Tytus Howard may not have finished his rookie season with an MCL injury that landed him on injured reserve on Nov. 30, 2019, but it was good enough to land him on the Pro Football Writers of America’s all-rookie team.
However, the former 2019 first-round pick from Alabama State doesn’t want to rest on his laurels. Howard seeks to take another step in his development in his pass protection to fulfill Bill O’Brien’s vision as being a bodyguard for quarterback Deshuan Watson.
“I know the offseason for me, because I wasn’t able to do as much because I was recovering from a knee injury,” Howard said. “So, I think with me, it was more film study and watching what did I do to get beat on the plays that I did get beat on and how can I improve that?”
Not only did Howard take a look at his film from his rookie year to see where he needed to improve, but he also watched tape of greats in the NFL to see how to improve.
“Looking at other guys who have been successful in the NFL before and watching how they go about pass blocking and what can I do to be on the same level as those guys,” said Howard. “Because I want to be one of the greats.”
One of the “greats” that Howard watched was teammate Laremy Tunsil, who earned his first career Pro Bowl last season in his initial season with the Texans.
Said Howard: “I watched the greats and I got one of the best on my team at left tackle, Laremy. So, I try to watch and see how patient he is, how he stays inside-out. [Offensive line] coach (Mike) Devlin always coaches me to stay inside-out and stuff like that. I think for me, that’s the biggest part of my game, being patient and staying inside-out and just playing a game that my coaches coach me to play.
I think that’s going to help me out in this Year Two and I’m looking forward to helping my offensive line.”
The Texans are returning the same five starters along the offensive line for the first time since 2011. If they can return a better version of the five starters, the Texans should contend for more than the AFC South.
