The Houston Texans may have some questionable aspects to their roster in 2021, but Laremy Tunsil’s dominance at left tackle cannot be denied.
According to ESPN, Tunsil is the third-best offensive tackle in the NFL. The study incorporated votes from current NFL players, coaches, and executives. The highest Tunsil got was second-best tackle in the league. The lowest spot Tunsil was voted was No. 9.
In last year’s rankings, Tunsil was the second-best tackle in the league.
One of the league’s most gifted linemen, Tunsil might be the lone star out of Houston to crack a top-10 list at any position. He is a true anchor who can win with power or quick feet, winning 89.7% of his pass-block snaps in 2020.
“He’s more explosive and athletic — he’s not devastating with ferocity like Trent Williams,” said an NFC offensive coach. “But he’s got that gear that most don’t where when he wants to dominate, he can.”
Pro Football Focus calls Tunsil a “middling run-blocker,” but coaches still consider him a threat in that area, at least when he wants to be.
The Texans know how gifted Tunsil can be as a bookend, which provides Houston with an opportunity to at least assemble a dependable blocking unit.
“He’s a very, very gifted player,” Texans offensive line coach James Campen told reporters on a Zoom call on June 8. “There’s no question. He’s been blessed with some unique skillsets and he can do a lot of different things very well. Just like all of them though, I do believe this, that everyone has different skillsets. We as coaches have to put them in position to exploit those, to make sure that we’re maximizing those things within the structure of an offense. He allows you to do some things like you just mentioned on the back side of the quarterback. He allows you to do some other things to be able to create matchups and those things for other players.”
Tunsil was completely absent from the Touchdown Wire’s top-11 tackles rankings.