Veteran offensive lineman A.J. Cann spoke to reporters on Tuesday at the Houston Texans’ post-practice press conference regarding the role experience plays in the ability of a front five to deploy effective blocks against opponents. His comments were revealing, and shed some light both on what the team’s offensive line has done right in 2022 and some of their shortcomings through eight games.
He told the media that the flow of the game from a lineman’s perspective can take some time to become second nature and that the Texans’ coaching staff has played a key role in helping the group become a cohesive unit.
“There’s going to be things that you see if you’ve been playing awhile,” Cann explained. “You’ll see a certain defense or linebacker doing this, you can figure out what’s coming, especially if you’ve got a coach like Hop [George Warhop] who’s been in the game awhile. He’s probably seen it all. If he hasn’t, I don’t know. I think he has. He can get us on the right track. He’s very detailed, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to be able to tell us everything that they have up front that they’re going to deliver. That’s the kind of coach he is.”
While Houston’s line may still be coming into its own at the halfway point of the season, the pieces are in place for the group to become a major asset in the Texans’ rebuild in 2023. They could lay the foundation for any potential franchise quarterback that the team might select in the draft to have success early in their career should the Texans choose to keep the unit intact during the offseason.
It is likely too soon to speculate on matters concerning next season, but for now, the line remains one of the more consistently competent parts of the Texans’ mostly-dysfunctional offense.