Tag: Houston Texans offensive line

Texans sell out on offensive line in Round 1 of CBS Sports’ mock draft

The Houston Texans invest bigly in the offensive line in Round 1 of the latest CBS Sports mock draft.

One aspect that made the Philadelphia Eagles a dominant team and ever so close to being Super Bowl champions was their offensive line.

The Eagles were able to control the line of scrimmage for their ground game and also provide protection for third-year quarterback Jalen Hurts.

What if the Houston Texans made such a commitment to their offensive line?

According to Ryan Wilson from CBS Sports, the Texans do exactly that and take Northwestern tackle Peter Skoronski with their No. 12 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft.

Peter Skoronski is solid and consistent, which are two of the best things you can say about an offensive lineman. The biggest issue he’ll face during the pre-draft process will be arm length and whether his NFL future is at tackle or guard.

The mock draft proposes an interesting scenario. If Houston took a first-round offensive lineman, he would join three former first-rounders in tackles Laremy Tunsil, Tyus Howard, and guard Kenyon Green.

Presumably the Texans would keep Tunsil at left tackle and keep Green at left guard. The right side of the line would be interesting to see shape up as Howard is an effective right tackle, but also has experience playing inside at guard. Would new offensive line coach Chris Strausser move Howard in at right guard, or would he make the rookie Skoronski adjust to the NFL playing along the interior?

The move would definitely give Houston flexibility in the future. If they don’t want to keep Howard, they could let him walk and Skoronski could takeover right tackle. The Texans would still have effective bookends as long as Tunsil remained on the roster.

Houston uses their No. 2 overall selection to take quarterback Bryce Young, who would be the biggest beneficiary from the Texans making such an investment in their trenches.

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Report: Texans to hire Colts’ Chris Strausser as OL coach, drop George Warhop

The Houston Texans are looking to hire Indianapolis Colts OL coach Chris Strausser as they move on from George Warhop.

The Houston Texans aren’t looking too far for a new offensive line coach.

According to Aaron Wilson from KPRC-TV, the Texans are moving on from current offensive line coach George Warhop, who was with the team for one season as the OL coach under Lovie Smith.

The Texans are reportedly targeting Indianapolis Colts offensive line coach to take the same job. Strausser has been with the Colts since 2019.

The Colts hired Strausser in 2019 when then-coach Frank Reich reached out to him despite having no formal introduction. The move worked until 2022 as the Colts gave up the fourth-fewest sacks from 2019-21, and guard Quenton Nelson and center Ryan Kelly both earned Pro Bowl selections in 2021.

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Texans LT Laremy Tunsil is motivated by more than money

More than money or a bigger salary is the impetus for Houston Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil and his desire to be great.

ESPN published an exclusive interview with Houston Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil Dec. 28 with the title “Texans’ Laremy Tunsil wants new deal to ‘reset’ tackle market.”

On its face the title gives the impression Tunsil is just in it for the money. The former Miami Dolphins 2016 first-round pick makes $22 million annually according to Over The Cap, and the Texans will have to evaluate the impact of his $35.2 million salary cap hit in 2023.

The first quotes from Tunsil also seem to support the notion that the blindside protector is about the money only.

“I don’t know who’s the highest right now, maybe Trent [Williams] at 23 [million], but I want to top that,” Tunsil told ESPN. “Always want to reset the market. Perfect opportunity to reset the market. Everything is lining up as far as my contract to how I’m playing. Everything lining up perfectly.”

However, making a quick summation of Tunsil based on the first set of quotes and the article title misses the real reason for Tunsil’s overall quest.

“Something that motivated me during the offseason was an article that came out that said I was a very good starter,” Tunsil said. “So that gave me your fuel to just get back to playing football because I did miss 12 games last year because of the thumb injury. But just coming back just to show everybody that I am the best tackle.”

Tunsil doesn’t want to be the highest paid tackle just for the sake of earning that much money; he wants the contract to match his production on the field. In other words, when measuring greatness at left tackle, whether by production on the field or looking at contracts, Tunsil wants his name at the top of the list.

The 28-year-old could have found ways to shirk his responsibilities to his teammates; the 2-12-1 campaign has not been fun for anyone except maybe punter Cam Johnston, who has had 78 punts this season, the third-most in the NFL, and the second-most of his career.

Yet Tunsil showed up, and played at a high level.

General manager Nick Caserio will have to determine if negotiating an extension with Tunsil is in the best interests of completing the rebuild. If the Texans released Tunsil in the offseason, they would owe a little over $16 million against the salary cap.

Texans blame inferiority in the trenches, not scripted plays, for bad start against Washington

The Houston Texans had terrible play in the trenches that cost them early against Washington.

Scripting the first 10 or so plays in the NFL is quite common, and the Houston Texans have been known to do so.

Given scripting plays is a possibility, it made the interception Davis Mills threw that was returned for a touchdown on the second offensive play all the more puzzling. The second-year signal caller was throwing a 2-yard out to receiver Brandin Cooks that cornerback Kendall Fuller intercepted and returned 37 yards for a touchdown to put Washington ahead 7-0 early in the first quarter in Week 11 at NRG Stadium.

According to Mills, who finished the game going 19-of-33 for 169 yards and two interceptions, scripting plays is irrelevant if players aren’t executing.

“We have situations and plays that are scripted for pretty much every play in the game, but if you can’t win your one-on-one matchups up front, that’s tough,” Mills told reporters after the 23-10 loss. “We have to execute better, find ways to be creative and just make some plays.”

Coach Lovie Smith elaborated on the concept of Houston scripting plays.

“When we say scripted, we have an idea of what we want to do at the start of most games, absolutely,” said Smith. “But sometimes things happen in that script that can get you off. An interception for a touchdown can get you off a little bit.

“But I’m going to go back on today when, you know, you just make one little change, and everything is good. We’re talking about today’s game. We’re not going to bring in last year or anything, just today’s game. When we were dominated up front, it was hard to get anything going. Was there a script before? Yes, there was a script before. But, again, when you can’t get movement up front, everything is going to be pretty much the same. That’s going to be the answer in the NFL any time any game as I see it.”

The script for the 2022 Texans is they are on pace to finish with the worst record in the league — currently 1-8-1 — and secure the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft.