Darin Gantt

CHARLOTTE When you see Armand Membou move, it's hard to believe he's still relatively new to this game.

But the Missouri right tackle has become one of the most sought-after blockers in this year's draft, now that he finally grew into his body.

Membou was honest about his start in the sport at the combine, saying he didn't play football until he was in eighth grade after growing up playing other sports including soccer, tennis and wrestling.

"I was trash," he said. "So I didn't get good until, like, my junior year; that's when I hit a growth spurt. And then, you know, I started kind of getting better."

About that growth spurt. Membou said he went from 5-11 and 185 pounds to around 6-2 and 270 ahead of his junior year in his school, at which point he got a lot more attention.

"I remember back to my junior year when I started getting offers," he said. "My high school head coach, I love him, Jamar Mozee. He sat me down. He was like, Hey, I think you can take this seriously. Like, I think you could be a pro and just continue to work hard. He helped me a lot because, at first, I was terrible at football. Then he brought out the nasty and what it takes being an O-lineman. So I really owe him a lot.

"It's crazy, because I remember, after my sophomore year of high school, I was going to quit. But then he came up to me, and was like, hey, like, I think you might be able to play varsity this year. So that's why I started to kind of take it seriously, and I hit the growth spurt, and then I went to my junior year, and that's when I started to really take off."

While some consider his 6-foot-3 frame a little short for an ideal NFL tackle, being 332 pounds and able to move makes up for that.He was part of The Athletic's "Freaks" list in 2023 for his eye-popping testing numbers. Even at his size, he had a 32-inch vertical, had a 10-yard split of 1.63 seconds, and squatted 600 pounds.

Membou eventually became a three-year starter at Missouri, where he got a steady diet of the SEC's best pass-rushers and earned All-Conference honors last year.

The 21-year-old didn't allow a sack last year, or even a quarterback hit in 411 pass-blocking snaps last season.

And when he got to the combine, he built on that reputation for athleticism.

He ran a 4.91-second 40 in Indianapolis, with a 34-inch vertical and a 9-foot-7 broad jump at 332 pounds while bench pressing 31 reps of 225 pounds.

That got everyone's attention, and after a slow start to his football career, he believes he's just getting started.

"Oh, it's going to be pretty crazy," he said of potentially hearing his name called. "At the same time for me it's just the beginning. So I'm just excited to get to work with whatever team that drafts me."