The Houston Texans’ season is over. After finishing 10-6, they found themselves in the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs, only to lose a 24-0 lead to the Kansas City Chiefs, who moved on by winning in 51-31 fashion.
The offensive line held the Houston Texans back in 2019. In his second season in the NFL, Deshaun Watson took 62 sacks behind 2019’s line. That wasn’t going to cut it.
The Texans knew that. They went out and spend a staggering three first-round picks and two second-round picks on their offensive line in the offseason; trading for Laremy Tunsil and drafting Tytus Howard and Max Scharping.
Houston’s big-spending paid off. Tunsil, their starting left tackle, went to the Pro Bowl in his first season as a Texan. At 25 years old, he stands as one of the NFL’s most promising linemen and will earn a big extension soon. He is worth the money and draft capital spent on him.
As for Howard and Scharping, the two were instant starters on the Texans’ offensive line.
While the Texans found a mainstay at left tackle, they found the same on the right side. Though he started just seven games at right tackle, Howard, Houston’s first-round pick, shined at the position before suffering a torn MCL.
Howard was named to the Pro Football Writers of America’s annual all-rookie team for his efforts.
Scharping started 14 games at left guard and showed little signs of giving that position up in 2020. The second-round pick shined in his rookie season, as he allowed just three sacks, per Pro Football Focus. Alongside Tunsil, the Texans have their left-side of their line locked down for the foreseeable future.
The center and right guard positions did not change from 2018 to 2019. The Texans extended their center Nick Martin to a three-year, $33 million deal. He responded with a career year.
Despite missing much of training camp, Martin started all 16 games at center. He allowed just two sacks on the season, per PFF, and finished seventh in the NFL (for centers) in Pass Block Win Rate, per ESPN. At 26 years old, he appears to be another building block for the Texans.
The right guard is the Texans’ weakest position on their full offensive line. In his second year as a Texan, Zach Fulton regressed. PFF graded him at a lowly 52.2. In the second half of the season, Houston often substituted Fulton for backup Greg Mancz due to play.
As for the backups, the Texans saw Chris Clark and Roderick Johnson split snaps at right tackle after Howard went to the injured reserve. Both struggled at the position; with Johnson seeing snaps as a run blocker and Clark as a pass protector. Mancz played sparingly in-place of Fulton.
Heading into the 2020 offseason, the Texans should look into adding competition at the right guard position. A veteran swing tackle could do them well to sit behind Tunsil and Howard too. However, the offensive line is not the top priority as it once was, thanks to a busy offseason in 2019.