Houston Texans right tackle Tytus Howard made the Pro Football Writers of America’s 2019 All-Rookie Team, the sportswriting organization announced Tuesday.
The 2019 first-round pick from Alabama State played in eight games for Houston, starting in all of them, and was a key part of getting the Texans’ offensive line turned around. Going from a unit that allowed quarterback Deshaun Watson to be sacked a league-leading 62 times in 2018, the addition of Howard helped drop Watson’s sacks down to 44 on the season.
Howard also cleared the way for running back Carlos Hyde to produce his first 1,000-yard season of his six-year career with 1,070 yards and six touchdowns on 245 carries.
The 6-5, 322-pound offensive lineman was placed in injured reserve on Nov. 30, a day before the Texans beat the New England Patriots 28-22 on Sunday Night Football for their biggest win of the regular season. Howard sustained an MCL sprain in Week 6’s 31-24 win over the Kansas City Chiefs that he couldn’t shake off. Despite missing the next two games and returning for Week 9’s 26-3 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, the injury was too much for him to battle through and he only played two more games thereafter.
