Jets fooled the rest of the league with perfect NFL Draft smokescreen

After the Joe Douglas era brought some serious surprises during the NFL Draft, freshly minted NY Jets GM Darren Mougey and head coach Aaron Glenn decided to tone things down in their first-ever Draft class with two very safe picks in first-round right tackle Armand Membou and second-round tight end Mason Taylor in 2025.

For the longest time, it seemed as though either Membou or tight end Tyler Warren (who went 14th to the Indianapolis Colts) was destined to be picked at No. 7 overall. Glenn and Mougey needed to take the best offensive player available.

While the Jets eventually settled on Membou in a move that likely was not met with a ton of resistance within the organization, there was some serious smoke that hinted to teams around the league that they were going to do in a slightly different direction.

According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Jets were linked to Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., who went No. 9 overall to the New Orleans Saints, for days leading up to the NFL Draft. The Jets successfully gaslight the rest of the league before leaning on the more expected move of Membou.

Jets fooled NFL with Kelvin Banks Jr. hype before Armand Membou pick

Membou should be an immediate starter at right tackle, which could lead to him and 2023 first-round pick Olu Fashanu forming a bookend tandem of tackles that could keep Justin Fields, or whomever becomes the starting quarterback in the future, upright in the pocket.

Banks would have been a solid pick for the Jets, but he would have had to be flipped over to right tackle. Fashanu struggled at right tackle last year, but he was a solid left tackle performer, adding credence to the notion that it's not that easy to take an elite OT prospect and send them to the other side.

After Membou, who only allowed three sacks (one of which he disputes) throughout his college career, ran a 4.91 40-yard dash at around 330 pounds, it became clear that he wasn't going to leave the Top 10. The Jets decided that Chukwuma Okorafor was not a viable reason to pass on him.

Membou is the type of player who will likely start right away and provide a high-floor level of competency that will appeal to a lackluster Jets offense. Banks is a good prospect, and Warren would have made sense, but Membou was the big prize.