Tag: Laremy Tunsil

J.J. Watt delivered Texans teammates a speech in practice that gave them chills

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt gave a speech to his teammates that apparently gave them chills during Tuesday’s practice.

Defensive end J.J. Watt coming back for the Houston Texans’ playoff run is inspirational in and of itself; who needs to add any words to an action worth a postseason win or two?

However, when coupled with a speech from the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, the moment gave chills to Watt’s teammates in practice on Tuesday.

“I’m glad to have him back for sure,” left tackle Laremy Tunsil said via Mark Berman of Fox 26. “You should have heard that speech he said at practice. It kind of gave us chills. It was a good speech. It’s great to have a leader like J.J. Watt back. Let’s go.”

Tunsil wasn’t the only one who was inspired by Watt’s speech in practice. According to the Houston Chronicle’s John McClain, who visiting with players in the locker room during its period open to the media, other players told him about Watt’s speech.

Watt tore his pectoral muscle on Oct. 27 in a Week 8 win over the Oakland Raiders at NRG Stadium. While the win lifted the Texans to a 5-3 record at the season’s midpoint, Watt seemingly had sustained a season-ending injury.

However, when he made strides in his recovery in two months, returning to practice on Dec. 24, the All-Pro edge rusher decided to give it a go.

Said Watt after that practice on Christmas Eve: “There’s obviously an element of risk involved that I understand and we understand, but to me, the opportunity to play in the playoffs, the opportunity to try and help this team win football games, there’s nothing that I want more and there’s nothing that — it’s built into me, I just want to be on the field with the guys and I feel really good.”

Houston faces the Buffalo Bills Saturday at 3:35 p.m. at NRG Stadium in the AFC wild-card. If the Texans win, they will either travel to Baltimore or Kansas City based on whether or not the Tennessee Titans upset the New England Patriots in the second AFC wild-card game on Sunday at Gillette Stadium.

Are the Texans planning to sit LT Laremy Tunsil out for the Titans game?

The Houston Texans made roster moves on Saturday that indicate they will have LT Laremy Tunsil inactive for Week 17’s tilt with the Tennessee Titans.

The Houston Texans may declare left tackle Laremy Tunsil inactive for the Tennessee Titans game, not even dressing him for the Week 17 rematch with their AFC South rivals.

A series of roster moves on Saturday suggests the 10-5 division champions won’t dress the former 2016 first-round pick, who was limited all week in practice with an ankle injury and declared questionable on the final injury report.

On Saturday, the Texans waived defensive lineman Joel Heath, and in a corresponding move they promoted offensive tackle Elijah Nkansah from the practice squad to the active roster.

Dropping Heath is one of the moves the Texans make when they add a player due to an injury at another position.

Case in point: in Week 12, coming off of a 41-7 beat down in Baltimore, safety Jonathan Owens was signed to the active roster from the practice squad as Justin Reid would be out for the rematch with the Indianapolis Colts with a concussion. As a result, the Texans waived Heath.

However, when the club lets go of Heath, it doesn’t mean that he is out of their plans. After they got through Week 12 and Reid was back, they waived Owens and signed Heath back to the active roster.

With Heath dropped for Week 17, the game relatively meaningless in terms of getting out of wild-card weekend, and Tunsil, a Pro Bowl left tackle, battling an ankle injury, all signs point to Nkansah being the swing tackle as tackles Roderick Johnson and Chris Clark help the Texans get through the final 60 minutes of the regular season.

Mike Vrabel doesn’t expect Texans to rest players against the Titans

Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel doesn’t expect the Houston Texans to rest any players in their matchup on in Week 17.

The 10-5 Houston Texans will kick off their home finale against the 8-7 Tennessee Titans at 3:25 p.m. CT on Sunday.

Being that their game takes place after the Kansas City Chiefs face the Los Angeles Chargers, the Texans may not be playing for anything on Sunday. If the Chiefs win, they will lock-in at the fourth-seed in the playoffs, slating them against the 10-5 Buffalo Bills.

If the Chiefs win, the Texans have little reason to play their star players and risk injury, other than withholding their rivals from the postseason. The Titans, however, don’t think Houston will be resting players, no matter the outcome of the Chiefs game.

“We do,” said Titans coach Mike Vrabel in a conference call on Tuesday on if they expect the Texans to play their full-roster. “That’s what we are fully expecting and that’s what we’ll get. You’ve only got 53 guys. It’s like you make a decision on seven guys that aren’t going to play and you make them inactive and you go into the game with 43 players and three specialists – 41 players, two quarterbacks, three specialists.”

