Houston Texans: Sixth-rounder Duke Ejiofor shines brilliantly in debut

The Houston Texans took center stage in the first preseason game of 2018 and there was plenty to marvel at in terms of what they’ve done, ensuring that this team will be at least interesting to watch. But what about the standouts? I think that 2018 sixth-round pick Duke Ejiofor looked marvelous and here’s what he did.

The Houston Texans may have snatched up a steal in the draft in Wake Forest outside linebacker Duke Ejiofor. For a guy what was widely-projected to go three rounds earlier, the man is proving as to why he has tremendous value to this team. It’s his health history that scared teams away but Brian Gaine appeared to not care about that and roll the dice on a potential low-risk, high-reward maneuver by selecting him the later rounds.

This was a pick that I thought was peculiar by the Houston Texans but understood it back when the draft occurred this past Spring. The opportunity for the team to nab yet another pass rusher was definitely something to be desired and makes that defensive unit even more whole as it already was.

As Whitney Mercilus passes the age-30 mark and has two more years left on his four-year, $26 million deal he signed back in 2015, it’s prudent that the Houston Texans have a backup plan for Mercilus, who sustained a pectoral injury close to the midpoint of the 2017 season.

Just in case he either walks or his skills decline over the next few seasons, the Houston Texans could work on developing Ejiofor, a hometown product out of Alief Taylor High, to be the team’s Sam linebacker of the future.

The 6-foot-4, 275-pound edge defender with 34.9″ arm length and 9.75″ hands shined brilliantly

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last night and I think we’re all getting a taste of what’s yet to come from the rookie.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way for Ejiofor but he is clawing his way back to respectability and how he performed last night was amazing. His first appearance was late in the first half and his presence was mighty as could be as towered among his competition, wreaking havoc left and right.

Here’s what Pro Football Focus had to say about his performance last night:

"“The Texans elected to sit most of their starting defense for this game, which gave players such as sixth-round rookie edge defender Duke Ejiofor a chance to get some good playing time. Ejiofor delivered with an impressive three QB hits and two additional hurries on 22 pass-rushes. He alone was responsible for 33 percent of the Texans’ total pressures in this game. He wasn’t just using the same move over and over again either, he was beating his man both inside and out with relative ease.”"

Wow! Aside from Duke’s incredible performance, the Houston Texans defense was delivering the pressure well as a whole and they were forcing Patrick Mahomes, Chase Litton, Matt McGloin and Chad Henne — who threw one pick to Zach Cunningham — to limit their effectiveness, despite the Kansas City Chiefs netting 221 yards in the air in comparison to the Houston Texans 157 yards.

Let me tell you, it was good to see Romeo Crennel back on the sidelines as he firmly steered the ship — like a confident captain — to a mighty victory last night. They weren’t perfect but I feel that this unit is going to be fine going into the season and it goes to show that the team has tremendous depth in that area.

dark. Next. Five players trending up/down after game at Chiefs

Are you excited as I am about this upcoming season? Sign me up for some sequels of this movie as I’m ready for more!

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