The Houston Texans’ roster has unproven talent at best, and they certainly lack superstars.
One way for the Texans to get superstars presently would be for someone on the roster to have a career year and threaten to make first-team All-Pro. Otherwise, the Texans have a suboptimal roster without any face of the franchise.
According to Sam Monson from Pro Football Focus, if the Texans had a secret superstar on their roster, it would be none other than defensive end Jonathan Greenard.
There wasn’t much to like about the Texans last season, but second-year edge rusher Jonathan Greenard was very impressive in the playing time he was afforded. Greenard earned an 89.2 PFF pass-rushing grade, rivaling some of the elite pass rushers in the game. He tallied 27 total pressures from 215 pass-rushing snaps and likely earned himself a significantly larger role this year, particularly as the Texans have yet to fully take advantage of the draft collateral acquired from the Deshaun Watson trade.
Greenard is entering the penultimate year of his contract. The former 2020 third-round pick from Florida can make a great case to start negotiations at the end of the season by having a tremendous 2022 campaign.
There is evidence to suggest Greenard could at least challenge for a Pro Bowl selection. The 6-3, 263-pound edge defender generated 8.0 sacks through 12 games last season. Greenard’s problem hasn’t been production so much as it has been availability. If Greenard is able to play more than 12 games, as he did in his rookie campaign when he had 15 games active, then he should be able to get into the double-digit sack range. Throw in a few forced fumbles and maybe an interception off a pass batted at the line of scrimmage, and Greenard is showcasing talent Houston will have to consider extending once the 2023 offseason rolls around.