Tytus Howard showed off his flexibility along the offensive line in 2021.
The Houston Texans initially placed their former 2019 first-round pick at left guard. However, due to injuries throughout the 17-game campaign, Howard kicked back out at tackle, where he had started from 2019-20, and demonstrated greater ability on the edge than on the inside.
With new offensive line coach George Warhop coming over from the Jacksonville Jaguars, the expectation is the Texans will move Howard back to right tackle, especially with two-time Pro Bowler Laremy Tunsil returning as the left tackle.
However, offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton indicated on April 11 in his meeting with reporters on the first day of offseason workouts that the Texans are still determining the best fit for Howard.
“It’s something that Coach (Lovie) Smith and our staff will continue to work through just to make sure we put the best five guys in a position for us to be successful offensively,” Hamilton said.
For the Texans, the emphasis on offense begins at the point of attack, and Hamilton wants the linemen to have big part in clearing run lanes and providing protection for quarterback Davis Mills.
“It all starts up front for us,” said Hamilton. “It all starts up front and saying that is not just cliché, we really feel like our offensive lineman are play makers as well. Coach Warhop brings a ton of experience to that room along with [assistant OL coach] Hal Hunter. I had the chance to work with Coach Warhop some time ago and Coach Hal at some previous spots and we feel like when you look at the guys we have in that room, some of those guys have skins on the wall and we should be able to go out and work together to develop a consistent run game.”
Houston’s ambiguity as to where Howard will play in 2022 invites the possibility the Texans draft a tackle within the top-100 of the draft.