The Houston Texans elected to not tender offensive tackle Roderick Johns on Wednesday. As a result, they are in the market for a new swing tackle.
Currently, the club has Pro Bowler Laremy Tunsil and former 2019 first-round pick Tytus Howard under contract as the starting left tackle and right tackle. However, in pro football, where injuries play a part in a team’s “luck,” having a reliable fill-in is almost as necessary as finding starting quality at the first two bookends.
The Cleveland Browns drafted Johnson in Round 5 of the 2017 NFL Draft from Florida State. The Browns cut the 6-7, 311-pound tackle in June of 2018 with the Texans scooping him up that same month.
Brown bounced up and down between the Texans’ 90-man roster, 53-man roster, and practice squad throughout the 2018 season with just one game day activation under his belt. In 2019, Brown was active for all 16 games and started in three of them with a start at left tackle in Week 17 to rest Tunsil.
When Howard’s rookie season was shelved after his first eight games due to an MCL injury, Brown was part of a rotation at right tackle alongside veteran Chris Clark. The rotation was a key part of the Texans’ offense, which took care of the New England Patriots 28-22 on Sunday Night Football in Week 13 at NRG Stadium.
“I think that was just something we felt, again, was in the best interest of the team,” coach Bill O’Brien said of the rotation on Dec. 2, 2019. “We felt like both of those guys had earned the right to play and we felt that that was a good way to do it.”
Now, the Texans will have to find another tackle as good as Johnson to help be a part of another rotation, if injury hits the Texans’ bookends, or perhaps a swing tackle who can fill both positions.
