How Jets Rookie Dominated Vs. Steelers Right Away

The New York Jets have a potential young star on their hands...

Aug 16, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; General view of a New York Jets helmet prior to the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

Although the New York Jets lost on Sunday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Steelers, there were positive things to takeaway from the game. Including, the standout performance of rookie offensive tackle Armand Membou.

There are high expectations for Membou. The Jets used the No. 7 pick in the first round of the 2025 National Football League Draft to get him out of the University of Missouri. He impressed throughout the summer and had as good of a regular season debut as the Jets likely could've hoped for.

Membou was dominant on the outside. NFL analyst Ryan Fowler shared on social media that Membou didn't allow a sack, hurry, quarterback hit, or pressure.

The New York Jets must've loved what they saw out of Armand Membou

Jul 23, 2025; Florham Park, NY, USA; New York Jets offensive tackle Armand Membou (70) participates in a drill during training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images

"Jets rookie RT Armand Membou pitched a shutout in his NFL debut (25 pass pro snaps): 0 sacks, 0 hurries, 0 QB hits, and 0 pressures. Good start for the top 10 pick."

Armand Membou with an explosive back side cutoff. Freaky stuff. pic.twitter.com/290uIJDMeC

— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) September 8, 2025

On top of this, The Jet Press shared on social media that preliminary PFF grading had Membou as the second-best offensive player overall for the Jets on Sunday, behind Justin Fields.

"Preliminary PFF grading has Armand Membou as the Jets second-highest graded offensive player, behind only Justin Fields," The Jet Press shared. "Membou didn’t allow pressure on 25 PB snaps. 83.6 PFF grade, including an 83.2 run block grade. Stellar debut against TJ Watt and a tough Steelers front 7."

Highest-graded #Jets vs. #Steelers, per PFF:

1) Quinnen Williams - 93.5
2) Ahmad Gardner - 90.3
3) Justin Fields - 86.4
4) Armand Membou - 83.6
5) Garrett Wilson - 83.6
6) Breece Hall - 78.3
7) Jermaine Johnson - 77.1
8) Jowon Briggs - 76.2
9) Joe Tippman - 74.2
10) Will…

— Frankie from Flatbush (@FlatbushFrankie) September 7, 2025

Membou was brought in to help bolster this offensive line after a few years of not-so-great line play. Membou is one of the biggest reason why the perception around the line has been so different heading into 2025. One regular-season game is obviously a very small sample size, but clearly the Jets rookie came to play on Sunday. It's not going to be every day that there aren't any pressures or anything like that, but Membou immediately showed that he belongs against a strong defensive line with the Steelers. Membou should get even better from here on out as well as he adjusts more to the NFL game.

A good start for the rookie, to say the least.

More NFL: What We Learned From Jets 34-32 Loss Vs. Steelers