The Houston Texans have a five-man draft class, but some rookies who can contribute. However, interim coach Romeo Crennel says their playing time is fully in their own hands.
With the Texans at 1-6 and possibly out of the playoff race, the general belief is teams out of the hunt will play younger players to get them reps and experience. For Crennel, that philosophy is only activated insofar as the rookies can handle their playing time with consistent production.
“When you put a rookie in, if he plays well then you give him more reps,” Crennel said. “If he inconsistent, then maybe you don’t give him as many reps. But that’s all up to the rookie. That’s not really up to me. That’s up to the rookie because he’s got to go out there and he’s got to perform.”
Defensive tackle Ross Blacklock has played six games for the Texans and collected four combined tackles with one tackle for loss. Outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard has played in four games with just 11 snaps on defense and 59 snaps on defense.
Some of the problem with rookies is they aren’t aware of what they are ignorant of, according to Crennel.
Said Crennel of rookies: “In [their] defense, [they’re] still a rookie and [don’t] know what [they don’t] know. So, when he goes out there and the speed of the game picks up and now you’ve got blockers coming at you from different ways, and you think you can make this play and you get off the block to make the play but the runner is no longer where you thought he was going to be.
“Now there’s a seam in the defense and we’re giving up rushing yardage. Do you want to keep playing that guy until he can get some experience? We think that our rookies have talent. They’ve demonstrated some of that talent at times, but the consistency of playing the scheme is not quite there yet.”
Offensive tackle Charlie Heck has been inactive through the team’s first six games and arguably won’t see any action as long as Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard are healthy and available. Similarly, cornerback John Reid and receiver Isaiah Coulter are at the bottom of the depth chart with quality veterans ahead of them.