of times against Vanderbilt in Week 4, but he improved later in the season.

Overall, he is very fluid, sliding with counters, and has a strong inside hand to stay in phase as he redirects. As long as he strikes from a balanced platform, he's athletic enough to mirror pass rushers on an island in both directions.

Membou has the play strength and lower-half flexibility to anchor against power rushers, but his timing and hand placement will need to improve in the NFL. The bull rush was actually the move that gave him the most problems in 2024, which is surprising given his natural play strength.

When he’s accurate and on time with his hands, his anchor is solid:

Even on plays where he’s late or too wide with his punch, he can absorb the bull rush and find his anchor quickly enough to solidify the pocket. The technique on these reps needs to be cleaned up, but it’s important for offensive linemen to have the physical tools to bail them out of compromising positions:

But Membou gave up several pressures because he either punched too late, too early, or too wide and allowed a bull rush into his frame.

RUN BLOCKING

Membou has flashes of dominance as a run blocker. He has excellent drive power and creates serious movement at the point of attack on down blocks and short frontside pulls. This is where his height becomes a true weapon because he doesn’t have to lean or bend as much as most players to win leverage.

He needs to play to this advantage more consistently, however, as his balance into block fits is a bit erratic. He has a bad habit of lunging and leading with his head into contact, which leaves him susceptible to arm-overs and push-pulls.

Taking a more controlled, conservative approach might result in slightly fewer kill shots in the run game, but it will also limit the whiffs and clean losses that cause negative plays.

On run blocking assignments that weren’t just driving a defender in a straight line, Membou’s tape was relatively disappointing. He struggles to sustain reach blocks and has a soft inside shoulder, which allows defenders to press and rip through the backside.

When he has an unsuspecting, stationary target lined up for him at the second level, he can pull off some dominant finishes.

However, he struggles to redirect and connect to moving targets in open space, and his range as a puller is average.

Ultimately, he can survive in a wide zone system, but he'd be better in a scheme that majors in duo, inside zone, and counter. Alabama and Texas A&M, two of the best defensive fronts he faced, were easily his worst run blocking performances.

He improved significantly during the second half of the season, and his last four games (Oklahoma, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Arkansas) were dominant.

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Tags: 2025 NFL Draft, Armand Membou, Armand Membou NFL Draft See More

James Foster

NFL Analyst

James Foster is an NFL writer who creates film-based analysis of NFL players and teams. He previously worked for A to Z Sports.

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