The modest sort of guy that he is, AVT, 26, glossed over the fact that he, too, was a first-round selection (No. 14 overall) of the Jets out of USC in the 2020 NFL Draft. And although he’s worn the “versatile” tag during his time with the Green & White, last season he planted his flag at right guard after having bounced from right to left, guard to tackle. And perhaps it’s only a coincidence that in the 2024 season, after two years dealing with injuries (limited to a combined 12 games), Vera-Tucker played a solid 15 games on the right side.
And now he’s got a new running mate on the right side in Armand Membou, the man-mountain the Jets selected out of Missouri with the No. 11 overall draft pick in April. He was asked for his reaction after seeing a clip of Membou run a 4.9 40-yard dash during February’s NFL Combine.
“Yeah, that’s crazy, man,” he said. “It’s funny. I just saw a video the other day. I didn’t know he ran a four-nine, so when I saw that, that was kind of wild to me. I feel like, with Membou, it’s just a whole lot of raw talent, So I feel like, once he gets a lot of snaps in in his career, in this training camp, and he kind of gets in his groove during season, it’s going to be like it wasn’t college for him — he’s just going to be able to dominate. And then communication is always key with the whole alignment. So right now we’re working on that, like every other position on this team.”
He added: “We want the responsibility on our shoulders. You know what I’m saying, we want to run the ball. We want to be dominant in the trenches like any of the offensive lines. But I think when you put together a line like this, you got to take advantage of that opportunity, right? You don’t see many teams invest in the O-line like we have. So when you see that, you got to take advantage of it. And as I said, you kind of want that responsibility.”