Lovie Smith is a fan of college football, and he is aware of the careers Oregon defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux and Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson had at their respective schools.
While Smith would not get into specifics about the top two edge rusher prospects at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, the Houston Texans’ coach did make a pitch to them and other prospective defensive linemen about why the AFC South club is a D-line destination.
“If I’m a defensive lineman, I would like to come to a place like the Houston Texans,” Smith said. “We start up front. Again, it’s about, as I said, about the defensive line. We kind of read on the run, athletes getting up the field, making sacks and things like that. I think it’s a defensive line friendly system.”
Defensive end Jonathan Greenard notched 8.0 sacks through 12 games in his second professional season, his first in Smith’s Tampa 2 system in 2021. The Texans also saw tremendous development from sixth-round rookie Roy Lopez, who added 31 combined tackles, five tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, 1.0 sack, and a fumble recovery through 16 games, 15 of which he started.
Smith is hopeful the Texans will be able to pick from the 2022 NFL draft class of defensive ends, and not just from the offerings of Hutchinson and Thibodeaux.
Said Smith: “I think there’s a pretty good defensive line class. Again, starting the process of seeing them here in this environment, seeing hopefully some of them workout, and in their pro days, they’ll tell us an awful lot.”
As much as Smith’s pitch is for draft prospects, it is just as true for free agency targets.