Could Membou Be the ‘Mauler’ the Patriots Need as Their Answer at Tackle?
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Posted Under: 2025 Patriots Draft
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Heading into the 2025 season, the obvious void for the Patriots remains on the left side of the line.
Having signed free agent tackle Morgan Moses this offseason, New England seemingly has a starter for 2025 who can anchor the right side of the offensive line, but questions still remain at left tackle.
With the draft coming up in a couple of weeks, everyone is wondering whether or not they’ll address that need, or potentially grab an impact player out of the remaining “best available” players with the 4th overall selection.
The only issue is, it’s going to be a gamble either way regardless of who they pick, especially if trading down isn’t an option. Still, one player whose stock appears to be rising as of late is Missouri’s Armand Membou.
Membou, who moved from guard to right tackle and clearly excelled there, is among the names expected to be taken within the top 10 later this month. The 6’4″, 332-pounder joins LSU’s Will Campbell as another terrific offensive tackle who competed against some of the biggest names in college football and held his own, anchoring the right side and putting together a season that saw him finish with second-team All-SEC honors in 2024.
For a player of his size, he put together a pretty good performance at the NFL Combine. He finished with a 4.91 time in the 40-yard dash, with Membou exploding off the line and letting out some intense screams as he sprinted to an impressive finish.
He joined Campbell as being among just four players over 315 pounds since 2003 to put together a sub-5.00 40 time and also finish with a 30″+ vertical. Previous NFL stars Tristan Wirfs (2020) and Trent Williams (2010) are the other two players outside of this year’s standouts who fell into that category.
Membou’s time was actually lower than Campbell’s, who finished with a 4.98 40-yard dash despite being lighter (319 pounds). He also showed some quick feet on ensuing drills.
Looking at his game tape, 98.5 The Sports Hub talk show host and former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak recently called Membou a ‘mauler,’ and it describes him pretty well. Membou is a player who absolutely manhandles defenders, often blocking them all the way to the ground on a given play. Our own Mark Morse also had Membou as a player who was high on his prospect list for the Patriots.
The hard part here is going to be whether or not New England is comfortable gambling on a player who is primarily a right tackle, who may not be able to make the transition to the left side. However, one other thing to keep in mind is the fact that Morgan Moses is currently the oldest player on the Patriots roster at 34 years old. Despite having also signed him to a three-year contract this offseason, the likelihood of Moses playing at a high level and realizing all three years of his deal is also probably not realistic.
By drafting Membou, the Patriots could potentially end up with a starting right tackle who is the big/physical player that would give them the type of toughness Mike Vrabel has talked about for the next four seasons. From there, they could also target multiple linemen as Mike Reiss suggested over the weekend, potentially double-dipping by taking a shot at Josh Simmons with their 38th overall pick, or even someone like Boston College’s Ozzy Trapilo in the 3rd or fourth round to address the left side.
Granted, in an ideal world, Membou would transition to the left side and give them a big, tough player to anchor the line and protect Maye’s blind side. If not, they’ll still have a quality young foundational player who would be ready to step in when they feel like he’s ready to take over for Moses.
Mike Vrabel spoke to reporters on Tuesday during his pre-draft press conference and hinted that tackle could indeed be which way they might go at #4 overall, depending on how the draft ultimately unfolds.
“I think there’s some starting tackles that certainly will come in and start in the NFL,” said Vrabel. “I think that that’s really what you start to look for, is impact players when you start picking that high, what they’re going to do for you, what’s the impact, what’s the position. You talk about premium position. And so then that’s where you kind of weigh all the circumstances and end up making that pick. So do I think that there are starters in this draft at left tackle? Yes, I do.”
The other question is what happens with last year’s third-round pick, Caedan Wallace. Wallace was extremely confident he could play left tackle after being selected in the 2024 Patriots Draft.
“Extremely confident,” said Wallace at the time. “I mean, I play every position on the line, and I’m just excited to get there and learn under some great coaches and get after it.”
“I did a lot of work at the Shrine Bowl at left tackle. But I’m super fluid, and I’m able to really switch around any position on the line. I’m confident wherever the coaches put me, I’ll exceed at.”
However, the former Penn State standout, who played right tackle opposite last year’s first-round selection Olu Fashanu in college, saw his rookie season take a hit after he spent the majority of the year dealing with an injury.
The other side of the coin just comes down to how the team feels about Wallace competing at left tackle. If his prospects on that side are dwindling, there wouldn’t be much need at that point to pursue Membou unless they were confident the Missouri standout could make the transition to the left side, especially if Wallace has shown the potential to be their future starter at right tackle.
If they’re unsure, or if Wallace has made enough progress to be in the mix to compete on the left, Membou certainly appears like a good option since both could battle it out and then “settle” back at their old spot, eventually ahead of Moses.
Offensive line coach Doug Marrone was asked about Membou a couple of weeks ago and whether or not he’s had experience helping a player transition to the other side of the line. Marrone cited former Saints offensive lineman Jammal Brown as a player he’s worked with where it did pan out, and fairly well at that.
“My first year in New Orleans, in 2006, we took Jammal Brown, who was a Pro-Bowler, right tackle,” explained Marrone. “He made the Pro Bowl at right tackle the year before we had gotten there. And we were like, ‘What are we going to do?’ Things of that nature. Coach [Sean] Payton and I sat down. We were saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to move him over. He never played the left side.’ He was a first-round pick from Oklahoma. Sat down with Jammal, said, ‘Hey, listen, we want to try this. I think you can do this. If things don’t work out, we’ll put you back to where you went.’ Then he went from an All-Pro right tackle in 2006 or 2005 to All Pro left tackle in 2006.”
“So yes, I was part of that. It was just pretty cool. It wasn’t me, though. I didn’t do it. The guy was very talented. You know what I’m saying? It wasn’t like, I’m this great coach that all of a sudden switched him over there and we’re able to do it. The kid, he had a ton of talent, but he did it.”
Either way, the Patriots do have long-term needs at both tackles, and as nice as it would be for Moses to play well enough to log another season or two at right tackle, he’s too old to be their answer. If both Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter are gone, walking away with a player in this year’s class of 2025 Patriots Draft Picks who is more of a sure thing at a position – albeit not on the side they’d probably prefer – still makes some sense for that reason.
If they’re not sure about Campbell, it might be better to take the gamble on a player they know can be a force for them at the tackle spot, especially since Campbell is thought to likely move to guard if playing left tackle in the NFL doesn’t work out.
Having a quality starting tackle is a big need for any team, and one that the Patriots absolutely need. Membou would certainly give them that, albeit it feels like his versatility is the only real risk they’d be taking.
Still, if he somehow ends up being able to make the transition to the left, that would be a massive win for a football team that positively has to get that problem solved by the time things kick off this September.
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Way too many ifs. First, out of Okorafor, Wallace and Onwenu, how many successfully transitioned from right tackle to left tackle? To me, that rules out taking a right tackle. Simmons has an injury history. While Campbell’s inside blocking needs to be polished, he is still superior to every other tackle available – not to mention there could be a big run on tackles like last year. Football nerds get all excited about trading up, trading down, grabbing the generational talent and letting the rest of the chips fall where they may. I’m old school. A bird in the hand… Read more »
Right on with the “IF’S”. The Pats would likely start Moses at RT this year unless (if) Membou beat him out. And Membou is not likely switching to LT and playing year 1 there. Switching is a big IF. If you think Membou is a much better long term player, I get it. But look at the big boards, Membou is mostly #2 behind Will Campbell. Another big factor, is Campbell is expected to be NFL ready to start right away…and that is not super common and that has a high value for the pats situation at LT. There’s no… Read more »
I’m off both of them at this point. I’d rather have Banks.