The Texans aren’t particularly healthy nor injury-riddled. However, at the end of the season, it’s rare to find a player not bruised or beaten in some fashion. In their 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16, quarterback Deshaun Watson and left tackle Laremy Tunsil sustained minor injuries.

However, at the end of the day, in Vrabel’s eyes, the Texans aren’t a college football team. They only have so many players to trot out, with 46 of the 53 making the active gameday roster.

“So you’ve got 41 guys that you’ve got to go out there and cover kicks and play offense and defense and all those things,” Vrabel concluded. “Again, it’s not like there’s a hundred guys over there on the sideline like with Ohio State or Alabama or somebody.”

Keeping Bill O’Brien as part of the Texans’ general manager council makes sense

The Houston Texans have done well with Bill O’Brien a part of the GM decisions. Perhaps the status quo should continue into 2020.

Solidifying the AFC South title for the sixth time this decade, and fourth time in the last five years, shouldn’t be overlooked, especially considering the perpetual inconsistencies suffered due to injuries, coaching, or flat out bad days the Houston Texans have had in 2019.

Though widely considered a disappointing coaching performance on behalf of Bill O’Brien and his coaching staff thus far, obstacles were faced and O’Brien and the Texans took the first step to quiet the noise, and that’s clinching a playoff berth. This is a direct effect of O’Brien, but in his different role, as working with a five-man general managing council.

The question of bringing O’Brien back in his coaching role is warranted as the concerns of play-calling, time management, and a considerable amount of other criticism that can be placed upon his decisions. However, as a front office guy, he saved the season.

After firing Brian Gaine as general manager on June 7, the Texans made an uncanny decision to not hire an official general manager, instead appointing Chris Olsen, the senior vice president of football administration, as the interim general manager. But that is an “in name only” type of role, as O’Brien has been influential in the talent acquisition since Gaine’s firing.

When the Texans failed to lure New England Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, they rolled with Olsen, O’Brien, Matt Bazirgan (director of player personnel), James Liipfert (director of college scouting), and Jack Easterby (executive vice president, team development). This interim solution could be the new status quo as the Texans reportedly will not consider hiring a new general manager when the season is over.

However, to say it’s the wrong move would be to discredit the moves that’s aided Houston to win their division.

The Texans made the right decision sticking with O’Brien’s band of acting general managers.

Since O’Brien started to have considerably more sway with the front office after the firing of Gaine, the Texans have traded RB Duke Johnson (Aug. 8), LT Laremy Tunsil, WR Kenny Stills, RB Carlos Hyde (all Aug. 31 acquisitions). Johnson was to replace D’Onta Foreman as a complementary back to starter Lamar Miller, Tunsil was to fix the second wave free agency solutions at left tackle, Stills was to be an insurance policy in case receivers Keke Coutee and/or Will Fuller got hurt, and Hyde was to replace Miller, who was lost for the season in the third preseason game with a torn ACL.

Tunsil’s impact has been noted and rewarded, as he has been selected to his first Pro Bowl in addition to reducing quarterback Deshaun Watson’s sack numbers from 62 to 44 with Week 17 still to play.

For Hyde, he broke the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the first time in his career and helped the Texans rank in the top-10 for rushing yards per game. Johnson has been a part of the solution with 79 carries for a career-high 398 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Stills has been a huge addition to a receiving corps with 40 catches for 561 yards and four touchdowns.

All four of these players were late-minute solutions to problems that could have rendered Houston in the irrelevant bin along with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts by the time the full attrition of the season hit the Texans’ roster.

When the injuries did hit the Texans, as they hit virtually every team throughout the year, Houston adapted and traded for former first-round pick Gareon Conley to shore up their cornerback group after a swath of injuries that hit starters Bradley Roby and Johnathan Joseph along with rookie Lonnie Johnson. Before arriving in Houston, Conley allowed a passer rating of 126.0. Since being traded to Houston, he’s reduced that to 89.9. He’s also slashed his allowed completion percentage from 69.2, to 46.4.

Whether or not O’Brien should stick around as coach of the Texans will always be an honest conversation and will continue based on the team’s performance in the postseason. However, the Texans’ front office did their due diligence with finding talented players to fill voids that would have hurt any Texans playoff run by orchestrating a roster when odds and time were against them.

