After losing to the Indianapolis Colts in the wild-card round of the playoffs last season. It is clear the Houston Texans are still ways away from being super bowl contenders. One of the reasons is the offensive line, here are three reasons why the offensive line will remain offensive this season.
1. Inexperience
Heading into the 2019 NFL draft many analysts and draft experts picked the Texans to draft Washington State tackle Andre Dillard. However, that was done after the Philadelphia Eagles decided to trade up one spot ahead of the Texans at no.22 to select Dillard. Which left the Texans to draft Alabama State Tackle Tytus Howard at No. 23 overall. Howard is a great athlete however he has only started playing tackle since his sophomore year of college. And looking further on the roster to guys like Roderick Johnson, who has only played one NFL game his whole career.
2. No Continuity
The last time the Texans fielded an above average line was way back in 2015 when former players Duane Brown and Brandon Brooks were still on the roster. Ever since that multiple names have started along the line. Especially at tackle with Johnson, Howard, and Matt Kalil among the names looking to start at tackle for the upcoming season. What makes matters worse is the injury bug that is spreading among the line. Howard recently injured his finger in the preseason game against the Detroit Lions While Kalil hasn’t practiced all this week due to his foot getting stepped in a joint practice with the Lions, which means less time for the line to practice together.
3. Deshaun Watson
While quarterback Deshaun Watson is a star in the making and has finally become the answer to the Texans long years of average quarterback play. He still plays a part in the reason why he endured so many sacks last season. According to Next Gen Stats, it took Watson 3.01 seconds to throw the ball. The only other quarterbacks who took longer were rookies Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson and Russell Wilson who took the eight most sacks last season. In comparison, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck had the ninth quickest throwing time in the league at 2.63. Which resulted in him taking the fewest most sacks last season.
With the season opener against the New Orleans Saints right around the corner, it looks like the Texans are once again in trouble on the offensive line. Hopefully, Watson has a good chiropractor.
