The Houston Texans only gave Ross Blacklock two seasons.
After 29 career games and three training camps with the Texans, the club decided to deal their former 2020 second-round defensive tackle to the Minnesota Vikings on Aug. 30 as part of their move to finalize a 53-man roster.
According to general manager Nick Caserio, who met with reporters on Aug. 31, the decision to send the former TCU product to the NFC North club wasn’t easy.
“That was a tough decision,” said Caserio. “Ross was a good player for the organization for a number of years, local kid, has a lot of good athletic traits and attributes.”
Blacklock tallied 22 combined tackles, two tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, 2.0 sacks, two pass breakups, and a forced fumble through 14 games last season, two of which he started. The former Fort Bend Elkins High School product was starting to come into his own, but Caserio says the competition at defensive tackle was too deep.
“We had pretty good competition at the defensive tackle position, so we ended up keeping I think it was five, including (Kurt) Hinish, (Michael) Dwumfour, Book (Thomas Booker) and then Maliek (Collins) and Roy (Lopez),” Caserio said. “In the end we just felt that it was the best decision for the team, and there was an opportunity for him in Minnesota. They had expressed an interest, so we thought that it made sense for us to give him that opportunity.”
Even though Blacklock technically did not live up to his second-round billing while with his hometown team, Caserio indicated that he hopes Blacklock is able to breakout for the Vikings.
Said Caserio: “Certainly wish him well, and hopefully he has success. I think Minnesota is putting together a good program with Coach (Kevin) O’Connell and [general manager] Kwesi (Adofo-Mensah), what they’re doing kind of collectively as a team.”
Blacklock did not play against the San Francisco 49ers in the preseason finale as he had a groin injury.