Getting protection for their franchise quarteback, filling the needs in the backfield after losing Miller to an ACL injury and giving up on Foreman, and adding two former first-round picks in Conley and Vernon Hargreaves to your secondary, all while not having a full offseason should guarantee another year to continue to build this roster into a true championship contender.

The one area where the Texans could have done better is the handling of the Jadeveon Clowney trade. However, was it really that bad of a trade when the Texans got off the hook for paying that kind of money for a pass rusher who has fewer sacks (3.0) than Jacob Martin (3.5) despite playing more snaps (574 to 220)? Plus, the Texans will reportedly have $74.3 million in cap space in 2020, the sixth-highest in the NFL.

The Tunsil trade is the most solid move the five-man general managing council and O’Brien made thus far. The trade ensures Watson, the franchise quarterback and reason for the team’s consecutive double-digit win seasons, can keep the team competitive year in and year out, game in and game out. Tunsil has allowed three sacks on the season, and has done an exceptional job playing through midseason injuries all the while setting Houston up for the future.

With more preparation and continuity, the next step could be towards the Super Bowl.

Texans LT Laremy Tunsil is ‘fine’ after 23-20 win over Buccaneers

Houston Texans LT Laremy Tunsil is “fine” after defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, a game he left with a little over 2:00 to play.

Left tackle Laremy Tunsil did not finish the Houston Texans’ 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

With 2:37 left in the fourth quarter, the Pro Bowl 25-year-old Tunsil struggled to get up after a DeAndre Carter five-yard reception on third-and-6. He would not return.

Despite not finishing the game, Tunsil was upbeat after the Texans clinched the AFC South in the win.

Tunsil said he’s “fine,” postgame, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. “Football happened,” he concluded.

Tunsil previously missed the Texans’ Week 9 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars due to a shoulder injury. Despite so, the NFL named him as a Pro Bowler for the first time in his career on Tuesday.

The Texans traded for the talented blindside protector on Aug. 31, sending a package highlighted by two first-round picks to the Miami Dolphins. Since then, the Ole Miss has given Houston the best left tackle play its seen since Duane Brown protected for Matt Schaub.

Texans LT Laremy Tunsil accomplishes childhood goal with Pro Bowl selection

Houston Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil accomplished a goal from his childhood when he made the 2020 NFL Pro Bowl on Tuesday evening.

Laremy Tunsil can take out a Sharpie, fly to Lake City, Fla. and cross out a life-long goal on a list that remains pasted on the wall of his parents’ house.

The Houston Texans left tackle earned his first Pro Bowl nod on Tuesday. In doing so, he accomplished one of the goals he had as a child,

“It’s been a goal since I was a kid, man, to be in the Pro Bowl, and I achieved it,” Tunsil said on Wednesday. “There’s always more goals to be achieved, and  I want to be in as many Pro Bowls as I can, so I’ve got to keep putting the hard work in and keep going.”

In middle school — specifically seventh grade — Tunsil wrote down a list of goals that he wanted to accomplish in his football career, which included making the Pro Bowl, being drafted and earning a scholarship to play.

“I wrote down all my goals and I put on a sheet of paper and I glued it on my wall back in my hometown,” Tunsil said. “It’s still there. I should take a picture of it.”

It didn’t take long for Tunsil to accomplish many of his goals. A left tackle protigé coming into his Ole Miss career, the 25-year-old transitioned smoothly to the NFL

Following a season of playing left guard for the Miami Dolphins, Tunsil moved full-time to left tackle in 2017, where flourished. For two seasons, he gave South Beach consistent play at the position. The Texans noticed by deciding to mortgage their future in a trade to acquire him.

In Houston, Tunsil is now recognized as one of the NFL’s best with the Pro Bowl honor. Now, he’s making sure this isn’t the last time he accomplishes a long-standing goal.

“I want to be able to go to as many Pro Bowls as I can,” Tunsil concluded, “so I can’t be just stuck on this one.”

Texans’ Laremy Tunsil is everything you look for in a left tackle

Houston Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil is everything you want in an offensive tackle, says offensive coordinator Tim Kelly.

In his fourth year in the NFL and his first with the Houston Texans, left tackle Laremy Tunsil made the Pro Bowl.

For offensive coordinator Tim Kelly, that should come as no surprise. Tunsil, who stands at 6-5, 315-pounds with 34-1/4-inch arms, is a prototype.

