While there is no shortage of prognosticators who foresee the Jets using the seventh overall pick in next week’s draft on right tackle Armand Membou, at least one former NFL GM thinks they should take Texas tackle Kelvin Banks instead.
Appearing on a full 7-Round mock draft for CBS Sports, former Titans general manager Ran Carthon was in agreement with long-time NFL writer Pete Prisco, who, while picking for the Jets, took Banks over Membou.
“I like the pick here”, adding “I like Membou, but I just think in the top ten for a guy who is still developmental who still has a ways to go from a technique and fundamental standpoint, I think that (seventh overall) was a little too rich. When you’re picking in the top ten you want to get about as sure a thing as you can find and Kelvin Banks, I think, is a solid pick for them here”.
Prisco added that while Membou has “wonderful athletic ability” but feels Membou is a “waist bender, he’s on the ground a lot and doesn’t finish all the time”.
Having taken Penn State’s Olu Fashanu last season, the Jets are in search of a tackle to play on the opposite side following the departure of Morgan Moses. With Fashanu, John Simpson, Joe Tippmann and Alijah Vera-Tucker, the Jets line is mostly ready to go.
Yes, the team did add free agent Chukwuma Okorafor this offseason, but he’s hardly a long-term answer at the position and may not even start this season.
Adding a player such as Banks or Membou would mean some stiff competition for Okorafor who, in all likelihood, would become the underdog to line up as a starter for week 1.