Tag: Laremy Tunsil

How the Eagles and Texans stack up for Week 9

With the Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Texans set for a Thursday night matchup, here’s a statistical breakdown for both teams ahead of Week 9

The Eagles moved to 7-0 for the first time since 2004 with a dominant 35-13 win over the Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field.

Jalen Hurts threw three touchdown passes to A.J Brown in the first half and finished with 285 yards passing, and four touchdowns as Philadelphia overcame a slow first-quarter start.

A.J. Brown had six receptions for a career-high 156 yards and three scores, as Pittsburgh (2-6) could not contain the physical wide receiver.

With Philadelphia headed to Houston to open up Week 9, here’s a statistical breakdown of both teams.

4 bold predictions for the Houston Texans’ 2022 season

Here are four bold predictions about the 2022 Houston Texans, who kickoff their season Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts.

The Houston Texans kickoff their 2022 campaign against the Indianapolis Colts Sunday, Sept. 11 at NRG Stadium. The AFC South showdown represents an opportunity for the Texans to reset the narrative surrounding the franchise and also amplify the optimism that has swept the Bayou City since the promotion of Lovie Smith to coach.

What has helped the Texans keep their optimism is their perfect preseason record at 3-0. Even though the games don’t count, a sense of perfection adds to the momentum that has been building throughout the offseason program and training camp.

The Texans Wire staff presented their four bold predictions for Houston this season. Take a look:

Texans Talk Podcast: Should Houston trade Laremy Tunsil to the Cowboys?

The Houston Texans could have a way out of the Laremy Tunsil contract: trade him to the Dallas Cowboys. Would the NFC East champions accept?

The “Texans Talk Podcast” is back and hosts John Crumpler and Mark Lane kick around the latest idea that Houston should trade two-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil to the Dallas Cowboys, who are experiencing problems with Tyron Smith out for months with a hamstring injury.

John and Mark also take a look at what they want to see from the Texans’ first-teamers as the preseason concludes with the San Francisco 49ers.

Also who are some of the new faces of the Texans franchise as the 2022 is set to kickoff?

Be sure to subscribe to the Texans Talk Podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and iHeart.

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Texans RT Tytus Howard appreciates critiques from LT Laremy Tunsil

Houston Texans right tackle Tytus Howard says that he appreciate it when left tackle Laremy Tunsil critiques his play.

Tytus Howard was a 2019 first-round tackle expected to protect the franchise quarterback.

As the Houston Texans assembled their offensive line throughout that offseason and training camp, it became apparent they needed to upgrade even more, which is how Laremy Tunsil ended up joining the Texans at the end of the 2019 preseason.

Tunsil and Howard became friends, and they shared in common their high draft status as Tunsil was previously the Miami Dolphins’ 2016 first-rounder.

“We’re friends here and outside of here,” Howard told reporters Aug. 23 after practice at Houston Methodist Training Center. “It’s always good to develop friendships outside of football, and I think me and him have got that. It only helps us when we’re on the field.”

What Howard appreciates most from Tunsil is the two-time Pro Bowler’s willingness to offer critiques on his play at right tackle.

“You can get criticism from your coaches and stuff like that, but nothing is like when your teammates can critique you and help you with stuff,” said Howard. “I think it just feels different when you get it from your teammates. Me and Laremy, we’re good friends. He’s helped me a lot since he came here early on in my career, so, it’s good to have him here.”

With a dominant pass protector manning the left tackle job, the temptation is to model one’s game after that talent. However, Tunsil’s advice for Howard is the opposite.

Said Howard: “The main thing is don’t try to change my game to try to be like somebody else. Just develop my own game, be my own self when I’m out there on the field. I think that’s something I’ve honed in on since I’ve been at tackle, just developing my own game, being myself, and letting it come to me.”

The Texans finish up their preseason Aug. 25 at NRG Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers.

DL Rasheem Green sharpened skill going against Texans Pro Bowl left tackles of past and present

Defensive lineman Rasheem Green has developed as a pass rusher going against past and present Houston Texans left tackles.

HOUSTON — Rasheem Green entered the NFL as a 2018 third-round pick from USC.

The Seattle Seahawks had traded with the Houston Texans at the deadline the previous season for Pro Bowl left tackle Duane Brown. The former 2008 first-rounder from Virginia Tech became the blindside protector for quarterback Russell Wilson. It also provided an opportunity for Green to go against one of the more dominant pass blockers in the game everyday in practice.

