Texans: Xavier Su'a-Filo: The Biggest Bust Ever?

It’s already time to gear up for Week 3 Houston Texans fans.

This team has vicariously meandered through two weeks of professional football and it’s time tackle down the opponent for this week.

There has been a lot of hope, a lot of promise for a strong start to the season but that has been to no avail thus far.

With the high level of expectations set for this team at the start of the season, it appears that they’re falling short of them.

This team just has too much talent to be underachieving like this but when you actually observe the factors as to why we’re losing games, it’s not too surprising.

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It’s almost as if the horrible nightmare of the 2013 season has come to rear its ugly head again but it’s in reverse.

Remember that we won the first two games of that season and then lost the remaining 14 of those.

So if that’s the case, the Texans should be able to pull together and win the rest of way to go 14-2 right?

Not likely but it’s a nice vision to behold.

But as we key in on the theme of underachieving, let’s talk about a guy that was become the poster child of it.

Just who am I talking about?

None other than our 6’4″, 307-pound guard in Xavier Su’a-Filo.

You know, it’s quite puzzling to witness one that has really not met set level expectations after so much has been invested in him.

He was our 2014 second-round pick for crying out loud!

But unfortunately, he has spent more time on the injured list or on the bench than we all could have envisioned.

Here’s the deal — second-round picks are sure fire — these guys aren’t can’t miss and are expected to perform immediately once they take the field.

But Bill O’Brien has cautiously held him out, using the injured list to cover his deficiencies as an professional offensive lineman.

Seriously?

A guy of his age can’t be that hurt all of the time and I just don’t feel he’s that physically fit enough to take the reins as he was primed to do.

This has been a criticism of him since he was drafted — although he’s excellent off his feet, quick on the line and can be an effective pass blocker he struggles with lateral movements as he is heavy-legged and constantly gets beat at his position.

That’s why he wasn’t able to cut the mustard at left tackle back in his college days at UCLA — these same deficiencies are showing up and he can’t get on the field as a result of it.

The man appeared in 13 games last season with one start which was Week 6 against the Indianapolis Colts at right guard in place of an injured Brandon Brooks.

He has not appeared in any games yet for 2015.

For a supposedly can’t-miss pick in Su’a-Filo, he continuously got beat out by veterans at that position.

Ben Jones — before he took over the center reigns this season — was tapped as the starter because his situational awareness was a lot better than Su’a-Filo’s.

Here’s what O’Brien told the Texans’ Deepi Sidhu about Su’a-Filo’s progress back last October:

"“I think he’s getting better,” O’Brien said. “I think it is very difficult for a rookie to play on the inside. I think you see some rookies being able to do that. Other guys, it’s kind of some good, some not so good. I think Xavier falls into that category. He is a great kid. He’s a hard worker. He’s got a really good future in this league. He just needs to learn a little bit more about the tricks of the trade. We’ll continue to play him, give him a shot in there, but hopefully he learns from some of his mistakes, and he will.”"

Something tells me that he still isn’t quite there yet.

Had he been a draft pick in the later rounds, I’m almost positive he would’ve been cut by now but because of the significant investment that has been made — four years, $5.5 million — the Texans brass are still holding out hope for him.

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This is quite troubling to digest because if he continues to under-perform — or eventually gets cut — he would be widely-considered the biggest draft busts in the Texans’ short franchise history.

I can’t think of anybody drafted so high that has been so lackluster.

Now mind you, I’m not knocking Xavier Su’a-Filo, the person because he is the epitome of what the Texans look for in terms of character.

This man — a devout Mormon — took off two seasons while at UCLA to go out serve his fellow man on an LDS mission, making a difference in his community.

He’s an outstanding guy and nothing of the sorts can be taken away from him but he’s just has to get better on the football field so that he play up to the draft status he had in 2014.

As far as his status so far, O’Brien typically rules him out early in the week but for the first time in awhile, he has upgraded his status to day-to-day and is questionable this week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He’s currently nursing an injured calf.

Texans: Xavier Su’a-Filo: The Biggest Bust Ever?

By Brian K. Patterson | Sep 23, 2015

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