The Pittsburgh Steelers are set to open their 2025 season against the New York Jets. While the Steelers are dealing with a sticky Cam Heyward contract situation ahead of Sunday's kickoff, the Jets have much bigger problems at hand.
On Wednesday, news broke that starting right guard and former 2021 first-round pick Alijah Vera-Tucker suffered an injury that will keep him out of action not only in Week 1, but for the foreseeable future. NFL insider Ian Rapoport later confirmed that the standout guard had, in fact, suffered torn triceps that will land him on IR and almost certainly end his season.
This is horrible news for the Jets... and one rookie's assignment just got a whole lot trickier.
With the seventh overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the New York Jets selected Missouri offensive tackle Armand Membou. Membou is the starting right tackle, and in his first-ever NFL game, he already drew the brutal matchup of going against Steelers superstar T.J. Watt. But the loss of Vera-Tucker makes a daunting task even more impossible.
The Pittsburgh Steelers could exploit rookie OT Armand Membou in Week 1
The plan for the Jets was to have Alijah Vera-Tucker next to Membou on the offensive line all season. Vera-Tucker is a veteran presence on the team and the most proven offensive lineman of the group. However, with Vera-Tucker out, New York is forced to do O-line gymnastics just days before the 2025 season kickoff.
It looks like the plan is to move starting center Joe Tippman to guard, with backup center—and former Packers starting center—Josh Myers taking over at center. While Tippman has proven to be a quality player in his first two seasons, he's going to be asked to take on an entirely new position with only days to prepare.
Communication could be their weakness. These two players haven't played a single snap next to each other during the summer. This is great news for the Steelers and bad news for the Jets. Though I'm a big believer in Membou's talent at right tackle (he's got Pro Bowl upside), there's a good chance he could struggle from the gate when tasked with containing Watt.
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Watt is one of the savviest pass rushers in the NFL, and he will know how to exploit the 21-year-old rookie in his first career game. Just like Watt was the most frequently chipped player in the NFL last year, I would expect the New York Jets to send a lot of attention his way in Week 1.
Of course, with all eyes on stopping Watt, this could free up Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig (who's dealing with a hamstring injury) to feast on second-year tackle Olu Fashanu on the opposite side of the Jets' offensive line.
Nobody likes to see injuries, but the Pittsburgh Steelers caught a break with Alijah Vera-Tucker's absence in Week 1. Armand Membou was already going to have an impossible task against T.J. Watt in Week 1, and it just got even harder.