HOUSTON — If one was to look at Ross Blacklock’s stats, they may conclude that the second-year defensive tackle made a substantial jump during his sophomore season with the Houston Texans.
Entering the final game of the 2021 campaign, Blacklock has recorded a career-high 21 total tackles and two sacks in 13 games played. Alongside Jonathan Greenard and rookie Roy Lopez, Blacklock has established himself as a promising piece to a Texans’ defensive line that can create havoc for the opposing team in 2022.
But despite the on-field improvements, the Houston native believes his next significant progression will come by the way of his leadership within the locker room.
“The one thing I want to do next year is just be more of a leader and a captain in my room — as far as being an older guy,” Blacklock said. “I don’t know how our room is going to look next year or anything like that — but just kind of being that spark in our room. That’s my personal goal, but just keep making that step up and keep trying to improve.”
It did not matter if it was his student-athlete days at Elkins High School or collegiate time at TCU, Blacklock said he has always been a leader in some form or fashion throughout his career and wants to translate his leadership qualities to the pro-level.
Blacklock described his leadership style as a player who lets his actions speak louder than his words, and he wants to be a veteran Houston’s rookie class of 2022 can lean on for advice next season.
It’s a benefit Blacklock could not take advantage of during his rookie season with the Texans imploding to a 4-12 record in 2020. The turmoil throughout 2020 resulted in Blacklock missing out on lessons he did not learn until his second season.
“It’s not necessarily running everything, but as far as a person in my room helping guys out, I was always that older guy helping guys out, leading them the best way possible,” he said. “I’m not a big ‘rah-rah’, loud guy, but I try to lead by example the best way that I can, so that’s all I’m trying to do and just keep being my best self for this team.”
In addition to becoming a better leader, Blacklock said he wants to put the Texans in a better position to compete in 2022. He wants to get Houston to the level of one day winning the Super Bowl.