Former Texas Longhorns defensive end Charles Omenihu doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder.
“My chip on my shoulder is not even a chip, it’s a boulder,” Omenihu told the Houston media on a conference call Saturday.
The Houston Texans selected Omenihu with their fifth-round pick in the 2019 NFL draft. It was quite a bit further than maybe the Rowlett High School alumnus was expecting.
“I’m definitely going to come in, head down, ready to work,” said Omenihu. “Like I said, ready to earn my stripes and do everything I need to do to contribute on this team.”
The 2018 first-team All-Big 12 member produced 9.5 sacks in his final season the Longhorns. Standing at 6-6 and weighing 275 pounds, Omenihu is just another pass-rushing weapon for defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel to include in his rotation.
Said Omenihu when asked what the Texans are getting: “They’re going to get a long, athletic defensive lineman that can play inside and out, and a guy that’s going to be a sponge to [defensive end] J.J. (Watt), [edge rusher] Jadeveon (Clowney) and [quarterback] Deshaun (Watson).”
Even though Omenihu has the proper traits to be a formidable pass-rusher, general manager Brian Gaine emphasized there are other areas where they believe Omenihu can flourish.
“We feel like there’s a lot of variations of the things he can do for us both in base defense and then substitution defense,” Gaine said. “He can play off the edge, he can play inside, was productive, he found the ball, played hard. We were happy to have the opportunity to get him.”
Another reason why the Texans brought in Omenihu was as a replacement down the road. The obvious player Omenihu could replace in the future would be Clowney, who more than likely will play 2019 under the franchise tag. The next is outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus, who is in the final year of his contract and will be 29 years old in the 2019 season.