Flash forward to 2022. The Texans signed Green in the offseason to be a part of coach Lovie Smith’s defensive line rotation in the Tampa 2 scheme, and Green continues to hone his craft going against one of Houston’s left tackles. This time, Green takes on Pro Bowler Laremy Tunsil, who the Texans traded for at the end of the 2019 preseason.

“I feel like my hands have been sharper,” Green said of the experience working against Brown for years and now Tunsil. “My keys have been more on point because with guys like Duane and guys like Laremy, your rush always has to be on point from the get-off to your hand placement to how violent your hands are.”

The best of Green’s work came in 2021 as the 6-4, 279-pound defensive lineman finished with 48 combined tackles, 6.5 sacks, six tackles for loss, 15 quarterback hits, and four pass breakups in 17 games, 16 of which he started.

“You always have to make sure you’re on point from the get-off to the finish,” said Green.

Green will have an opportunity to showcase how going against Tunsil throughout training camp has been help when the Texans host the New Orleans Saints Aug. 13 at NRG Stadium.

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Texans DE Jerry Hughes hasn’t held back in battles with OTs Laremy Tunsil, Tytus Howard

Houston Texans defensive end Jerry Hughes has given his all in training camp reps when facing OTs Tytus Howard and Laremy Tunsil.

Jerry Hughes is entering his 13th NFL season with his hometown team, but the 33-year-old isn’t letting up.

Hughes continues to go hard in reps when facing dominant starting tackles Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard at Houston Texans training camp.

The former Buffalo Bills defensive end (2013-21) describes the matchups as “intense.”

“We haven’t really been holding anything back,” Hughes told reporters on Aug. 3 after the fifth day of training camp practice at Houston Methodist Training Center. “The guys said once the pads come on to show out, and I think everybody in our room kind of took that personal, and I think everybody in the offensive line room took it, as well. We don’t want to repeat the season that we had last year, so I think with everybody understanding that, in order for us to win, up front, in the trenches, we’ve got to dominate.”

Hughes believes the Texans have to constantly prove their worth, which means even going hard during the club’s week off.

Said Hughes: “We’ve got to come out here for 18 weeks and prove who we are. Even on the bye week. We’ve got to take care of ourselves, rest up, stay in the film, and I think we’ve got a great group of guys who are understanding how to work and what it takes to actually win in this league.”

Hughes, a former Sugar Land Stephen F. Austin High School and TCU product, generated 2.0 sacks through 17 games with the Bills last season, starting in 16 of them. As the 6-2, 254-pound edge defender finds a role in coach Lovie Smith’s Tampa 2 scheme, which is comparable to what Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier ran in its 4-3 alignment, Hughes is also working to change the culture of the Texans’ defensive line. Giving Tunsil and Howard everything he has is part of the attitude reformation.

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Texans DE Jonathan Greenard sharpens himself against OTs Laremy Tunsil, Tytus Howard

Houston Texans defensive end Jonathan Greenard says the collaboration with tackles Tytus Howard and Laremy Tunsil makes the three of them better.

The Houston Texans don’t have an identifiable superstar on their roster the way they did even two years ago, but they still have young players working against each other to become the best versions of themselves.

Defensive end Jonathan Greenard is one of them. The former 2020 third-rounder from Florida generated 8.0 sacks in 2021, the most by a Texans defense since 2019 when outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus had 7.5. Greenard was able to produce those numbers in 12 games, which creates great expectations as to what he can do in his third season with more playing time.

The Texans signed former Buffalo Bills defensive linemen Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison to supplement what Greenard is able to cultivate from the edge. Hughes and Addison also give him pointers as to how he can beat fellow starters Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard on the edge.

“It’s great,” Greenard said after the fourth day of training camp at Houston Methodist Training Center on Tuesday. “Obviously now you’re going against the best in the game obviously. And the things that you learned from Jerry and Rio [Addison] you can just translate over right then and there.”

Greenard will take the advice that Hughes and Addison gives him and then see how it compares on film. Greenard will also share his findings with Howard and Tunsil to help them become better tackles.

“You’re going to go up against the best of the best,” said Greenard. “So, every single time they tell me something, I just kind of look at it on film and see how Tytus and L.T. [Tunsil] are giving me and me and L.T. and Tytus, we all talk.”

