Film room: Armand Membou the athletic trench monster

Diving into what the Missouri offensive tackle could bring to the Raiders

News broke recently that Kolton Miller is seeking a new contract, but hasn’t started negotiations with the Las Vegas Raiders yet. Meanwhile, it’s also been reported that the Raiders are considering taking Missouri offensive tackle Armand Membou with the sixth pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. So, Las Vegas could have a new left tackle next season.

If John Spytek and Co. end up taking Membou, he’ll have to switch positions after taking nearly 2,000 snaps at right tackle and none at left during his three-year college career, per Pro Football Focus. That said, the Missouri product was one of the best offensive tackles in the country last season and has impressive traits to be a blind-side protector in the NFL.

Membou ranked third among FBS tackles with an elite 90.6 overall grade from PFF in 2024. A big reason for that is that he surrendered just eight pressures on 411 snaps in pass protection without giving up a single sack or quarterback hit. Also, he finished fifth with an 87.6 mark as a run-blocker.

With that, let’s take a look at what the former Tiger could bring to Las Vegas.

We’ll start with a few reps in pass protection. What stands out on Membou’s tape is that he has quick hands and excellent timing with his punch.

Missouri is running a quick game concept, which means he can be more aggressive in his pass set instead of having to work for depth off the snap. So, he uses a jump set against Nic Scourton, who is projected to be a late-first to second-round pick next weekend.

Membou’s footwork and pacing are perfect as his outside foot splits Scourton’s crotch to protect against an inside or outside move. When Scourton starts moving up the field and working his pass rush move, that’s when Membou’s quick hands come into play. He makes the first significant contact with the rusher and stops the move before Scourton can finish it, helping give the quarterback a clean pocket to throw from.

That’s a high-quality rep against quality competition.

Part of what makes the former Tiger a coveted prospect is that he’s an elite athlete, earning a 9.90 RAS at the NFL Combine. The clip above is a great example of how that translates to pass protection as he goes up against Scourton again.

This time, the defender is playing from a much wider alignment, meaning Membou has to cover more ground initially. He has a great get-off where he shows impressive initial quickness and agility to get out of his stance and cover ground laterally and vertically simultaneously.

That reduces Scourton’s pre-snap advantage, so he stems inside to help set up the outside spin move, which is one of his best pass-rush moves. However, Membou has the movement skills to perfectly mirror and match Scourton, giving the quarterback plenty of time to get through the reads and check the ball down.

Another way that Membou’s athleticism is an asset in pass protection is that it allows him to throw curveballs at rushers.

Here, he’s going up against likely first-round pick Shemar Stewart. Initially, the offensive tackle drops for a vertical set, so Stewart thinks he’ll have more time to work a pass-rush move. However, Membou changes directions after a couple of steps, going from moving backward to forward, and is more aggressive with his pass set.

That allows him to make the first significant contact and throw off Stewart’s timing as Stewart can’t even work a move. This is a subtle change, but messing with a pass-rusher’s timing can cause issues throughout the game because it makes it more difficult for them to get a feel for when to start their pass-rush moves.

Moving on to the running game and our first clip here includes two plays because they highlight how effective Membou can be on reach blocks in two different ways.

In the first play, he shows off the athletic ability mentioned above by getting outside positioning on Scourton to seal Scourton inside and create an outside rushing lane for the running back. Also, notice how easily Membou flipped his hips to pin the edge defender inside.

In the second rep, South Carolina’s outside linebacker does a better job of recognizing the outside zone blocking scheme and moves laterally post-snap to avoid getting reached. So, Membou adjusts by turning the rep into a horizontal drive block rather than trying to force the issue and seal the defender inside.

The latter is also a good example of the Missouri product’s strength and power as he widens the defender and nearly finishes with a pancake, creating a rushing lane in the B-gap for the running back.

The Tigers are running outside zone again in the clip above, but the Gamecocks’ defensive end slants inside or into the B-gap post-snap this time. It looks like Membou is expecting some help from the right guard on a combo block, but the guard goes to help the center instead.

So, the right tackle takes over the block on the defensive end and generates about five yards of vertical displacement. But Membou isn’t done yet. He recognizes the backside linebacker isn’t accounted for and is flowing toward the running back with a chance to make the tackle.

Membou gets just enough of the linebacker (Demetrius Knight, a potential Day 2 pick) to spring the running back for about a 25-yard gain. In other words, the offensive lineman gets a two-for-one here by blocking two defenders out of the play.

Finally, the Missouri product is also an effective second-level blocker.

It’s another outside zone run, but South Carolina throws a wrinkle by having the defensive line slant weak and the outside linebacker blitz off the edge. Meanwhile, Membou shifts his eyes from the defensive end to the blitzing linebacker, but the backer gets picked up by the tight end.

So, the right tackle continues to look for work and finds the MIKE linebacker (Knight, again) looking to scrape over the top of the formation. Membou picks up Knight and finishes the rep by driving the linebacker up the field and toward the sideline. That gave the running back a lane to get up the field and create another explosive play, had the rest of the offensive line successfully executed their blocks.

Since Miller’s future with the Raiders is currently up in the air, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Syptek use the sixth overall pick on Membou next Thursday. While the former Tiger would have to switch sides of the center, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did something similar with Tristan Wirfs, who was primarily a right tackle in college as well.

Also, Wirfs and Membou have similar profiles as prospects. So Spytek could see a lot of the three-time All-Pro in the Missouri product, giving the general manager more reason to take the offensive tackle.