Tag: Max Scharping

Pro Football Focus: Texans rookie LG Max Scharping highest-rated pass blocker from divisional round

Houston Texans rookie offensive guard Max Scharping was the best pass blocker from the divisional round of the playoffs, says to Pro Football Focus.

Strangely, there are bright spots to the Houston Texans’ simultaneous 51-31 choke-blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional playoffs at Arrowhead Stadium.

One of them is the play of rookie left guard Max Scharping. According to Pro Football Focus, the second-rounder from Northern Illinois graded out at 90.9, the highest grade of the weekend across all four games.

While other Texans offensive linemen such as left tackle Laremy Tunsil, right guard Zach Fulton, and center Nick Martin made the top-5, it is especially impressive that Scharping topped the list. It demonstrates that the Texans got a quality pick in the second round, and one that still has a high enough ceiling to help lower Deshaun Watson’s sack numbers going forward.

How has rookie LG Max Scharping progressed for the Texans?

Houston Texans left guard Max Scharping takes coaching to heart, as Bill O’Brien said on Monday. The Northern Illinois product has impressed.

Max Scharping didn’t play left guard in training camp. He didn’t play left guard at Northern Illinois. Yet, the Houston Texans rookie is a left guard.

A tackle playing in the MAC at Northern Illinois, Scharping became a second-round pick for the Houston Texans in April. He played around the offensive line in the preseason before, in stunning fashion, earning the starting gig at left guard in Week 3.

Scharping’s ability to switch positions is a testament to his work ethic and ability to take coaching.

“Max works very hard, works hard in the weight room, works hard to improve, very coachable,” coach Bill O’Brien said on Monday. “You’re really looking for coachable guys. He takes the coaching to heart, he tries to get better every week and I do think you’re right, I think he’s improved. I don’t think it’s easy to play left guard as a rookie when you’re blocking grown men.”

In recent years, the Texans have keyed-in on versatile players in the draft. They saw that in Scharping, who measures in at 6-6, 327 pounds. His length at 33-five-eight-inch arms dissuaded some from him playing at tackle. In Houston, they don’t see that.

In practice, Scharping flashes that versatility.

“I think he’s definitely one of those guys that’s a five-tool player,” O’Brien said. “I think he can play center, I think guard is his best spot, but I think in a pinch he can play tackle for us and he can play center. He trains at center in pre-practice and we used him at a lot of different places in training camp.”

Scharping has his struggles, as all rookies do. However, as Aaron Reiss of The Athletic notes via Pro Football Focus, his play does not resemble a rookie as of late. One of his 27 pressures has occurred in the last two weeks.

Though not a flashy pick in the second round in April, Scharping may be the right one. Alongside Laremy Tunsil, Tytus Howard and Nick Martin, the coachable Northern Illinois product should be a mainstay for the Texans’ offensive line for some time.

Observations on the Texans’ snap counts from the 20-17 win over the Colts

The Houston Texans had some interesting snap counts from their 20-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 12.

The 7-4 Houston Texans regained control of the hotly contested AFC South with a 20-17 win over the 6-5 Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night at NRG Stadium.

The Texans did not make the win look easy, however. They lost the time of possession battle (33:17 over 26:43), turned over the ball once, did not score once in their two red zone visits and struggled to stop the Colts on third-down (9-15).

Nonetheless, Deshaun Watson willed his team to victory on prime time, making his night game record 5-2. Big plays ruled the day, with the Texans scoring on 30- and 35-yard touchdowns while more than doubling Indianapolis’ yards per attempt (9.6 over 4.7).

Here are the offensive, defensive and special teams snap counts from the Texans’ divisional win.

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observations

Offensive line

  • Played their first full game together since Week 5 vs. Atlanta Falcons. However, it wasn’t a game to brag about, despite allowing just one sack.
  • The Colts’ front-seven bullied the rush attack, as the tailbacks combined for 89 yards on 21 carries. Scratch out 52 yards on two attempts, and the Colts allowed 2.47 yards per.

Secondary

  • With both Justin Reid and Mike Adams out with concussions, the Texans completely abandoned the use of three safety sets. Tashaun Gipson and Jahleel Addae saw all the snaps at safety.
  • Vernon Hargreaves was not limited in his Texans debut, playing 82% of snaps, mostly all in the slot. On the outside, Gareon Conley and Johnathan Joseph played most of the contest. The trio and the safety duo worked, allowing just 129 yards on 25 attempts.

Front-seven

  • The Texans gave an uptick in snaps to outside linebacker Jacob Martin, who received 24 off the edge. That paid off, as he got the only Texans sack of the day.
  • Brennan Scarlett received the exact same amount as in Week 11 (53). The highlight of his day came on the last Colts’ offensive play, a game-sealing tackle on Jacoby Brissett.
  • Charles Omenihu continues to carve out a role as an edge rusher in Houston’s defense, as he played 43% of snaps as compared to 30% in the week before.
  • Inside linebackers Benardrick McKinney and Zach Cunningham led the way in front-seven snaps (66 each). Cunningham tallied a career-high 16 combined tackles. Everyone else, outside of the two and possibly Whitney Mercilus, is rotational.

Offensive skill positions:

  • No surprise here: Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins were the only two offensive skill position players to play the entire game.
  • The presumption, heading into the contest, was that the Texans were going to limit Will Fuller’s snap count in some capacity. That didn’t happen. He played 90% of snaps (53), in turn, paying it back with six receptions for 140 yards.
  • Duke Johnson barely edged out Carlos Hyde in running back snaps, taking 30 to Hyde’s 29. Houston’s usage of Johnson picked up after the first quarter, as they found more success running him side-to-side.
  • The Texans played more 11-personnel as compared to their uber-successful 12-personnel. Darren Fells led Houston in tight end snaps with 52 (88%) with Jordan Akins taking 28 (47%). In his return from the injured reserve, Jordan Thomas had just seven snaps.

Going forward, the Texans will host the New England Patriots on Dec. 1. Don’t expect similar snap counts against them, as Bill O’Brien has 11 days to prepare and contort his playbook in an effort to picking up his first-ever win over Bill Belichick.