The Houston Texans have tremendous edge rushers in defensive end J.J. Watt and outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus, but one player who is also having a fast start to the season is outside linebacker Brennan Scarlett.
The former 2016 undrafted free agent has produced a sack and a forced fumble along with six tackles through four games, one of which he started. Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel can pinpoint why Scarlett is starting to make his presence known in 2019.
“He’s learned while he wasn’t playing, and now that he’s playing he’s continuing to learn but he’s productive as well,” Crennel said. “I think he’s made good progress and I hope he continues to progress.”
The 6-4, 263-pound linebacker spent the last two seasons on injured reserve and has played in 30 games coming into 2019. While Scarlett has been studious off the field, it has been the application of what he has learned that has helped him, according to Crennel.
“I think practice and playing time is the thing that probably helps him the most,” said Crennel. “Because you can watch tape, you can hear about it on the board and draw it on the board, but until you get out on the field and actually have to execute the call or react to blocks, that’s when you can learn the most. I think because he’s been able to be on the field quite a bit, that he’s learning pretty fast.”
The Texans could use another good performance out of Scarlett as they take on the Atlanta Falcons Sunday at noon at NRG Stadium to improve to 3-2 and avoid falling below .500 for the first time since the conclusion of Week 1.