Greenard, Tunsil, and Howard collaborate to provide the best information on how the tackles can best defend the edge, and also how Greenard can get around tackles and effectively pressure opposing quarterbacks.

Said Greenard: “That’s the thing about it. We are all just basically giving pointers on how I would approach them and they would approach me. That’s going to help both of us more than before. Iron sharpens iron. We all know that.”

The Texans will need as much information sharing as possible as they seek to win more than four games for this first time since 2019.

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Tiering the Texans: Where do Houston players rank in the rebuild?

The Houston Texans roster is a grab bag of potential and veterans on their last chance. @JohnHCrumpler ranks the roster by tiers.

Mike Sando of The Athletic dropped his annual “QB Tiers” article. The premise revolves around 50 NFL personnel workers, either coaches, scouts or general managers, ranking all 32 quarterbacks into different groupings. The exercise is designed to provide more insight and clarity than simply trying to rank the league starters 1-32 while highlighting value at a position that offers different ways to win.

With that idea in mind, the thought of hypothetically “tiering” the current Houston Texans’ roster and their respective values to the team is an interesting one. Plenty has been made of trying to determine the one or two most valuable pieces on the roster but little has been said of how the team could be collectively grouped.

For a roster that’s so young and in the middle of a rebuild, it may not be fair to build tiers in comparison to the rest of the league. However, the following players are ranked exclusively within the context of Nick Caserio’s rebuild over the last two years. Each tier will address how players are expected to contribute in 2022 and how likely they are to contribute to the future beyond that in 2023 and 2024.

Contracts and potential trade probability are not taken into account in this exercise. This is a measure of talent and what a player has shown at an NFL level.  Players such as Laremy Tunsil, who Houston may ultimately decide to trade rather than extend, are not discounted for their current contract or the uncertainty regarding any future negotiations. Positional value, and how coaching and the league works around it, is taken into account when determining future value.

With these parameters set, here is how the Texans roster may be ranked.

Every NFL team’s most overrated player heading into 2022

Overrated doesn’t necessarily mean bad. But these players aren’t living up to expectations.

The NFL has no shortage of talent, including a budding group of superstars and undervalued players who don’t get the recognition they deserve. But there are also plenty of players who are overvalued.

After looking at every team’s most underrated player, it’s time to look at the other side of the coin with the overrated players in the NFL.

Overrated doesn’t necessarily mean bad. It just means that these players aren’t living up to the hype, however fair or unfair it may be. For some, they’re underperforming in regards to their contract. For others, they’re not necessarily meeting the high expectations thrust upon them.

Our NFL Wire editors identified the most overrated player for each team heading into the 2022 season, explaining why they’re not exactly living up to hype.

Texans LT Laremy Tunsil makes ESPN list of top-10 tackles

Houston Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil cracked the top-10 of ESPN’s list of tackles.

Laremy Tunsil may have played just five games in 2021, but the Houston Texans’ left tackle is still regarded as one of the best blockers on the edge.

According to Jeremy Fowler from ESPN, the two-time Pro Bowler managed to land at No. 6 on their list of tackles. For the list, ESPN polled a range of scouts, front office personnel, and coaches across the league.

Tunsil made back-to-back Pro Bowls before missing most of 2021 with a thumb injury. He played in just five games last season and posted an 83.8% pass block win rate, which would have been outside the top 50 had it qualified. But his pass block win rate in the two prior seasons was 90.6%.

“He’s maybe not as good as he was, but I give him a pass because of the conditions,” an AFC scout said. “That’s not a good team. I’d still take him ahead of most.”

Tunsil’s 76.1% run block win rate since 2019 ranks 16th among tackles. And many evaluators say you can’t replace his power and range.

“He’s still a high-level athlete to me,” an AFC executive said. “Plays with violence.”

Although the 6-5, 313-pound tackle held out of organized team activities, coach Lovie Smith wasn’t concerned. When Tunsil appeared at mandatory minicamp, Smith mentioned that it was “no time lost” once Tunsil took over at first-team left tackle.

“He came in with a really solid feel of the playbook and I thought he stepped in today and performed extremely well,” Smith told reporters on June 14 at Houston Methodist Training Center. “We’re excited to have him back.”

While Tunsil was limited to five games due to a thumb injury, the expectation is the former Miami Dolphins 2016 first-round pick will be ready for a full slate of games in 2022. The Texans will need his elite pass blocking to give second-year quarterback Davis Mills time to go through his progressions and lead the offense.

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