Houston Texans: What the team likely won’t be doing with Brandon Hitner

The Houston Texans worked out offensive tackle Brandon Hitner over the weekend. What’s going on and why? Here’s what they won’t be doing with him.

The Houston Texans have been keeping their revolving door open full of prospects that might have a chance at latching onto the team.  The news of these visits helps us all get a good gauge on what the team is looking for as a priority to improve this team for next season.

It took a bit but the Houston Texans are seeking out talent that would have the potential to improve the offensive line for 2019.

The unit was truly one of the weakest links for last season and having Deshaun Watson take the hits as well as the sacks — he led the league with 62 of those last season — is just plain unacceptable.

Multiple experienced linemen need to brought in to supplement the talent — or lack thereof — that’s currently on the roster.  If not, which is likely, they need to go early into draft with a tackle that’s going to make an immediate impact.  The team’s signing of Matt Kalil is a positive step in the right direction.

With the Houston Texans bringing in 6-foot-6, 300-pound Brandon Hitner out of Villanova for a workout, they are certainly already looking at guys that they can scoop up after the draft has concluded.

Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reported that Hitner is expected to be a priority free agent so he’ll be one of the first guys to be contacted after the draft is over.

So with that being said, what the Houston Texans won’t likely be doing is investing a draft pick into him.  It’s possible that they may invest a 7th-round pick in him but I doubt it.

Hitner, who was a fifth-year senior, demonstrated continuous improvement year-after-year on Nova’s offensive line, being named one of the two most improved players of the team going into this past season.

The right tackle’s season was cut short as he only appeared in seven games because of a knee injury but started every game (11) in 2017.

Here’s some footage of Hitner at Villanova’s Pro Day at the Philadelphia Eagles’ training facility yesterday:

I’m not a certified scout but from the tape, Hitner looks like he’s strong, agile and quick enough to

More from House of Houston

• Are you the 2021 FanSided Sports Fan of the Year?
• Houston Texans: 4 reasons Romeo Crennel is right coach right now
• Astros-Twins Wild Card Series: 5 things to know as MLB postseason begins
• Houston Texans: The Most Underrated Sports Drought Ever
• Houston Texans: J.J. Watt’s early case for NFL Hall of Fame

be able hold his own.  But whether or not he’d be able to do it against some of the elite defensive ends in the NFL remains to be seen.

He also took part in the College Gridiron Showcase that has held Jan. 5-9 in Fort Worth, Texas.  It’s similar to the NFL Combine but on a much smaller yet more personalized scale with each player.

As with most offensive linemen, he was no stranger to excelling in the classroom, having won a Colonial Athletic Association Academic Award for his performance in the 2017 season.

It’s important to mention that Hitner is a native Pennsylvanian and also lettered in basketball — to which I’m sure he played power forward/center for Garnet Valley High School.

Offensive line coach Mike Devlin was the staff member that worked him out and we’ll have to keep an eye on if he was impressed enough for the team to make an investment in him.  But they may have to fight for his services — Hitner also visited the Los Angeles Chargers recently in a workout as well.

I think he’d be a terrific project that would have the potential to develop quickly.

But nonetheless, as we get closer to the draft, we’ll all likely get a better depiction of what type of players the Houston Texans are they looking for.

Hitner appeared in 28 career games on the line for the Wildcats.