After J.J. Watt suffered a season-ending torn pectoral on Sunday, the Houston Texans will rely on lesser-known players to carry the brunt of the workload on the defensive line. Rookie Charles Omenihu is one of those players.
A fifth-round selection out of the University of Texas, Omenihu got off to a hot start in his NFL career. In his first game — Week 2 vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars — he recorded a strip-sack.
However, coach Bill O’Brien would like to see Omenihu add consistency to his game.
“I think he works hard, I think for any rookie it’s about consistency from play to play, being as consistent as you possibly can,” said O’Brien on Monday.” I think he works hard to improve, he’s a good kid, he really listens, he’s coachable, versatile guy. He’s made some plays for us.”
“Big O,” as his teammates call him, was creating pressure from the inside and edge early on as a pro. Then he sustained an injury against the Los Angeles Chargers and has recorded one sack since – also a strip-sack.
“It’s just overall consistency, doing it down after down is very important. It’s hard to do that as a rookie. That’s the key,” O’Brien continued. “In college football, you might have 100 plays on defense in a game, but in pro football, you really don’t, so you have to be one the money on every play. You have to be very consistent, so that’s — I think any rookie’s striving for that.”
Omenihu won’t have the luxury of upping his game behind Watt. Instead, he will be an integral piece to replacing him. Though he hasn’t been as consistent as O’Brien would want, the rookie has the ability to be a disruptive force in the trenches.
Barring a last-minute trade, expect to see a lot more of Omenihu as the Texans push to win the crown of the AFC South in back-to-back seasons.
