Houston Texans: Three offensive linemen that are on the rise
Player #3: Julién Davenport
The Houston Texans may have struck oil with their best offensive line draft pick in quite some time. A fourth-round pick from last season out of Bucknell U, the 6-foot-7, 318-pound Julién Davenport is proving that there are plenty of amazing finds at smaller schools where he attended.
I’ve written many pieces on Davenport and he truly is one of my favorite offensive lineman to talk about because of his tremendous upside. He was a standout leader physically and emotionally on the line as a Bison in his four-year collegiate career and I strongly feel he will have
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that cache with the Houston Texans over time as he matures.
The Houston Texans worked him in slowly last season but accelerated his participation in games once the writing was on the wall for the demise of our season, giving him a perfect opportunity to get better at his craft.
Davenport sustained various injuries last season, most notably an AC shoulder sprain that sidelined him from Week 9-14. But once he got back into the fray, he was ferocious and I don’t think there’s no stopping him now. He has gone from an intriguing prospect, to a likely starter on the line and there’s no ifs, ands or buts about it.
Although the Houston Texans Week 17 match up with the Indianapolis Colts was virtually meaningless, Davenport was the highest-graded player by PFF in that game, earning a grade of an 81.9 which certainly gave us fans — including myself — an uplifting outlook going into this season.
Davenport’s PFF grades against the Chiefs were a 72.8/62.8/75.8 which are all quite solid but can use some improvement. One of his biggest knocks was his ability to distribute his girth evenly to remain steady enough be able to pass block effectively and I think that’s going to be able to improve over time.
Nonetheless, he’s certainly a guy that will get A LOT of playing time this season so just be prepared to see No. 70 out there plenty in 2018.
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So that’s my stand on the TOP THREE offensive linemen to watch. Do you agree? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below.