Houston Texans: Special teams may be Brennan Scarlett’s calling card

Houston Texans linebacker Brennan Scarlett has again made the 53-man roster but with the depth of the line, his calling card could be special teams. Why?

The Houston Texans 53-man roster has long been set and we all had an opportunity to get a glimpse of what it was like this Sunday against the New England Patriots.  Although some of us cheered — a lot of us grumbled like myself — things obviously are going to be ran differently in the Brian Gaine-era.

Having guys on this team that are stronger, longer, faster and versatile is the theme of what Gaine as well as what Bill O’Brien and Romeo Crennel want to see on this team.  They’re confident that the 53 men chosen posses that trait and it’ll be up to them to do all they can help make this team successful.  It’s imperative that this team try to avenge a 4-12 season that started with a lot of promise.

But speaking of promising, let’s talk about another guy that fits the mold of what the Houston Texans are looking for.  That’s none other than linebacker Brennan Scarlett.  We tend to forget about him because of the depth of this defensive line being so strong but he’s a solid lineman that can hold his own when challenged to the utmost.

Scarlett, who went undrafted out Stanford in 2016 has found his way back to the roster again by the way of his versatility.  When long-time linebacker John Simon departed for the Indianapolis Colts in free agency back then, Scarlett was called upon to help fill the slight void that he left.  However, Scarlett was hurt for a good chunk of his early goings with the Houston Texans but now that he’s been primarily healthy, he’s ready for an emergence like none other.

Each of his two previous campaigns have been cut short because of various injuries with last season’s being a foot malady that landed him on the injured reserve list.

In 2017, his most significant amount of playing time in his pro career, Scarlett took 302 snaps on defense, mostly

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in pass-rush mode (144) and was able to earn a Pro Football Focus (subscription required) overall score of a 64.5.  His best grade was with his run defense which was a 74.9.  He recorded 13 pressures — 10 quarterback hurries, two sacks and one QB hit — along with 15 run stops and just two missed tackles.  He also had one pass breakup to his credit.

So although these numbers aren’t great they’re certainly a sign that the Houston Texans need to keep this guy around.  However, with the stars on the defensive line being healthy such as Whitney Mercilus, Jadeveon Clowney and next-man-up off the bench Dylan Cole, this leaves little room for Scarlett to get a lot of snaps.

But I honestly think that Scarlett has found new life as a go-to guy to be used on special teams.  Last week, Scarlett had the highest grade recorded (84.9) within the unit against the Pats and he took a considerable amount of snaps (22) that were evenly distributed among kick/punt returns as well kick/punt coverage.  That’s near elite and I’m positive special teams coordinator Brad Seely will be profusely using him again this week against the Titans in that regard.

It’s important to note that this is a drastic improvement above his 39.3 grade — 201 snaps — that he had in this metric in 2017.  But you know what?  It’s all about Seely’s presence and knowing Scarlett’s strengths to put him in the right position to succeed.

I certainly hope that this momentum continues for Scarlett as he may have found his calling card if he continues to do a great job of what he asked.

We’ll have to see!

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