Houston Texans: Three options to solve the left tackle conundrum
By T.A. Mock
It’s no secret that the Houston Texans have a serious problem across the line but especially at the left tackle position. Here are three ways to solve that conundrum.
The Houston Texans had one of the worst starts to a season in franchise history this year, dropping the first three games of the season. Expectations were high, probably too high for a team that went 4-12 last year, and the team absolutely disappointed. However, there has been a glimmer of hope since then.
The Texans have since won three in a row to climb into a three-way tie for first place in the division with the potential of taking sole possession of first place this week. The Jaguars will host the Texans this week at 12:00 pm CT, you can catch the game on CBS, and the winner of this matchup will likely take first place in the AFC South.
The defense for the Texans has improved each week and probably had the best game of the season, so far, last week against a bad Bills team. There was constant, consistent pressure all day on the quarterback, the running game was largely ineffective, and finally, the defensive backs were able to stop some receivers.
Must Read. How the Texans can climb back to the top of the AFC South. light
The Houston Texans offense, however, is still quite the enigma. At times, they can look like an elite unit moving the ball down the field and doing whatever they want at will. At other times, especially in the red zone, they look terrible and couldn’t gain a yard if there were zero defenders on the field.
A big part of that problem is the offensive line. However, the vast majority of the line has gotten better each week. Senio Kelemete, Nick Martin, and Zach Fulton all had the pass-blocking grades of 70+ this past week, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and Kendall Lamm graded out at 61.5 which isn’t great by any means but it’s league average and playable.
The problem comes down to the left tackle position, often deemed as the most important spot along the offensive line. It has been an utter black hole for the Houston Texans this year. Julien Davenport and Martinas Rankin have both been abysmal this year.
Davenport has allowed 32 pressure so far this season, good (bad?) for highest in the league. Oh, who’s second you might ask? Well, that’d be Rankin with 27 though, he’d likely have the most had he played the past two weeks. Collectively they’ve also given up 34 hurries, 17 hits, and 8 sacks.
Something has got to give as Deshaun Watson is taking too much of a beating to survive all 16 games this year. So, let’s take a look at the teams three best options to attempt to fill the void at left tackle.