“He’s really athletic,” Kelly said on Wednesday. “He’s got great feet. He’s a physical player, and he’s got good length. He’s just really everything you’re looking for in a left tackle.”

To the rest of the NFL, Tunsil’s recognition as a Pro Bowler also doesn’t come as a surprise. Entering the NFL out of Ole Miss in 2016, he earned praise as the best overall prospect in his draft class.

A monumental blunder caused Tunsil to drop to the Miami Dolphins at No. 13, where he was considered a steal and instant franchise left tackle. For three years, he was just that, until the Texans came calling with a bundle that included two first-round picks.

The Dolphins struck a deal to send Tunsil to Houston and the rest is history. The 25-year-old is playing the part of one of the best in the NFL, carrying an outstanding 89.9 Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade while also paving lanes for the NFL’s seventh-ranked rush offense.

The worst Pro Bowl picks — and the players who should replace them

The worst Pro Bowl picks — and the players who should replace them

 

Touchdown Wire thinks Texans LT Laremy Tunsil shouldn’t have made the Pro Bowl

Touchdown Wire believes Kansas City Chiefs right tackle Mitchell Schwartz should have made the Pro Bowl over Houston Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil.

Pro Bowl selections are like Christmas Day: someone is always going to be whining about what someone else got.

Enter Houston Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil, who earned his first career Pro Bowl selection Tuesday night. The honor is vindication for coach Bill O’Brien and the five-man general managing council that traded a king’s ransom to the Miami Dolphins on Aug. 31 to acquire the 2016 first-round pick. The results are also quantifiable as quarterback Deshaun Watson has gone from taking 62 in 2018 to 39 in 2019 with two games to go. Probably the best indicator that Tunsil has helped the offensive line is that Watson had  two-game stretch from Weeks 5-6 where he did not take a single sack, a feat not seen around Houston since Weeks 1-2 of the 2014 season, the start of the O’Brien era.

But Kansas City Chiefs right tackle Mitchell Schwartz is just a tad better, according to Doug Farrar of the Touchdown Wire.

Schwartz has been one of the better right tackles of the last few years, and he’s never made a Pro Bowl, though he was an All-Pro in 2018. This season, he’s allowed just one sack, five quarterback hits, and 12 quarterback hurries. Meanwhile, Tunsil has allowed three sacks and 15 hurries. Both players have allowed 18 total pressures, but the sack total should push Tunsil out and Schwartz in.

The only way Texans fans would go for Schwartz replacing Tunsil is if the latter is preparing for Super Bowl LIV in Miami Gardens, Fla. Otherwise, Tunsil earning the Pro Bowl nod is an indication that Watson’s blindside is going to be safe for years to come.

The worst Pro Bowl picks — and the players who should replace them

Every year, a group of undeserving players are named to the Pro Bowl. Here’s this year’s list, and the players who should replace them.

If you think the Pro Bowl is a meaningless exercise, don’t tell the fans, players, and teams when somebody on their side is snubbed in the process. Every year, there are deserving players who aren’t voted to the Pro Bowl roster, and every year, there are players who get on more through previous reputation than current performance.

Here are the most egregious omissions in the 2019 voting, with thought on which players these unfortunate snubs should replace. Because if you’re going to complain about a player who’s wrongly off the Pro Bowl roster, you should be able to find a guy who’s taking up space. That’s where things get a bit more difficult!

Quarterback (NFC)

In: Dak Prescott or Kirk Cousins
Out: Aaron Rodgers

(Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)

Either Prescott or Cousins would be a better fit on the NFC roster than Aaron Rodgers, who had just three games with more than 300 passing yards this season, three games with less than 200 yards passing, and eight games with one or zero touchdowns. Cousins has been on fire after a rough start to the season, and Prescott ranks first in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted efficiency metrics. Not that Rodgers has had a bad season, but this seems much more like a reputation pick than anything else.

Receiver (AFC)

In: Julian Edelman
Out: Jarvis Landry

(Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

Landry has been one of Cleveland’s few bright spots on offense this season, but it’s kind of ridiculous to have him in over Edelman, who was part of a total snub of New England offensive players that hasn’t happened since 2003. Yes, Landry has 74 catches on 1,018 yards and five touchdowns, but Edelman has 92 catches for 1,019 yards and six touchdowns in an offense so broken, opposing defenses can bracket him on just about every play. Edelman has faced more double teams than at any other point in his career, and he’s having arguably his most productive season.

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