The Houston Texans’ path to winning the AFC South may have gotten a little easier Sunday.
According to Ian Rapoport from the NFL Network, the Jacksonville Jaguars are working out a deal to sign-and-trade defensive end Yannick Ngakoue to the Minnesota Vikings. The move takes the Pro Bowl edge defender out of the division and ships him to the NFC North.
Ngakoue tallied 18 tackles, 3.5 sacks, four tackles for loss, 13 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and two pass breakups in his seven career games against the Texans. The only time he experienced victory was in 2017 when the Jaguars swept Houston in a disastrous 4-12 season replete with injuries to Houston’s front line starters, including rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Taking Ngakoue out of the division means one less pass rusher that Watson has to evade on a twice-a-season basis. Even though he hadn’t sacked the two-time Pro Bowler since Week 17 of 2018 when he logged 1.5 sacks in the Texans’ 20-3 win, Ngakoue was still providing pressure off the edge to harass Watson and make the games difficult.
The last time Ngakoue faced Houston was in London in Week 9 at Wembley Stadium. The former 2016 third-round pick collected five tackles, two tackles for loss, and two quarterback hits. The Texans defense crushed rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew and the Jaguars offense 26-3.
Ngakoue leaving the AFC South is part of the turning of the tide for the Texans’ offensive line. Just as Houston secures their bookends with Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard, seemingly they will face less threatening competition when the Texans take on the Jaguars in Weeks 5 and 9 of 2020.
Houston will still face Ngakoue though. In Week 4, the Texans are slated to host the Vikings at NRG Stadium. It won’t be a division game, and the Texans won’t have to see Ngakoue presumably for the next four years. As long as he got out of the division, the path to repeating as champions got easier for the Texans.
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