4 Texans who have to step up after the bye

With the bye week done, the Houston Texans will rely on a few players to get to the playoffs, including Gareon Conley and Charles Omenihu.

4. OLB Jacob Martin

texans-raiders-live-blog-nfl-week-8
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Houston has struggled to bring the heat on the edge in 2019. While Whitney Mercilus can find the passer and Brennan Scarlett has enjoyed the best season of his career, the Texans have an edge rush problem. Second-year outside linebacker Jacob Martin may be an answer.

A heat-seeking missile out of his stance, Martin brings energy to the Texans’ front-seven. He can reel around the edge in a flash. However, his electric play as a pass-rusher hasn’t brought production, as he has no sacks and two quarterback hits on the year.

Houston needs to see Martin become that tertiary pass-rusher they desired when they acquired him in the Jadeveon Clowney trade. If he can be that, the pass-rush may be just fine with Mercilus and Scarlett receiving the bulk of the snaps on the edges.